Playís success depends on behind-the-scenes crews

By Danielle Strenke
North Branch High School will present its fall play, ëThe Wizard of Ozí this weekend. When audience members see the actors performing the well-polished scenes, they will also be seeing the hard work and dedication of students who are working behind the scenes as well.
While the actors have been rehearsing their lines and trying on costumes, crews of students have spent hours over the last several weeks constructing and painting scenery, working on lighting and sound and practicing songs.
Julia Roman serves as advisor to the painting crew. The crew of 10 students has had the big job of painting all of the scenery and props used in the play, but their job does not end there.
All of the crew members are responsible for helping make the 16 set changes during the play into flawless, quiet transitions. The group rehearses over and over, working on getting the sets moved quickly and making sure everything is in the correct spot for the scenes. ìOur goal is to make sure thereís no notice of us,î Roman said. ìIf people donít see the set change weíre doing our job.î
The crew started painting scenery in mid-October, and was putting the finishing touches on some of the sets earlier this week.
The sets are built by students in the building trades class at NBHS, and are painted under the guidance of Jill Birk, the playís director. ìWe work off of Jillís ideas,î Roman said. ìEverything is in line with her vision.î
She said the entire crew is needed for every set change in the production, which contains some complicated sets.
Roman said the biggest challenge with this yearís play has been coordinating the large number of set changes and making sure each piece of a set is in the right place.
To ensure the right placement, the crew uses ìspikingî to mark the spots with tape. For the performance, the tape used is called ìtechyî tape because of its fluorescent appearance, making it easy to see in the dark.
The students on the crew say that being a part of the play this way is a fun way to be involved ìI still wanted to be a part of the play even though I couldnít try out because of sports,î one student said.
Others said they had worked on the crew last year and wanted to do it again, while some had friends or siblings working on the crew and said they were convinced to try it.
Amber Turner likes helping out with high school plays so much that she returned to this yearís crew even though she graduated from NBHS in June.
Roman said it is fun to work with the students in the crew, and they have worked hard every day after school and on a few Saturdays. ìA lot of the parents have been involved too,î she said.
Members of the painting and set change crew are: Turner, Nicole Aufderhar, Karli Anderson, James Swing, Eric Aufderhar, Katy Thorp, Elle Cummings, Meaghan Vaughan, Jennie Still and Ben Lunsford.
Kelly Coleman advises the tech crew working on the play. The tech crew handles all of the lighting, sound and video.
During the play, the crew members man the lighting and sound booth, spotlights in the balcony and lower and raise the vines, which are the long rows of lights above the stage.
The crew is also responsible for setting up the seven wireless microphones that are used by the actors during the play.
Crew member Brian Meskimen said the actors playing Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion will keep the mikes on at all times, while the other three mikes will be rotated between other actors during the different scenes.
Like several of the tech crew members, Meskimen has worked on the high school plays before. There are things that can go wrong, he said. ìLast year one of the mikes stopped working right before the performance,î he said. As Meskimen hurried to an electronics store to purchase another one, the rest of the tech crew eventually fixed the mike.
Josh Berwald jokingly refers to himself as the executive video producer on this yearís production. He will be one of three crew members manning video cameras to capture the action of the musical.
He said this yearís video of the play should be much better than in yearís past, because the three cameras will be positioned at different locations in the auditorium.
ìOne will do close-ups, one from the back to focus on one or two people and one will film the whole stage,î he said.
Berwald will edit the tapes together for the final video tape, and said it should make for a lot more interesting video. Copies of the finished video are available later for purchase.
Several of the tech crew members are in the tech club at the high school, and wanted to work on the play. They said the biggest challenges are the many set changes and figuring out where to hook up the mikes on some of the costumes.
Tech crew members are: Meskimen, Berwald, Kyle Singleton, Luke Gertz, Matt Driscoll, John von Lange, Jordan Gades, Brad Palick, Eric Leist, Ken Koski, Shane Geldon and Tom Koep.
The final behind-the-scenes crew is the pit band, directed by Barry Zumwalde. Members of the band will play all of the music for the songs during the play, as well as the background music during set changes.
The band members are responsible for not only learning the music, but being able to follow the play and the actors to ensure that the music stays in sync during the performance.
Members of the pit crew are: Adam Bye, Kathleen Lunsford, Quin Shanley, Kevin Gervais, Geoff Watson, Derek Moss, Ryan Zangs, Jason Endriss, Nick Lindberg, Bill O'Brien, Meagan Lindquist, Mike Paquay and Mitchell Pohlkamp.

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