| | | Stage Crew
Theater is truly the
sum of its parts and we believe it takes much more than great actors to
make a great production. We also believe that students become stronger
actors by participating in stage crew which is one of the reasons why
we require every actor to participate in a minimum of three hours of
set construction. Everyone is welcome to be a part of stage crew.
Students can chose from the areas listed below.
Click on each area for a description and information on how to get involved.
Building and Painting Scenery (Often just referred to as “crew”)
Make Up/Hair
Properties
Archives
Costumes
lighting
Sound
Publicity
Stage Manager
Assistant Director
Building and Painting Scenery (Often just referred to as "crew")How to get involved: Students will typically meet in the
evenings from 6 – 9 p.m. as well as on weekends from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
To find out set construction work sessions, listen to afternoon
announcements, check the message board, and log into this web page.
What you will be doing:
Basically you will be building and painting the set for productions. A
typical crew session might include: building a platform out of wood,
painting a backdrop, cutting wood, or hanging lights. You do not need
previous experience with power tools prior to coming to crew, but any
experience is welcome and appreciated. Students will be working with
Carl Schoenborn , an equity stage technician, who has worked with CDH
Theater for twelve years.
Make Up/HairHow to get involved: On
the day of auditions, fill out a crew only sheet. It is a gold half
sheet of paper that can be found outside of the theater. If you miss
signing up on the day of auditions, you can pick up a form from Ms.
Kreitzer or Ms. Gerstner. The student crew head, should be giving you
a call within a week from signing up. If after a week, you have not
been called, please inform Ms. Kreitzer or Ms. Gerstner.
What you be doing:
Your student crew head will invite you to their work sessions which
will typically be after school. These sessions will be to inform you
of the plot, the characters, and the general look for each of the
characters. You will be assigned two or three actors. You will practice
your make up and hair ideas on other crew members and then on the
actors. You will make up your actors for dress rehearsals and shows.
If you can not attend the shows and dress rehearsal, you will need to
teach someone your techniques.
Props (Properties)How to get involved: On the day of auditions,
fill out a crew only sheet. It is a gold half sheet of paper that can
be found outside of the theater. If you miss signing up on the day of
auditions, you can pick up a form from Ms. Kreitzer or Ms. Gerstner.
The student crew head, should be giving you a call within a week from
signing up. If after a week, you have not been called, please inform
Ms. Kreitzer or Ms. Gerstner.What you will be doing: Your
crew head will be inviting you to their work sessions, which will
typically be after school. These sessions will be to inform you of the
props necessary for the show. You will then assist the student crew
head in making and finding props. You may have to visit thrift stores
or call various places to order props. This crew does not include set
props, but, rather, hand props. So, you will find items that you can
hold in your hand such as “newspapers”, but not a “couch.”
ArchivesHow to get involved: On the day of auditions, fill
out a crew only sheet. It is a gold half sheet of paper that can be
found outside of the theater. If you miss signing up on the day of
auditions, you can pick up a form from Ms. Kreitzer or Ms. Gerstner.
The student crew head, should be giving you a call within a week from
signing up. If after a week, you have not been called, please inform
Ms. Kreitzer or Ms. Gerstner.What you will be doing: The
archives crew is responsible for photographing the process and the
product of each show. The final result of the archives crew is to
create a well-designed and documented scrapbook. Archives crew will
attend several rehearsals to photograph the actors, choreography, set
construction, directing, crew work etc. This crew is exciting to
students who have an interest in photography as well as to students who
enjoy scrap booking. If the crew head wishes, a photo scrapbook can be
created easily through Proex as long as the crew saves all their photos
on a disc. Finally, a video
can be made as a form of archiving, but the first priority of the crew is to make a scrapbook.
CostumesHow to get involved: On the day of auditions, fill
out a crew only sheet. It is a gold half sheet of paper that can be
found outside of the theater. If you miss signing up on the day of
auditions, you can pick up a form from Ms. Kreitzer or Ms. Gerstner.
