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Information for Crew Parents

Fall 2019 Updates Coming Soon!  

The technical director (TD) is in charge of the technical crew and making sure everyone is safe as we add the magic of lights, sound, set, props and costumes.  The rehearsals the week of the show is very important for the show as this is when the technical aspects is added and the run crew  learns what they will need to do to make the show go smoothly and look amazing.

Running Crew Requirements

For everyone on crew, there are a few things that will be required of the students to participate on the tech running crew.

  1. Attendance is required for every night Monday thru Saturday (rehearsals & performances) to be on running crew. 
  2. They will need to wear black (or dark navy) pants and shirts, Wednesday thru Saturday.  (t-shirts or sweat shirt must be turned inside out if there are prints or designs)  Dark shoes if possible.
  3. The 5th & 6th grade crew will need to listen to the older crew.   As the TD can’t be everywhere, we have an amazing middle school and high school student tech crew that will be guiding and training the  5th & 6th graders.

We tend to have an incredibly large turnout for tech crew, which means we will be sharing the work so everyone is involved.  Besides moving props and set pieces, there is the opportunity for a few students to learn about Lights, Sound and Stage Managing.  There will be a limited number of slots available for 5th & 6th grade tech students to learn about these areas.  If your child would be interested in one of these slots, please contact the TD directly.  These slots involve shadowing the high school crew members in the balcony of the theater.  Please consider, this is NOT a good position if your child can not sit still and learn by observing.  They will have some opportunities to help during the rehearsals, but at this time it is not clear if there will be anything for them on the performance night except to watch the high school crew and the show.  As you know what you child is able to handle, if your child would be interested and can sit & observe, please contact the TD directly.

Non-Running Crew

For anyone who cannot meet the schedule demands of running crew there are other options:  House managing, Painting the set and wardrobe crew (which has a bit of flexibility on Monday and Tuesday only).

The Schedule

Crew has basically the same as the cast schedule the director sends out.  Please be aware that the stage crew will often times need a few extra minutes to cleanup props and set pieces after the rehearsal ends.  During the week, we must clear the space and put our stuff safely away for classes that use the Auditorium during the school day.

Basic Running Crew Schedule (subject to change depending on the director)

  Monday        3:00pm to 6:00pm      First Tech Rehearsal – work thru with props, sets, & spots 
  Tuesday 3:00pm to 6:00pm  Tech Rehearsal – work thru with adding light cues
  Wednesday     3:00pm to 6:00pm Tech Rehearsal – run with some costumes
  Thursday 3:00pm to 6:00pm Dress Rehearsal – full dress
  Friday 5:00pm to 9:00pm Show #1
  Saturday 5:30pm to 9:15pm Show #2 and Strike


**Please be patient as your children could be released from the rehearsal a little later (5-10min) then the cast as they will need to put stuff away.

There is a work day on the Saturday before Tech Rehearsal that is for the 7th thru 12th grade crew to climb ladders and such.  Usually this is a time when we also paint the set and the schedule will be based on the set and requirements of each show. 

What to Expect - Tech Week is a very tough thing, even for professionals. 

A major part of what happens in Tech rehearsal is finding out what needs done when in the show.  This means the tech crew is always on standby to jump at a moment’s notice to do one little thing and then return to waiting, but still watching what is happening.  It is all hurry up and wait....  This is tough for students as well as professionals, but the results are amazing when it all comes together. 

The other thing that makes Tech rehearsals tough is that the timing is all expanded.  We all have to wait as we work through actor placement & movement in a new space and the timing & placement of new technical elements.  This time expansion is a hard concept to explain to students, but where a tech run thorough of the show can take 6 hours, but the actual run will only take 1.5 hours.

Monday we normally work thru act one and Tuesday we work thru act two.  As we work thru, jobs will be assigned to each crew member.  Wednesday will we run closer to full speed to practice the assigned jobs from Mon & Tues.  Thursday we will run as if there is an audience and will only stop if something is dangerous.

What to Bring

We have found with the cold weather, the heat is cranked up the theater, making it very dry and everyone is thirsty.  For safety, we can’t have open containers that could spill backstage or around the equipment, but it is recommended you send your child with a sport bottle of water that can close securely.  There will be set up locations that they can keep their bottles to re-hydrate.

Communications

The TD will try to update the website daily during tech rehearsals.   This is meant to be a resource for parents and older student crew, especially if there are any issues with email communications.  The web pages are dated when revised so you will know they are current.