The SHS Drama Club has been in preparation for their yearly spring musical for several months now, and it will showcase April 16-19.
The conductor of the musical’s pit and Solon Band Director Sarah Behal said that the pit plays a significant role in making the production come together.
“The thing with [the] pit, is that they are kind of a character in themselves,” Behal said.
Behal also said that conducting the pit is more stressful than conducting a typical band because of how they have to stay on track with the performers.
“I’m conducting the pit, but I’m actually not really paying attention to them,” Behal said. “What I’m doing is I’m watching the actors for the most part. I’m watching, I’m listening to the actors, and I’m controlling what I’m doing based off of what they’re doing.”
Junior Jack Innes is a third year member of the pit and is playing three different instruments in the show this year. He said that there is always a significant amount of time and preparation put into the musical.
“We’re given the music maybe 3-4 months in advance,” Innes said. “It’s a lot of individual practice before then, but then around a month and a half before the show starts, we have big group rehearsals. We rehearse about three times every week, but right before the musical, it picks up to every day.”
Senior Elliot Neifach is a second year member of the pit playing electric bass guitar. He said that something he enjoys most about playing in musicals is the stylistic changes throughout the show.
“We play all different styles of music,” Neifach said. “There’s funk songs, sometimes there’s like a smooth R&B kinda song, it’s a lot of choral pieces. But, not all of it’s just straight forward choir orchestral scores —there’s all different genres which is something that is really fun.”
Additionally, Behal said how each character has their own theme, a tune that plays whenever they are in a scene.
“The way that our brains are set up to interpret music —this is how movie soundtracks work too,” Behal said. “They get our mood already pre-set up for what’s going to happen in the scene.”
Neifach said that being in the pit is unlike any other band he’s been in because there is music all around, from the other musicians to the singers onstage.
“You have the instruments surrounding you like you would in a normal orchestra or band setting, but hearing the voices onstage behind you and to your left and right and on the speakers above and right behind you, it’s something that you don’t get to experience in many other places,” Neifach said.
Behal said that her favorite moments when conducting the pit are when everything happens in just the right way to create a great show.
“When, somehow, I can get the music to line up with the text, and the lyrics and the special effects, and everything hits exactly as it should, it’s just that moment,” Behal said.
Innes said that working with everyone in the cast is a great experience when everyone has the common goal of a successful production.
“Seeing the music come together with all of the other musicians in the pit, as well as with the actors onstage, is just a really magical experience to see everything come together to put on an amazing show,” Innes said.
