The Shadow Ridge Theatre is grand. It hosts all sorts of plays, one of which is coming soon: “Shrek the Musical.” However, nobody ever pays much attention to the people behind the scenes, the ones pulling all the strings. These folk are the “Theatre Technicians.”
Mars Gaston, Lead Construction Tech, says, “My favorite part about theatre is building the set and then seeing the end results, so we can make shows come to life.”
Theatre Technicians are the ones who build everything used during the performances. These things that take weeks to build just for one or two shows. Theatre Techs can get a whole stage set up and painted within a matter of only a couple of months. All of this is hard work considering they are on a time crunch.
Nicole Richards, Theatre Technician, says, “I did sound for this year during our first show called “Puffs” and now I’m a stage manager which isn’t necessarily a part of our class but it’s something that you can sign up for, I’m the stage manager for Shrek and I worked on cabling creating sounds, I worked on cabling the LED lights on the ground, I have built things in construction although it’s not my main thing, I’m helping currently build our extensions for the stage.”
The Theatre Technicians also have roles to play when in the shop. Some technicians are in higher roles than others making sure that things get done on time. These higher rolled echs are known as “Leads.” Each department in the theatre has a lead that keeps track of everything that gets done and helps out those who need it.
During performances, the technicians man the spotlights and control everything that goes on during the show. That would entail the color of the stage lighting, the curtains, the sound, etc.
Techs spend a good bit of time after school working on building sets and making props.
Tony Soltspa, Theatre Technician, states, “I’m in tech one, and I work in the back apartment. I love how accepting and awesome the environment is and how you can learn construction skills and other skills that will benefit you in life.”
This work is definitely worth it though, for these technicians after graduating get CTE credits for this class which are college credits. Just 3-4 years of taking this high school class not only gets you an easy A, but if one decides they like to go to college they’d will already have credits for it.
Katina Hartley, the theatre teacher, is a great teacher when it comes to safety handling all the tools in the shop.
