Behind the Curtains: Stage Crew

Every year, Arrowhead’s drama department and Broadway Company put on amazing theatrical productions. Many things make their shows great: acting, lighting, stage work, and an abundance of other things. But one thing is for sure: stage crew does important work that contributes to the shows.

The crew in black, or as they may be referred as, “the black shadows,” are the handymen of the productions. The crew builds and paints the set; they hang, focus, and run the lights; and they change the scenery around–but there is much more that goes into building the sets.

Matt Carr, the technical director for Arrowhead, says the members of stage crew use “a lot of angels, measurements, things that you have to pick up and study,”

There are three stage managers for every show. The main stage manger is in charge of calling all the light cues and making sure the scene changes are done before the next light cue. Then there are two assistant stage managers who are responsible for the crew, making sure everyone is ready for the next scene change.

“It’s the actors show but we run it,” said Carr.

Those that saw The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, which the drama department put on in February, witnessed the result of four months worth of elbow grease by the stage crew. Stage crew engineered the entire set, building the steps to the arches.

Being a member in stage crew requires more than just being able to work a paint brush.

“It also adds an engineering platform,” said junior David Dolensack.

The steps for Caesar were made out of plywood, which may seem like nothing to the average student: wood is wood, right? But in order for the members of stage crew to use the plywood, they needed to check the math and make sure that it would hold the amount of weight was needed, says Carr.

The amount of time to build a stage varies. It took stage crew one month to build the set for Hello Dolly in October, 2015.

Senior Maryah Strieter states that, “[the black shadows] has made [school] worth it. It’s what I look forward to rather than the classes themselves.”

“It’s made me want to go into technology theater when I go to college,” said Strieter.

“You can be proud that you ran the show from backstage and you didn’t need any applause cause you were gratified enough,” she says.

So next time there is a standing ovation for a show at Arrowhead, be sure to remember all the hard work that the black shadows did behind the scenes.