Life in the Pit

Back in 2021, we chatted with Joe LaRocca while he was playing on the 50th anniversary tour of Jesus Christ Superstar.  Since then he has found the niche of actor/musician and talks about how that has changed his perspective before we get into our main topic: his observations for the current state of hiring practices for pit orchestras and what he thinks needs to change. Joe's SubStack page can be found here: https://joejoethefluteboy.substack.com/ His previous interview with Life in the Pit can be heard here: https://www.davidlanemusic.com/podcast/episode/45fd912c/61-touring-with-the-jcs-50-joe-larocca-reeds Follow the podcast on Instagram or Facebook @LifeInThePitPod.  Feel free to subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Visit www.lifeinthepitpod.com for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Donations are also gratefully accepted.  Please leave a rating and a review on your podcast app.  Thank you for listening.  

In 2021, John Eldridge and I had a 2-part episode series on keyboard programming in musical theatre, and I felt it was time to check in for a 2025 update.  Software like MainStage and Q-Lab are becoming more and more expected at even a community theatre and high school level.  A mid-end keyboard, even with a ton of sounds, just won't cut it for an average modern musical.  If you're a music director and/or a keyboardist, use this episode to make sure you're up to date. Previous episodes with John Eldridge Programming Keyboards for Theatre Part 1 Programming Keyboards for Theatre Part 2 After spending hours preparing his keyboard for an upcoming show, John Eldridge got the idea to save and rent his work to save future keyboardists the huge opportunity cost that is spent here.  He created the company Stage Sounds, a company that specializes in over 200 shows of downloadable preprogrammed keyboard files for MainStage software, with more titles each month, and additional services for other instrumentalists. Follow the podcast on Instagram or Facebook @LifeInThePitPod.  Feel free to subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Visit www.lifeinthepitpod.com for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Donations are also gratefully accepted.  Please leave a rating and a review on your podcast app.  Thank you for listening.

CORRECTED: Original post was missing the interview, and has been updated. Sachio Nang chatted with Life in the Pit in 2021 talking about his recent high school experience and getting started with theatre music directing.  Since then, he has done professional work including 3 national tours!  He played keyboard 2 and was associate music director for Elf and Shrek, and is currently playing bass on the Ain't Too Proud national tour.  We talk about his young professional career, his adventures in social media, his hobbies as an arranger, and some of the things he's done to develop his skills to be this marketable at a young age! Follow the podcast on Instagram or Facebook @LifeInThePitPod.  Feel free to subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Visit www.lifeinthepitpod.com for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Donations are also gratefully accepted.  Please leave a rating and a review on your podcast app.  Thank you for listening.

Sachio Nang was recently a high school graduate in the Chicago area in 2021, and has since been part of 3 national tours since we originally spoke!  Before we soon reconnect to talk about his very young career as a Broadway touring musician, here is an encore presentation of our interview from April 2021. Follow the podcast on Instagram or Facebook @LifeInThePitPod.  Feel free to subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Visit www.lifeinthepitpod.com for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Donations are also gratefully accepted.  Please leave a rating and a review on your podcast app.  Thank you for listening.

Life in the Pit had reached its end as a podcast a few months ago, but I resisted making it official.  This episode was recorded and released simply because YOU the listener deserved a proper farewell, and I wanted to share just a little of why I'm not continuing here.  As I mentioned in this episode, I'm very proud of the work accomplished in the episodes, and I'm determined to keep the entire history of this podcast available and archived for as long as possible.  Thank you for listening, and for taking an interest in pit musicians, the unsung heroes of a theatre production! You can visit http://www.davidlanemusic.com/podcast to find all episodes of Life in the Pit as well find a contact form if you wish to get in touch.

"& Juliet" is a musical reimagining of Romeo and Juliet with a different fate for Juliet, all told with music from the legendary song writer Max Martin, whose songs have made the charts when sung by Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Bon Jovi, The Backstreet Boys, and more.  Dominic Fallacaro is the music director and also the co-orchestrator (along with Bill Sherman) who was responsible for coming up with the arrangements for the 9-piece pit orchestra to give this Tony-nominated show (and orchestrations) a unified sound!  We talk about how this project originated, the development, and how actual samples of the songs are used by the keyboards in combination with the flexibility of live musicians. This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial. Follow the podcast on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @LifeInThePitPod.  Feel free to subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Visit www.lifeinthepitpod.com for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Donations are also gratefully accepted.  Please leave a rating and a review on your podcast app.  Thank you for listening.

This is a brief follow-up to Episode 77 with Jason Loffredo, where we talked about the conflict of the new show, Here Lies Love, wanting to open with only pre-recorded tracks in a union theatre that required 19 live musicians.  An agreement was reached earlier today.  This is a reading of the news followed by a few brief thoughts on what it means. This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial. Follow the podcast on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @LifeInThePitPod.  Feel free to subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Visit www.lifeinthepitpod.com for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Donations are also gratefully accepted.  Please leave a rating and a review on your podcast app.  Thank you for listening.

After a longer than intended hiatus, Life in the Pit is back for a couple of episodes this month.  This was an impromptu meant to address an ongoing conflict between the Local 802 AFM (the union for Broadway musicians) and the pending opening of Here Lies Love in a Broadway house.  The production has announced that it will be employing NO live musicians and have only pre-recorded tracks, while the theatre has a contract with the Local 802 AFM that stipulates that no production can be held in that theatre with any fewer than 19 union musicians unless a special exception is granted.  It's a situation that is angering many NYC musicians and fans of Broadway theatre.  To help us learn more about it, we welcome our guest, Jason Loffredo, a NYC-based music director and keyboardist who has been in more than 2 dozen shows including Xanadu and Kinky Boots. You can sign the petition to oppose this production being allowed to open on Broadway without following theatre live musician guidelines right here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/here-lies-love?source=direct_link& This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial. Follow the podcast on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @LifeInThePitPod.  Feel free to subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Visit www.lifeinthepitpod.com for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Donations are also gratefully accepted.  Please leave a rating and a review on your podcast app.  Thank you for listening.

LIFE IN THE PIT listeners, here is the trailer for David Lane's new podcast.  If you'd like to add this to your podcasts, you can find all available apps at https://musiciantoolkit.podbean.com/ For Apple Podcasts, click here. For Spotify, click here.  Please follow the show! Is it your goal to become a great musician?  Are you already a working musician, but want to strengthen your craft?  Are you a music student with strengths and weaknesses, and not always sure how to address that which needs improvement? Do you need to learn how to be a better sight-reader?  Do you need help playing by ear, transposing, or memorizing music?  Do you sometimes struggle to know how much to practice a piece of music or skill, or what approach to take?  Are you wanting to get better at improvisation, composing, music theory, learning 2nd and 3rd instruments? If so, it sounds like you need to check out... The Musician Toolkit!

Life in the Pit is still temporarily on hiatus, but David Lane wanted to come on to thank all of you for listening, talk a little about the state of the podcast, and what's going on for 2023. This episode is sponsored by Fons, an online platform that helps private teachers of all types (music, yoga, martial arts, academic tutoring, coaches, etc) with smooth, automated assistance such as securing timely automatic payments and scheduling.  Click here for more information or to begin your free trial. Follow the podcast on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @LifeInThePitPod.  Feel free to subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Visit www.lifeinthepitpod.com for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Donations are also gratefully accepted.  Please leave a rating and a review on your podcast app.  Thank you for listening.