Superstar knitting

Last night the NCT production of Jesus Christ Superstar closed, and all that pit knitting came to an end as well. Out of 8 string players, 4 were knitters and one was a needle pointer. In the woodwinds, we had 2 more knitters! There was lots of knitting, including a modular felted bag, a beaded knitted scarf, a needle point Christmas stocking, a couple of socks, some drop-spindle spinning, and a pair of mitts. The mitts were mine, and they are pictured above on my music stand. Particulars: Malabrigo worsted wool, 5 sts to the inch, my own pattern, special order from Ariadna, my stand partner from Light in the Piazza.


Before I brought the camera, I finished Ben's Opal 6-ply socks, but didn't get a picture before I sent them home with his dad. This sock is the Trekking, still languishing on the needles. I really need to finish this pair of socks! The picture was taken on the conductor's stand. You can see his baton, and a little bit of the monitor in the upper part of the picture.
For this show, the orchestra was in a room underneath the stage instead of the orchestra pit. Our sound was wired up to the auditorium, and we relied heavily on monitors. The conductor used the monitor shown here to see the stage and there were 2 more upstairs facing the stage so that the actors could see and follow the conductor. I wished I could see one of the monitors, then I could have seen the show!
It all worked, but it's not ideal. Usually, the actors and orchestra feed off of each other's energy in a performance, making the show more dynamic and interesting. This isn't possible with the arrangement we had, and I don't think we'll be doing it again. Our conductor was mighty unhappy about the situation, and I think he'll do whatever he can to ensure that the orchestra is in the same room as the show in the future.