Behind the Scenes

Ah yes, the theater, a defining part of La Salle Academy is the Arts Department. The talent there is phenomenal. Several La Salle graduates have gone on to pursue acting careers with some even going onto Broadway. La Salle graduate Michael Moise recently had the opportunity to work on the musical Hamilton as a rehearsal pianist.

Every student has seen at least one production with their class. You may be familiar with the actors starring in the shows or know a few people who work behind the scenes on tech crew. However, most students are not aware of “the Pit.” (Don’t feel bad; I’m not sure all of my friends understand what it is, so I will explain). For school musicals, a group of musicians play the instrumental parts and background music. Tucked away down the hall from the theater in the old chorus room is “the Pit.”

While the actors are learning their lines and tech crew is preparing the set, the Pit is rehearsing the music. For many years now, “the Pit” as we call it has been comprised of student musicians. These students meet each week for a morning rehearsal. Usually these rehearsals consist of running through all of the songs with the soundtrack recording. This helps us get a feel for the music and how our parts contribute to the sound overall. The music we play comes from original scores that professional musicians would perform for the musicals. The scores are notorious for their unfriendly key signatures that keep us on our toes. They are written to accommodate vocal ranges, but it still makes me cringe jumping from five sharps to four flats midway through a piece.

The real fun is tech week. For those of you unfamiliar, “tech week” is the week leading up to the weekend of performances. Every night that week there is a rehearsal and then performances usually begin Thursday night. The mics are set up so we can hear everything happening on stage, but they can also hear everything we do so we have to be quiet. As the show runs, we laugh as we lip sync to the most dramatic lines or ridiculously high notes.

Some of my happiest high school memories have been made in that room. As a musician, this has been fabulous exposure to playing some serious music. Last spring’s production of “Phantom of the Opera” was an amazing experience! It still gives me goosebumps remembering some of the beautiful melodies and harmonies I got to perform. Then of course, there are the crazy only-in-high-school memories like running out for pizza 10 minutes before call time, spontaneous jam sessions, and making the actors on stage laugh as we make funny faces at the camera. Oh yes, up above the seats in the theater is a television that shows our room to give the actors singing cues throughout the performance. The next time you see a school musical, glance behind you and you may just catch a glimpse of “the Pit.”