Theater Insider with Amy Rowland: Tech Crews


Theater Insider with Amy Rowland: Tech Crews
Have you ever wondered what went behind all the whosits and whatnots of Berkshire theater productions? How the costumes got designed? Where the posters came from? Who wrote the cast biographies in the lobby?
Well here is your answer: it’s the tech crews that make all this happen! But first, let me give you a bit of information on these “tech crews.” The tech crews were designed to allow each member of the cast to do one of the needed tasks in producing the show.
These tasks include: acquiring the necessary props, designing costumes, publicizing the show, writing the cast bios, taking head shots of each member of the cast and crew, and (of course) the blog!
Instead of taking for granted the fact that someone else magically does these tasks, we get to do them ourselves. It gives us a great opportunity to work on theater for not just what happens on stage, but what happens behind the scenes of creating a spectacular show. 
Each crew is has its own “team” with about 2-4 people. This crew of people works on their specific duties leading up to opening night of the show. Often these crew meet several times to ensure everything is complete. For example, the props crew might meet several times to create and revise the needed prop lists. They’ll go over this list with the rest of the cast to see if anyone has any of the needed items. If there are still items needed, the members of the props crew would have to hunt down the items to make sure we have them in time for the show. These tech crews are often stressful, but they are very rewarding. It’s an amazing feeling being able to step back at the completed work knowing your efforts were part of making the show a success. 

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