Many students are aware of the wonderful performances that are put on by the Drama department here at San Dimas High School. Even those who don’t attend our school still have the privilege of seeing the shows. It goes without saying too, that these many plays and musicals have an intense amount of work put into them, an amount that, without working in one, would be completely incomprehensible by the mere audience. As just a member of the audience, we, while enjoying the performance, don’t get to see some of the most hard-working members of the show; the Crew.
The Crew has many different jobs around the theatre. From organizing actors from place to place, fitting them into their costumes, to working the set. Regardlessly, it’s easy for them to go unnoticed or unappreciated, even by the actors.
“[The audience doesn’t] realize the amount of work that the cast and crew put into shows, because they just see it. They don’t recognize how much work everyone has to put in,” says a very extroverted Crew member, Jordyn Daly. Not getting noticed though, doesn’t seem to be a problem for them though. She also recalled that she, “I like being secretly part of the shows,” Daly finishes. “It makes me feel good when you can watch how well things get out together and know that you had a part in a great production. You know that you took a part in this amazing production.”
Most people who work in crew kind of enjoy being the invisible people behind the scenes. They get credit in the playbill, and we’ve worked into our curtain calls a point where the crew can come out and be acknowledged.
— Director, Mrs. Kocalis
This, surprisingly, seems to be the case for most Crew members. They all seem to get the recognition that they need simply from watching their peers succeed, and knowing that they had a part in making something special.
Assistant Stage Manager (ASM), Sylvia Bovd has another way of looking at this. She says, “The audience [will] understand that the actors have people behind the scenes. Everyone runs the show together. Everyone has a part of the show and we’re there to help them put on a show.”
Even when the audience can’t immediately see all who work on the show, it should always be known that besides the actors and performers that we see on stage, there will always be others behind them, making the show as perfect as we see it from our seats, and knowing that the show is as good as it is, is all the credit that they will ever need.
