[Trombone-l] Pit Stories

[Tony Clements]

Once I was playing "Barnum." They had built a ramp around the pit, where
clowns, jugglers and the like would run and dance. On dress rehearsal night,
the unicyclist went flying into the pit, landing on the conductor, and the
unicycle landed on my music stand; I had a week-old tuba at that time. Next
day, I went to San Jose State Univ to borrow a tuba.

Another time, during a run of 'Nutcracker,' several motorized mice (R/C
controlled), flew into the pit, landing on the timps. Not to mention the
numerous times the smoke (vaporized dry ice) was so thick flowing into the
pit, we couldn't see the conductor (blessing!).

Once, during the premiere of George Roumanis' "Ode to Phaedra," amidst the
bacchanal scene, one of the tumblers flew right over me and landed on the
trombone. One way to get a new, at the time, Edwards.

Once during a LLOONNGG run of "Sound of Music," I fell asleep during an
extended stretch of dialog. When I woke up, the pit was empty; seems as
though they let me sleep until the noise of intermission woke me up.

I could go on and on.

Best,
Tony Clements