During a performance by the Pleasant Valley Drama Department, the audience only sees the show. There is a lot more that happens behind the scenes before and during a performance.
The drama department works hard on every show to give the to immerse the audience in the play through by being smooth and well-practiced. Cast and crew members arrive at the school two hours before the show to complete their various roles in the show preparation.
A pre-performance tradition for shows is to do secret buddy. Secret buddy works by the assistant director pairing students together, each giving a gift to a student and receiving a gift from a different unknown student. Before a show, members of cast and crew will hide their gifts all over the theatre while also trying to find their presents.
After hiding and finding their gift, students get their hair and makeup done, and then get into costume. While this is happening, crew members are also preparing by doing mic checks with the cast members or repairing any pieces of the set that may have been damaged in previous practices.
Once the preparations have finished, all of the students go to the green room below the stage for company circle. During this students get in the mindset of performing by getting pumped up and singing “Singing in the Rain.” Then the students gather in a circle and each person gets a chance to talk about the show and how proud they are of it.
“Company circle is a very important tradition, not only because it gets us in the mindset to start the show, but because it is a time for members of the cast and crew to say what’s on their mind,” said senior cast member Jimmy Guest. “They will maybe thank each other, or just take a step back and reflect on the show just before opening the curtain.”
Following company circle, the curtains open and the show begins. From this point on, the show could either be a huge success or a few aspects of the show could not go as planned. Since there is such a small margin of error for such complex shows, simple things can go wrong easily.
When things go wrong, they must be fixed backstage during a show. Because of this, when things go incorrectly, it can create a hectic environment behind the curtain. “A poorly placed set piece can cause people to get injured. A dead battery in a mic can lead to the audience not being able to hear the climax of a show,” said sophomore crew member Mason Barnes.
However, when the show is running smoothly, and the audience is enjoying it, the cast and crew members can feel it. “Being able to hear the audience react is one of the greatest feelings and, it helps boost energy,” said Guest. “It’s extremely rewarding to know that the audience is enjoying it as much as you are.”
