With two ‘mainstage’ musicals a year and two mini-musicals that the smaller theatre classes put on, it’s safe to say that theatre is a very prominent program at Floyd Central. People often watch the show without knowing what goes on behind the scenes.
The tech students take the role of stage managers at each performance. There is a student who is the props lead, one who is the costume leader, another the sound lead, and so forth. They take attendance, record key notes, and run the music.
“We have weekly production meetings with all the student leaders of each tech department to ensure we are all on the same page at the start of the week,” said director Brooklyn Chalfant. “It allows us to go over the notes and progress made the previous week and prepare for the upcoming week of rehearsals.”
Students who take the technical theatre class, which is a class offered during the school day, work inside and outside of class to make all the props, costumes, and sets for the shows. These students are essential to making sure the show runs smoothly.
The props team is not a class at school, but they still contribute to the play’s production. For this specific musical, they are assembling props based on the Percy Jackson movies and books. Some of the props they created include the Minotaur, which took upwards of 60 hours to put together, a lightning bolt, and articulating wings that move and were very hard to make, according to senior props leader/master Carson Ragland.
“You wouldn’t guess in The Lightning Thief that there is a lightning bolt eventually, but there is one,” said Ragland.
Many of the prop items are used from recycled material or material the prop team just happens to find. They create all of their projects from scratch; some items are complicated, and some are simple, like a prop PB&J sandwich. But sometimes, they have to be innovative.
“A lot of our stuff comes from the trash. I got some straps from the Minotaur out of the trash. Not a lot of it, just a little bit. Just general Home Depot or Hobby Lobby, in all seriousness. Walmart had some stuff I used. Always have to put credit for the trash can; they give us some good stuff,” said Ragland.
The technical theatre teacher, Andrew Walker, ensures that the tech students can manage everything behind the scenes to put on a solid performance. There is a lot of communication involved to be sure everything goes smoothly.
“The tech teacher, Mr. Walker, and I also chat multiple times every single day to make sure our program is working together in both acting and tech as we move towards opening night,” said Chalfant.
Junior costume leader Lyndsey Salesman and junior costume assistant Hannah Stroud are in charge of managing the design and fitting of each costume. They make the costumes themselves or sometimes use premade costumes and change them to fit the actor’s measurements. Some pieces have to be fully made. Recently, they were working on making shoes for the actors with the help of the costume manager.
“Especially for Percy Jackson, there’s pieces that have to be fully made, and that’s what we’re working on right now even though it’s tech week,” said Salesman. “What we’re doing is making the hooves, and so costume manager Rocky, they made a mace for it that looked like the hoove. So we hot glued it and taped it to the shoe, and now we need to paint over it.”
Safety is also very important for tech students because if they are not completely focused on what they are doing, someone will get hurt.
“There is a lot of responsibility and safety precautions that need to be heeded all the time for the show to work,” said sophomore fly leader Lucy Taggart. “Some people sign up to be silly backstage, and that isn’t always safe.”
When building sets and props, the students use construction tools, and if those are not handled correctly, someone will get hurt.
“Most people help build sets in some way,” junior carpenter Andrew Orr said. “Whether that be carpentry, which is most of the heavy lifting, or scenic, who set the scenes.”
Students also do all of the sound for the shows. The sound leader is in charge of sampling sounds and pulling them for the show, and the rest of the sound crew helps set up the microphones and speakers and ensure the sound system is working.
“I also work as a sound tech during the show,” Orr said. “That means I do pre-show and show, meaning I work before the show to get the show ready, as well as during the shows.”
Being part of tech sets students up for the future by teaching them valuable skills for life, which include communication, work ethic, and collaboration.
“It is a wonderful place to meet new people,” said Taggart. “Also, the opportunity to learn team skills and strategy is really helpful for the future.”
Tech theatre is a key part of the theatre program, according to Chalfant, and helps make the show what it is. The performance for this spring musical is Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief, which premieres today at 7 p.m. and for the rest of this weekend. Watching a performance is not only experiencing the acting and singing, it is also experiencing the movement of a team.
The link below shows more information and where to buy tickets.