Act Out

An A to Z List of Why You Should Join Pit!
(With Pictures!)

By: Haley Kerley

A – Airdropped Memes

Who doesn’t love memes? Started by the original pit meme-er Kylie O’Hagan, pit has a rich culture of sharing memes with each other through airdropping, bringing us all closer together. Just look at those up there, who doesn’t want pictures of pit legend Jesse Thomas on their phone?

B – Band Kids

Making up roughly half of the pit orchestra, we have the band kids. They bring the memes, the laughs, the hokey pokey, and so many other random things (like a can of beans and mancala??).

C – Conductor Paul Oestreich

Mr. O has generously volunteered to conduct the pit orchestra, and we make sure he regrets that choice every day of pit. We wear his face on our shirts, we do our bow taps, and we make hoodies with his face on them. And yet, for some reason, he still conducts the pit orchestra and loves us regardless.

D – Dinner Breaks

You get free food! Just look at Jonathan, he’s got two handfuls of food. Pit will keep you fed.

E – Elevator Struggles

Moving percussion instruments down the stairs is a lot of work. Luckily, our school has an elevator we can use to move it down into the pit! Unfortunately, that elevator doesn’t work, as our conductor, Mr. O can attest to after he got stuck in the elevator his first year of conducting pit. How many times have you seen a teacher stuck in an elevator?

F – Forts

See this awesome fort in the orchestra room? This was made the day of the lock-in, where all the pit kids got to sleep overnight in the orchestra room. Fort credits to Zach Meyer, Jacob Peterson, Ethan Brown, Brian Franks, and Cade LaLonde.

G – Good Music

Oh yeah, you play music in Pit. It’s not extremely difficult music, but not always super easy either. Expect to have your book of music filled with a lot of out-of-pocket drawings and comments.

H – Harry “Dreamboat” Kroft

Each year, there is a legendary pit kid that everyone loves. My first year, it was Jesse Thomas, AKA World’s Sexiest Man. This year, it was Harry Kroft, AKA The Dreamboat. Don’t you wanna be around such high-caliber people?

I – Inside Jokes

Pit is an inside joke gold mine. Why are they fighting over the beans? How is Zach Meyer pregnant? Did Ethan, Cade, and Brian actually eat 65 batteries? Join Pit and you’ll know.

J – Joy

Look at all of these smiling faces. Pit orchestra boosts serotonin, guaranteed, or your money back.

K – Kill John Philip Sousa

As an orchestra kid, I’ve only heard of the horrors of Sousa. As you can see from Ethan’s music, the Sousa hate runs strong in the pit band kids. But don’t worry, you won’t be playing any Sousa in pit! 

L – Lumaye Believes in You

Nuff said. Adam Lumaye believes in you. But only if you do pit. Otherwise, you’re dead to him.

M – McDonald’s Drive Thru

There are a lot of traditions in Pit, and McDonald’s after a show is a classic. Has to be the Cedarburg one. They let us walk through the drive-thru our first year (and even gave us extra fries), they told us we had to be in a car the second year. We’ll see how they feel next year.

N – Nerds

Now, I’d understand if some of the pictures you’ve seen are overwhelming. Maybe walking through a drive-thru isn’t your thing. Maybe you don’t feel comfortable accepting random people’s airdrops. But don’t worry, you’re with a bunch of nerds in the pit. See that picture? That was at the pit party. I happened to have a puzzle out at the party. Some of them didn’t enter the actual party for an hour and a half because they were doing what? Solving a puzzle. 

O – Orchestra Kids (Obviously)

As an orchestra kid, I might be a little biased, but there are some pretty cool orchestra people here. Cards Against Humanity, tea sessions in the orchestra room, and Benjamin Levin’s homemade ice cream. Can it get any better than that?

P – Pit Parties

Traditionally, the cast and crew throw parties after each show. We decided to do the same, except ours are arguably cooler. Jackbox games, Emma Beaulieu’s special homemade brownies, popcorn readings of the literary masterpiece that is called ‘Megalove’, and so much more. 

Q – Quality + Quantity

Look at all of those musicians! That’s a lot, but not only is there a lot, but a lot of them are amazing at their instruments. Of these 31 musicians, 11 were in chamber orchestra, and 14 were in symphonic band. Not only that, but many of these musicians played at Solo & Ensemble and earned either a 1 or a 1*, the highest rankings you can get. 

R – Rainbows

Of course, the fine arts department has a history of being an accepting community for all people. Pit is no different. As you can see from one of the above pictures, the lesbian flag waved proudly in our pit for all of the Hello, Dolly performances, courtesy of James Ethan Brown, the “President of Lesbian” (yes, there was an election, and yes, lesbians did, in fact, vote for him).

S – Sleeping

Being a pit musician is tough work! But take it from orchestra leaders Jonathan Lim, Blessing Kim, and Nathan Moldavsky, there is plenty of time to catch up on rest in the pit. 

T – Toga Tuesday

During tech week, the actors have dress-up days. What about Pit, you may ask? We do dress up days too, but not the same as the actors (we pride ourselves on our individuality). One of our more iconic dress-up days this year was Toga Tuesday, as pictured above.

U – Under the Stage

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Man, I really wish that I could play my instrument in a small box under the stage with thirty or so other musicians”? Boy, do I have some great news for you! In all seriousness, it’s not that bad (despite Kylie O’Hagan’s expression in this picture).

V – Video Games

Mario Kart, Jackbox games, Smash Bros. We’ve got a fair amount of gamers in Pit, and as you can see (or can’t see from the mysterious box over the drawing that isn’t there for any particular reason), a fair amount of artists too. 

W – Wait Guys, Mr O is Sicc Today

Look at Mr. O. Wanna know how he got so sicc? It’s not from the choir kids, it’s because of us! 

X – Xylophones!

There’s something about xylophones that draws orchestra kids in. Every time we would go into the band room for rehearsal, some orchestra kid would go up to the xylophones and start messing around with them (like Mary Giersch and Blessing Kim). Let the pull of the xylophones draw you into Pit. 

Y – Yoshi 

This Yoshi sat perched above cello Lucas Zach in the pit. I don’t really know how he will convince you to join Pit, but maybe there’s something inexplicable about him that will make you want to sell your soul to this orchestra.

Z – Zucchini Bread

There’s no shortage of bakers in Pit either. Emma Beaulieu makes some amazing brownies and zucchini bread, I make pretty good chocolate chip cookies with sea salt, and rumor has it that Benjamin Levin, the man who makes his own homemade ice cream along with numerous other delicious desserts, will be joining the pit next year. 

In short, Pit orchestra is made up of an absolutely amazing group of people that have given me some of my best high school memories. I hope this list will persuade you to join Pit too, and hopefully, you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. And to my lovely Pit members of both the Cinderella and Hello, Dolly pits, thank you for giving me a wonderful two years in that little box under the stage.