Working in the pit as a West End musician

Recently I had an email from an aspiring musician who had read my West End rehearsal pianist article and was very keen to join the West End pit musician clan. She was Grade 8 on four instruments and already had experience playing in local theatres and regional orchestras on clarinet, flute, piccolo and saxophone. She had recently moved nearer to London and emailed to ask me if I had any advice for how to start getting theatre work in a new area.

The thoughts I had turned into the following article, recently published in a number of ezines and journals. You are welcome to add it to your blog or ezine in its entirety if the author paragraph at the end is included with its live link.


Seven Key Elements for Working as a West End Theatre Musician

If you're a young musician wanting to break into the world of the West End theatre orchestras, where do you start?

It is impossible to walk into a West End pit job (or "hold a chair") with no previous experience. Therefore, your first task is to deputise for the existing players in a show.

It may come as a surprise that players who hold a chair would need a deputy. You might expect a chair holder to play at all performances, but there is an unwritten rule that says that players can take some shows off. It might be because they have other commitments, taken on before being offered the show. In my case, my first West End depping appeared because the keyboard player on Me and My Girl was also the assistant conductor, and needed a regular dep because he conducted at least one show a week.

If you are looking for musical theatre pit depping work, you need to put yourself into the mindset of a permanent pit orchestra player. If a musical theater orchestral player needs a dep (and they do, quite frequently), there are at least seven things they look for in a musician.

1. Can you do the job? The West End is the highest arena for orchestral pit playing in musical theatre. The players are, without exception, extremely good at what they do. Are you up to the standard of everyone else? When you hit the West End, everyone expects you to be able to play the notes in time, in tune and in style - that's a given. You need to demonstrate that you can play the instruments, play the music and fit in with the existing ensemble with the minimum of fuss.

2. Will you get on with the other players? Remember that your sponsoring musician will not be there when you dep for him. If you get to play a performance, but you irritate the people around you, you won't be asked back. Getting on with your colleagues is as vital as getting on with your sponsoring musician. Will you fit into the social structure? The job is as important in the off-duty moments as the playing moments. Demonstrate that to the musician you're depping for, and you're half-way there.

3. Can you sightread superbly? You'll probably be sightreading or reading music at very short notice - make sure you can do this (and count the bars rest of course). Most deps in the West End get to sit in on a show once or possibly twice, then dep either the following day, or later that week, or occasionally a month later. When you're sitting in, take particular note of the difficult or exposed entries and the solos, those are the things you will be judged on later!

4. Does the fixer know you? West End players are ALWAYS fixed by an MU approved orchestral fixer. It's not possible to play in a West End show otherwise (in fact, it's not legal). Therefore you have to be known not only to the player but to the fixer as well. Check out the list of fixers (the Musicians' Union can give you a list), and contact them too. If your name comes from different directions (personal approach, and recommendation by other players), you're more likely to get onto the dep ladder. In my own case as a pianist, things were slightly different in that I got my name around without a fixer as a solo and rehearsal pianist - but once I got onto two fixers' books, I was in work for six years without playing for anyone else.

5. Do you know the show, the style, the feel of the music? It's not only competitive, the jobs are RARE! Do anything you can to know more than the other potential deputies. Take every opportunity can to see the shows you are interested in (and those you're not), get to know the music, the style, the players. When I first worked on Les Miserables, I was asked back because I'd spent time learning the show before I arrived on the first day, and I knew it better than any other dep they'd had before.

6. What is your playing like? The sponsoring musician needs to know your playing. You're up against other potential deps who have probably been taught by the chair holders themselves. The chair holder already has knowledge of their playing ability and their personality. Rather than taking your instrument in to a show and asking someone to hear you, booking a lesson from the resident player might be a good move. A coaching session or two on pieces, techniques and (maybe) pit-playing advice would give the player a chance to hear and work with you (and be paid for it).

7. It's essential that you play a range of instruments. Almost all woodwind pit parts are for doubling and trebling, and if you can do flute, picc, sax AND clarinet, you've got a headstart. Even with the traditional musicals like Oklahoma, the wind parts are for treblers (usually clarinet/sax/flute, but occasionally for clarinet/bassoon or even flute/oboe).

