The Only Girl in the Orchestra Review 2024 Tv Show Series Cast Crew Online
The Only Girl in the Orchestra is a short documentary film on Netflix, shining a spotlight on Orin O’Brien, the first female musician hired full-time by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. From Orin’s own words, we learn how she came to be part of the orchestra, the mood at the time she was accepted and what she’s up to now.
The documentary is predominantly shot with fly on the wall footage, as we follow Orin as she teaches other students and instils her wisdom, sharing what she’s learned over the years. It’s a pretty compelling way of delivering her story, and you really get a feel for her mindset during these segments. As she alludes to late on, she doesn’t mind “playing second fiddle” and “not standing out” because as a bassist, the role here is to be the floor for other instruments to be elevated. By its very definition, the double-bass should blend in the background and not be seen.
This message is typified across the film, and alongside these segments, we also see archival shots of the past, including a look at Orin’s upbringing, what it was like being the daughter to Hollywood actors, and how she managed to get into becoming a bassist in the first place.
It works well for the most part, although it would have been nice to get a bit more depth to her illustrious career, maybe through some re-enactments of her performances. We do hear off-hand reports from Orin discussing how the conductor was pleased with her work and lavished praise on her, but there’s not much else beyond that.
Still, it’s hard not to be inspired by Orin’s journey; a trailblazer who opened doors for other women to become part of the orchestra. Orin’s journey was not the easiest, and through newspaper clippings and stories from Orin herself, we see the sexist nature of the all-male orchestra, and the mood, at the time she entered.
At only 34 minutes, this is an easy documentary film to sit through and it’s a pretty decent story too. Personally, I feel like this would have worked better as a longer biographical film with Orin’s life re-enacted, but in its current format, this is still a decent watch.
