by Jessica Cline
Staff Writer
The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.
The Hilliard Bradley Theater Troupe 7415 creates stories that come to life about four to five times a school year. Many passionate students and endless hours is the recipe for a successful show. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is the Fall Main Stage Musical this year.
There are a lot of different aspects of tech and it is everything you don’t see which goes on behind the show. Working behind the scenes is simply my passion; lighting, sound, props, set design, spotlights and so much more. Through my five years of service to Bradley TheaterI have learned that each part has to work together. Having others peers devoted and engaged makes the show run smoother and the experience better.
Six to eight weeks of production lead up to the opening of the show. Building the set for the show takes up most of those six to eight weeks. In this show, we have a Lead Set Designer (myself, a senior) and an Assistant Set Designer (Jolie Hoang, 10). We are the ones who lead set builds everyday after school. Hoang says “my job as assistant set designer is to be around at set build and help organize it. Being able to visualize what the set will be and how it will function is also a part of the job.” We are always around to answer questions and to keep people working on tasks.
In this specific show, the musical is placed in a middle school gymnasium. Even though the set designer “designs the set,” the director of this show has a decent understanding of what the set needs to look like. Rachel Moore, Theater Director explains, “In order to [create a set design plan], I first create the set design I see in my mind when reading the script. I add in any required or traditional elements of the set design as dictated by the script.” As set designers, we get the freedom to add and decorate everything and anything that we think is a good fit for the set.
After school when set build starts, it can be overwhelming in the beginning when trying to get organized and assign everyone a job. If and when Jolie and I are unable to make it to the beginning of set build, we create a master to-do list. The list is on our whiteboard where everyone can see it. We keep the list updated each day and it has every task that needs to be done, so we are able to complete our set. The list is always there and updated so the technicians can get started right away with a job and know what has been completed and what needs to be worked on.
With the relationship between a technician and the set designers , we are sure we have a rounded relationship. The set designers are leaders to the technicians. A student technician, Lindsey Cruz (10) says “I feel more than comfortable talking to set designers as well as recommending things for the set; at theater I feel like it's a safe space and we all have good relationships within the tech crew”. No matter what position, we are able to help one another to make the show as best as possible.
Another relationship that is crucial and important is between the Set Designer and the Tech Director. Eric Farnbauch, Tech Director, explains, “Set design for Bradley Theatre productions changed 6 years ago when we started having students perform those duties.” Even though it is not the Tech Director’s responsibility, he and I talk a lot. We bounce ideas off each other, keep up with the progress of the set and how we are able to help one another with our duties.
While trying to make sure the set is complete for the show date, we make it a lot of fun along the way. Tech crew is a supportive group of people that all have the same passion. That passion is being able to see the show turn out amazing after so much hard work getting put into it. Senior and student technician Hanan Hussein (12) expresses, “Come see our first musical of the year!” For more information about Bradley Theater, you can visit our website, bradleytheater.com
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