Modern life seems to move at a breakneck pace. Technological advances have made our lives easier in so many ways, but they’ve also led to constant notifications, information overload and 24/7 connectivity. It’s little wonder that people look for small ways to escape, whether that’s getting absorbed in the plot of a gripping novel or succumbing to the addictive pull of a binge worthy TV series. Believe it or not, orchestral music can offer the same kind of fun and lighthearted diversion from daily life. The Sarasota Orchestra’s Great Escapes series is designed to do just that, providing a relaxing and approachable way to enjoy music by curating engaging and entertaining themed programs that blend light classics, popular tunes and conductor commentary. The newest entrant in the Great Escape series is A Musical Comedy which debuts on March 12, 2025. 

“The Great Escapes are structured to have many more pieces than a typical program,” says Marcelina Suchocka, the principal percussionist for the Sarasota Orchestra. “The pieces are shorter and it’s kind of a mishmash of a segment of a serious symphony to a lighthearted Anderson work to segments of movie scores. The programs are usually small digestible pieces for everyone to enjoy.”

Suchocka is referring here to Leroy Anderson, who was an American composer of short, light concert pieces. A Musical Comedy will feature one of Anderson’s most popular and enduring compositions “The Typewriter” a whimsical piece of orchestral music that humorously mimics the sounds of an actual typewriter. The composition incorporates a real typewriter as a percussion instrument, integrating the sounds of its bells, keys and carriage return into the melody. While the piece is charming, it also requires great technical skill from the typist and requires a particular degree of wrist flexibility. As the principal percussionist, Suchocka will be manning the keys on the typewriter for this show. “A typewriter isn’t something that an orchestra usually owns, so you have to go out and source it from a friend or thrift store. There was a little bit of hunting that went on,” Suchocka says. “Then you have to put it to the test to make sure the keys don’t stick, because that would be bad, and you need to test that it makes a sound that’s loud enough and consistent enough.There’s a bit of acting to it, a little schtick that you do,” she adds. “It’s fun working with a typewriter on its own, but there are things you can do to tell a story and make it even more entertaining.”

Composer John Williams (who once described Leroy Anderson as “one of the great American masters of light orchestral music”) also has a short composition featured in A Musical Comedy. “Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra” is a thrilling and energetic piece composed as part of the score Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Dynamic yet playful, this scherzo underscores an iconic chase scene in the film where the title character and his father escape on a stolen motorcycle. The work adopts the lively, quick pace of a scherzo, blending rapid orchestral passages with adventurous motifs, creating a sense of urgency and exhilaration.

Passages from La Cage Aux Folles and The Producers are just some of the other musical merriments you can expect from A Musical Comedy, which will have five performances at Holley Hall in the Beatrice Friedman Symphony Center. Shows are on March 12 at 5:30pm, March 13 at 7:30pm, March 14 at 5:30pm, March 15 at 7:30pm and March 16 at 4pm. For more information or to buy tickets for this fun and funny show, you can visit the Sarasota Orchestra website.