Imagine crawling under risers to gather a lost costume piece while dancers tap above you or having a prop break on stage and determining how to retrieve it before the next scene. These challenges, and more, are the life of a set crew member.
Dressed in black and working behind the scenes at most every performance of Jackson Academy’s show choirs and its theatre productions, set crew members play a vital role in each performance.
Crew members help construct sets and props, assist with shifting scenery during performances, manage actors, run lights and sound, operate the fly system, and execute makeup designs for JA’s fall musical, spring play, and competition one-acts, said JA’s Director of Theatre Arts Kerri Sanders.
For JA’s high school show choir, Encore, crew members must load and unload a moving truck filled with the set, assemble the physical pieces of the set before the show, and be able to move it all in an efficient manner on and off the stage during competitions. The crew also works with JA’s junior high school choir, Showtime.
“Sets are dangerous if the crew is not prepared, so many hours of practice are necessary,” said Director of Choral Music Amy Whittenton.
Rising junior Kathleen Thigpen, a crew member for the school’s fall musicals, has helped strike stage props and assist with costume changes.
“One of the most memorable costume changes I have helped with involved getting the lead male out of a wedding dress, which was incredibly difficult to take off, and then getting him dressed within the duration of the first few seconds of a song so he could go on about halfway through that same song for his scene,” she said. “We ended up with three people struggling to get him out of the wedding dress and we barely got him out of it in time.”
Rising junior Samuel Long, crew captain for Encore and Showtime, helped design lighting for each show choir’s performances for the last three years. He’s learned lessons that are more than just about lighting.
“The thing I have learned by participating in crew is that not everything always goes according to plan and you must be willing to compromise where you can and think very quickly,” he said. “Another skill I learned during crew is trusting other people to help the team move quickly and efficiently.”
Campbell Duease, also a rising junior, values the opportunity to make friends while being part of theatre productions. “Set crew is full of a diverse group of people who are easy to get along with,” said Duease.
Maysa Vivians ’21 shies away from being in the spotlight, and that’s why being a crew member for Encore and the school theater productions was a good fit for her.
“Being on set crew helps foster collaboration,” she said. “I love that it is a way for people who aren’t necessarily fond of being on stage to have a way to be involved in the arts.”
Both Sanders and Whittenton believe students behind stage learn to accept responsibility, to work both independently and together, and to handle the unexpected.
“From sewing up split pants backstage to sprinting to a dressing room to retrieve a forgotten prop mid-scene to sliding onstage with a towel to clean up spilled water during a scene change, crew members must always be on their toes,” Sanders said. “Most recently during Twelfth Night, our statue of St. Francis toppled off its pedestal and shattered. Stage manager Maysa Vivians acted quickly, retrieving a broom from the scene shop. I instructed two of our actors to take the broom on stage, in character, of course, and sweep up the mess to avoid injuries during later scenes. In the moment, these mishaps do not afford us time to laugh, but after, we are able to appreciate our quick thinking.”
This article was selected from an issue of Jackson Academy’s school magazine, True Blue, that was published in summer 2021.
