Why is it so dark down there?

Most orchestra pits are painted black, a flat black with no sheen or gloss. This darkness can loom rather large to an opera goer wanting to take a peek.

Upon first approach a visitor looking in will see a hot-bed of activity and lots of musical instruments. It can be an intimidating sight, something like a black hole full of busy bees.

The musicians are dressed all in black. They look serious and focused. Like an orchestra full of ninja.

All dressed in black

While the attire might be different from company-to-company, at the Arizona Opera the musicians wear what is known as pit black. Pit black is completely black attire; no tails or tuxedos, just all black clothing.

By the way, as far as we know there are no ninjas in our orchestra. We are just a bunch of professional musicians dressed in black!

Keeping the focus on the stage

The main reasons behind black clothing and a dark pit are:

• to exercise control over the lighting,
• and to keep the audience focused on the stage.

Musicians need light of course – in order to read and perform the score – and pit black absorbs some of that light. In a dark pit, pit black also helps to minimize human movement that might distract from the stage.

Music theater

In Broadway-oriented shows, the orchestra pit is sometimes covered with a black tarp. Made of cloth, it filters a significant amount of the light emanating from music stand lights while at the same time allowing the music to come out.

For even more significant light control, a Broadway pit might be located in a completely different room outside of the hall. The live music in this instance is electronically streamed into the house’s sound system. The audience has no physical contact whatsoever to the musicians they are hearing during the show!

The ‘black hole’ isn’t so scary!

Peering into the orchestra pit at the Arizona Opera is different than Broadway, and when looking in you will see a number of things going on.

You will see all sorts of people:

• Practicing … everywhere!
• Talking and chatting
• Woodwind players fiddling with tools
• Strings practicing the tricky parts
• Brass players blowing softly – and loudly – from the back of the pit

Some musicians might look very still…as if meditating. Or resting.

Say hello!

Stepping down to the pit and peeking in is like getting a backstage glimpse into how an opera production is put together. (Here are some of the people you might see.)

Musicians enjoy meeting the people that listen to them play. If we catch a glance or if you walk by a musician dressed from head-to-toe in black carrying an instrument – say hello!