The student crew head, should be giving you a call within a week from
signing up. If after a week, you have not been called, please inform
Ms. Kreitzer or Ms. Gerstner.What will you be doing: The
costume crew is responsible for borrowing, finding and making (or
finding someone to make) the costumes for the CDH theater productions.
The costume crew heads should assign you work each time you come to
crew. You may be responsible for pulling out certain costumes that we
own and bring them to the actors for fittings or you may be asked to
adjust a costume with hot melt glue or simple sewing techniques. You
do not need to be a skilled sewer to be on costume crew. If you have
an interest in design and fashion, costume crew is a great crew to
join.
LightingHow to get involved: On the day of auditions, fill
out a crew only sheet. It is a gold half sheet of paper that can be
found outside of the theater. If you miss signing up on the day of
auditions, you can pick up a form from Ms. Kreitzer or Ms. Gerstner.
The student crew head, should be giving you a call within a week from
signing up. If, after a week, you have not been called, please inform
Ms. Kreitzer or Ms. GerstnerWhat will you be doing:
Lighting crew is responsible for hanging and focusing lights for
productions. You may also be asked to run spot lights if you are
available during productions. Your crew head will call you and ask you
to attend work sessions, which typically will be in the evenings from
6-8 p m or on Saturdays. You do not have to have previous experience
with lighting to be on lights crew. You will also be asked to come to
“stage crew/building and painting scenery” work sessions because most
of the lighting work overlaps with these sessions.
SoundHow to get involved: On the day of auditions, fill out
a crew only sheet. It is a gold half sheet of paper that can be found
outside of the theater. If you miss signing up on the day of
auditions, you can pick up a form from Ms. Kreitzer or Ms. Gerstner.
The student crew head, should be giving you a call within a week from
signing up. If, after a week, you have not been called, please inform
Ms. Kreitzer or Ms. GerstnerWhat will you be doing: Sound
crew is responsible for all the sound affects in a production. Sound
crew will create any music that is used prior to a show or during a
show’s run. During a musical, sound crew will be responsible for
dealing with microphones. You do not need previous experience with
sound to be on sound crew. You will also be asked to come to “stage
crew/building and painting scenery” because your work sessions overlap
with their crew time.
Publicity
How to get involved? On the day of auditions, fill out a crew
only sheet. It is a gold half sheet of paper that can be found outside
of the theater. If you miss signing up on the day of auditions, you
can pick up a form from Ms. Kreitzer or Ms. Gerstner. The student crew
head, should be giving you a call within a week from signing up. If
after a week, you have not been called, please inform Ms. Kreitzer or
Ms. Gerstner.What will you be doing? Publicity crew is
in charge of advertising the play. You will be responsible for helping
to design the poster as well as to paint the advertising banner that
hangs over the theater entrances. Publicity crew will also help to
send a mailing out to all Catholic grade schools and high schools to
inform them of our play. Publicity is also welcome to give ideas for
new methods to advertise the show.
Stage ManagerHow to get involved: On the day of auditions, fill out a STAGE MANAGER crew head sheet. What you will be doing: The
Stage Manager is responsible for overseeing all the technical elements
of the show. They will technically “run” the show for every
performance by calling out cues in the booth.
The Stage
Manager should attend every set construction work session and is
responsible for advertising those work sessions via the message board,
web page, and posters.
It is recommended, but is not necessary, that the Stage Manager be familiar with the light board and the soundboard.
Assistant DirectorHow to get involved: On the day of auditions fill out an ASSISTANT DIRECTOR crew head form.
What you will be doing:
The Assistant Director is responsible for helping the director in a
variety of ways. The AD will attend all rehearsals and write down the
blocking for every scene. The AD will help to warm up actors prior to
rehearsal and help the cast to focus on the work of the rehearsal. The
AD acts as a liaison between crew and cast.
The AD will be involved in several “errand” jobs such as: photocopying, calling actors who are late, running to get props, etc.
Prerequisite
for AD positions are Acting I class as well as previous stage
experience. Typically AD’s will be reserved for upper classmen, but
there are some exceptions.
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