Life in the Pit

Safety is always a concern in the orchestra pit. There are many issues and problems that arise while working in orchestra pits.

One of the more dangerous things we go up against is the problem of props flying from the stage and into the pit. Usually it’s the flying coins that roll off the front edge of the stage. These can do quite a bit of damage to a stringed instrument. During the rat and soldier battle in our last Nutcracker production, one of the swords came apart at the hilt, and the metal blade and other pieces flew into the pit. Over our pit there is a safety net, but this blade flew past the net and hit a viola while being played, nicked his finger, sliced a string in half, and damaged the neck of the instrument. The blade bounced off the viola and hit a violinist on the side of the head. Everyone walked away from the incident, but the possibility of worse injury was staggering.

During another Nutcracker many years ago in the same pit and during the same rat and soldier fight, one of the rats lost vision due to a costume malfunction. Totally disoriented, she went off the front edge of the pit. One of her feet became caught in a footlight as she fell upside down into the pit. Oddly enough her fall was aimed at the viola section. She was suspended until the trombone section reached her and lifted her into the pit. Luckily no one was hurt, but the potential was there.

Stairs without handrails have always been a problem. One of our bass players fell down while carrying her bass. The bass player was injured and the instrument was slightly damaged. After that, the management agreed to install handrails.

Before our pit was renovated, we had three different levels in the pit. Two of the levels were hydraulic lifts. There was a gap all around the outside edge of the hydraulic sections by the concrete wall. There were occasionally times when an object would fall through the crack and crash to its death 30 feet down. A few times a bow fell through the crack. This became a very costly problem. So, finally the stagehands stuffed foam into the crack, and that solved the problem.

The old Broadway theater in Houston had a very hazardous situation. The musicians would get into the pit, and then a stagehand would raise it into position. The musicians were trapped in the pit with only a crawl space out into the audience. On one occasion everyone climbed into the pit, and they began to rise into position. Unfortunately the pit did not stop but continued to rise. The orchestra and their instruments crashed into the safety net. There was a harp involved as well as percussion instruments and a stringed bass. Everyone hit the deck. Luckily that theater has been torn down and a new theater has replaced it.

We are always having problems with low ceiling entrances and exits. We are always trying to avoid cracking our heads on these. Foam padding seems to be the answer.

My two orchestras are playing in a newly renovated pit. We are now surrounded by beautiful wood and our concrete ceiling has been removed. But there are still dangerous places in our work area. The stagehands have placed two or three steps at both entrances, depending on the pit level. The steps are not permanently attached because the level changes with each new conductor. There is a huge gap at the front of one of the steps. When you look through the gap, you can see 30 feet below the pit. The steps are also unevenly spaced. So far we have had no problems, but if someone loses their footing, it could be a serious situation. This is an area that still needs to be addressed.

I think one of the more deadly problems of working in the pit is to walk and work on top of all of the power snakes. Because we need stand lights, snakes are inevitable. We are always tripping over them. It seems like the percussion section and the timpanist end up standing on top of these cords. They become a real hassle. It makes it difficult to set up our instruments and music stands. The cords also sometimes become damaged and then send out shocks when you try and plug in your stand light. How many times have I been playing when suddenly half of the lights in the pit have gone out! The orchestra keeps playing while the percussion section is crawling around trying to find the cord that was accidentally kicked out. It’s amazing how strong our eyesight becomes when the lights go out. Luckily in our new pit, the electrical outlets have been placed in the floor. We no longer work in a snake pit!