And finally, expect to do some touring before working on a West End show. It's a fairly tricky career to break into. I had been touring the UK and Europe for some time gaining experience as a pit performer before I received regular invitations to play in a West End show.

If you are determined, focus and dedication go a long way to getting where you want to be.

Jeremy Fisher trains singers and performers to find and maintain their best. He's the author of Successful Singing Auditions, and creator of the Voicebox Videos (featured on the BBC and broadcast to an estimated 44,000,000 people). Sign up for Jeremy's free newsletter containing original interviews, pre-release offers and receive your BONUS free copy of "86 things you never hear a singer say" at http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/

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How To Find Work As A Professional Theatre Pianist

What kind of work can a professional pianist expect to find?

Obviously you can work as a recitalist, or join an orchestra as their resident orchestral pianist. But there's a hidden area of work that is both satisfying and fun.

I worked for almost 20 years in London's West End as a rehearsal pianist, and this article focuses on what a rehearsal pianist is, and how to become one.

A rehearsal pianist plays for the rehearsals of West End or touring shows, in the weeks of production before the band arrives. Any show that contains live music will need a rehearsal pianist, but the most famous examples are the big musicals. I worked on Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Me and My Girl, Carmen Jones, and a host of productions both in the West End and on tour.

The contract usually runs for four to six weeks, from 10am to 5pm five or six days a week. During the technical week (the week before opening night or the first preview, when all the sets and costumes are added) the hours can extend quite dramatically - I would sometimes be working 12 or 13 hour days

As a rehearsal pianist you have to be very patient, and to enjoy watching the process of performance creation. In addition, you should be able to perform musical numbers repeatedly to a consistently high standard. And you need to like working with actors! You may or may not have a conductor there, and occasionally you are given the task of training the singers, or playing for the dance calls.

Most productions will have a minimum of two rehearsals each week. You may be called to work on the production during the run, particularly if there is no piano player in the orchestra.

How do you begin working as a production pianist?

When I moved to London in the late 80s I wrote 750 targeted letters asking for employment. Although most of the production companies no longer exist, the methods of contact I used are still valid.

Remember first that you're looking for companies or organisations that produce events, musicals, plays with music or short films, that would need a musician. In the UK, the place to start is the British Music Yearbook, published by Rhinegold and usually available in a good local library. Once you've exhausted the BMY, then Contacts, published by The Spotlight, has a good up-to-date list of repertory theatre companies.I also wrote to film and production companies (with the emphasis on Production) offering my services and asking them to keep my details on file for when they might need a film pianist.

Dance studios like Pineapple Studios in London are constantly hosting production rehearsals, and may be worth contacting. They won't provide you with employment but they have so many production companies hiring their space that they might be able to put you in touch with people needing your brand of skills. It may be worth approaching all the similar rehearsing venues in the area.

Another alternative, often forgotten, is to contact the West End Orchestral Fixer. An orchestral fixer will liaise with the producers of a musical to book the musicians for the run of the show. They will sometimes employ or recommend pianists for the rehearsal period, even if they are not booked for the performances. Once I was established on the scene, I got a great deal of my work from one West End fixer, who knew about or was involved in lots of productions. I didn't necessarily play in the production itself, but was hired for the rehearsal period and the "overlap time" between the bandcalls (in the final week of rehearsal) and opening night. There is an exclusive list of orchestral fixers approved to book West End musicians - if you are having trouble finding it - contact the Musicians' Union.

In a nutshell, think out of the box. I got the contracts by writing to as many people as I thought had the budget to pay me.

Did my mailout all those years ago get any results? Out of those 750 letters I received 49 replies, and one interview for a job in the West End which lasted for a full 8 months and led to a busy 20 years in and around London's Theatreland.

Good luck!

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Jeremy Fisher trains singers and performers to find and maintain their best. He's the author of Successful Singing Auditions, creator of the UK's first endoscopy video ebooks, and is fascinated by bringing technology and innate skill together. http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk

[you are welcome to publish this article on your own website or blog provided the author's biog and Vocal Process weblink above is included]

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
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The Vocal Process website has a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.