{"id":2007,"date":"2019-04-01T10:23:44","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T14:23:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/?p=2007"},"modified":"2019-04-01T10:27:41","modified_gmt":"2019-04-01T14:27:41","slug":"pit-happens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/2019\/04\/01\/pit-happens\/","title":{"rendered":"Pit Happens!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over the last few years, I&#8217;ve been focusing more on pit orchestra gigs (musical theater productions) for a multitude of reasons:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>40 years of playing in the cover band scene has burned me out<\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s a great way to keep up on my reading chops<\/li>\n<li>I really enjoy being a member of a larger team working toward a common goal, with other people who are devoted to doing the same<\/li>\n<li>The range of musical styles encountered from show to show (and even WITHIN a single show) is fun and challenging<\/li>\n<li>The temporary nature of a theatrical production &#8211; I&#8217;m involved with a given show\/theater\/actors\/musicians for a few weeks at most, then move on to the next one before it becomes tiresome<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The beginning of 2019 is off to a busy start with 6 shows already completed in February and March alone. So here&#8217;s a brief overview of Q1, 2019.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2008\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2008\" style=\"width: 940px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/SweeneyTodd_Web940x350.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2008 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/SweeneyTodd_Web940x350.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"940\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/SweeneyTodd_Web940x350.jpg 940w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/SweeneyTodd_Web940x350-400x149.jpg 400w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/SweeneyTodd_Web940x350-768x286.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2008\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Croswell Opera House&#8217;s all-area high school show kicked off my year with a 2-weekend run of Sweeney Todd: School Edition. With a challenging score by Stephen Sondheim, this show walks a fine line between dark comedy and the deep desperation of the human experience.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2009\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2009\" style=\"width: 920px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019-02-15-23.39.43.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-2009\" src=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019-02-15-23.39.43-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"920\" height=\"614\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019-02-15-23.39.43-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019-02-15-23.39.43-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019-02-15-23.39.43-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019-02-15-23.39.43.jpg 1732w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 920px) 100vw, 920px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2009\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Next up was &#8220;You Rock, Valentine!&#8221; at The Croswell. A stellar group of singers and musicians performed this concert of love-themed rock and pop songs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019-02-17-17.08.09.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2010 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019-02-17-17.08.09-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"920\" height=\"614\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019-02-17-17.08.09-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019-02-17-17.08.09-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019-02-17-17.08.09-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019-02-17-17.08.09.jpg 1732w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 920px) 100vw, 920px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2011\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2011\" style=\"width: 920px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/leah-band-stage.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-2011\" src=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/leah-band-stage-1024x765.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"920\" height=\"687\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/leah-band-stage-1024x765.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/leah-band-stage-400x299.jpg 400w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/leah-band-stage-768x574.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/leah-band-stage.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 920px) 100vw, 920px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2011\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Also in mid-February (with rehearsals and performance running the same week as the Valentine show) was a homecoming concert by Leah Crocetto. A trio of drums, bass, and guitar backed up Leah and her pianist\/musical director, Todd Schreiber, with a tribute to the women of Broadway &#8211; from Barbra Streisand to Sara Bareilles. While this show was a challenge due to schedule, fluid setlists, and DIY charts, it was also one of the most fulfilling shows of the year so far!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2012\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2012\" style=\"width: 811px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Millie-FB.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2012\" src=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Millie-FB.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"811\" height=\"461\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Millie-FB.jpg 811w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Millie-FB-400x227.jpg 400w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Millie-FB-768x437.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 811px) 100vw, 811px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2012\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">In late February, Bedford High School presented Thoroughly Modern Millie. While this is a newer show, the score nails the musical styles of the 1920s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2013\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2013\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/SMCC-2019_OzPoster-650-e1554127448536.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2013\" src=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/SMCC-2019_OzPoster-650-e1554127448536.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"650\" height=\"496\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/SMCC-2019_OzPoster-650-e1554127448536.png 650w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/SMCC-2019_OzPoster-650-e1554127448536-400x305.png 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2013\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Early March brought SMCC HS&#8217;s production of The Wizard of Oz and its lush orchestrations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2016\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2016\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bass-World-Mary-Poppins-2019-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2016 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bass-World-Mary-Poppins-2019-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"1109\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bass-World-Mary-Poppins-2019-1.jpg 900w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bass-World-Mary-Poppins-2019-1-325x400.jpg 325w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bass-World-Mary-Poppins-2019-1-768x946.jpg 768w, https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bass-World-Mary-Poppins-2019-1-831x1024.jpg 831w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2016\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The final show of Q1 was Mary Poppins, presented by Whiteford High School. Although the bass book was a little ambiguous regarding switches between upright and electric, it was a pretty fun show to play.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Well, that&#8217;s the quick overview of my musical endeavors so far this year. Some of the content I&#8217;m mulling over for future posts include: detailed gear rundowns, tips &amp; tricks, or anything else that pops into my head. Stay tuned!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the last few years, I&#8217;ve been focusing more on pit orchestra gigs (musical theater productions) for a multitude of reasons: 40 years of playing in the cover band scene has burned me out It&#8217;s a great way to keep up on my reading chops I really enjoy being a member of a larger team working toward a common goal,<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/2019\/04\/01\/pit-happens\/\" class=\"readmore\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Pit Happens!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2009,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[127,130,23,129,128],"class_list":["post-2007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","category-music","tag-bass","tag-bassist","tag-music-2","tag-musical-theater","tag-pit-orchestra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2007"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2019,"href":"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007\/revisions\/2019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jondiener.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}