I did this with a production of The Beggar's Opera back in the early 1970's. I gave up on the period bassoon (never could get it to play in tune on the forked notes, and I missed the whisper key too much), but had to suffer through a two week run wearing a costume out of the William and Mary era. Uncomfortable, and a too tight fit to boot.
Much later on, an older but not necessarily wiser T. Stibal did a production (college level) of the 3¢ Opera. This time, the horns were easier to manage (clarinet and (I think) alto - although it may have been tenor), but the clothes were even harder to endure. The duds were literally beggars' clothing, and stank to high heaven. After the lights went down, most of us in the pit 'band' shed them immediately.
When I did Barnum!, the production called for a circus band to march on stage during the entr'acte, play a ditty for a couple of choruses, and then exit stage right to the orchestra area. Here, the clothes weren't the problem (striped vest and a straw boater hat, it was the marching. Prior to that time, I had never played in a marching band in my life, and learning the blocking was a major league issue. At the time, I didn't have a clarinet that could take a lyre, so I played it on the bass, playing the horn off of my thumb alone. I color coded the bars in the music, so I knew when to take two steps this way and two steps back. All in all, it was the hardest $500.00 I ever earned whilst playing a horn.
And then there was the time that I played the on-stage tenor part for Cabaret at the same college. This time, the horn was modern (one of the last times that I played my Mark VI tenor), but the costume was even worse - 1930's era drag. Stockings, garters, a pair of very low rise heels (how do women walk in those things?), plus the requisite padding at the front. I was told that I had great legs, this by a hockey buddy of mine. I got him back a couple of months later...
Oh, how I long for the days of the traditional orchestra pit - no on-stage music, no ratty or weird clothing, just a nice place to read and play the occasional tune. Things were much less complicated then.
