Every year, NVD puts on a spectacular fall play with an even more incredible cast. This year, the fall play was Dracula–a captivating tale about the famous vampire from Transylvania. When watching the annual production, the effects and technical aspects used are difficult to ignore. They help captivate viewers and bring them into the story. While it may seem like pure magic, the scenery changes, costumes, and lighting would not be possible without an amazing team of students working behind the curtain.
At the front of every production, there is a stage manager who acts as a bridge between tech and the actors, ensuring a smooth performance on both ends. This position involves extensive communication between the two areas, along with organizing many aspects of the show and having the honor of getting to call it. After being involved with theater for 3 years, stage manager senior Lauren Carey reflects on the importance of tech within the theater industry.
“Without tech, there would be no show at all…Without all of that stuff, you can’t have on stage plays. You can’t have any entertainment in general without tech,” Carey said.
While chemistry between actors is important for a great performance, chemistry behind the curtains is equally as important in order to have a smooth running show.
“It’s important to hear what your other peers have to say and listen to their complaints. Listen to how they feel and see if you can accommodate them. You have to be able to work with everybody. It’s just an important thing. You have to be able to work with people to get somewhere in your life,” Carey said.
Alongside Carey, junior Jamie Collins serves as an assistant stage manager, also bridging the gap between tech and acting by keeping record of line notes, blocking, making calling books for the show, and more.
“I love being an assistant stage manager. I’m at every rehearsal, every crew meeting, and every show. I’m in charge of keeping everyone in check, writing blocking, and helping Rafael in charge backstage. I work on headset backstage during the shows on run crew and love it, however I can’t wait to stage manage for ‘Fiddler on The Roof,’” Collins said.
Next comes the crew chiefs, who specialize in managing the construction of the set before the production begins running. Along with the construction, they help manage the students who take the stagecraft class or participate in the stage crew club, who contribute to this process as well. This year, the two co-crew chiefs, Rafael Longhini Xavier and Yaniv Becker, both specialize in other aspects of tech, while juggling set design.
“Me and Yaniv are both crew chiefs which means our responsibility is to make sure all technical aspects of the show are being handled by someone and running smoothly. But we don’t do all the tech jobs, we have a person assigned for everything. With that being said, each of us have our own specific roles we handle– with me handling a lot of the backstage crew chiefing as head of run crew and Yaniv handling a lot of the heavier technical aspects because of his knowledge as our light board operator,” Longhini Xavier said.
As a very tech-heavy production, it is crucial to consider how technical aspects interact with the set, therefore affecting the ambiance and quality of an audience’s viewing experience.
“I think [Dracula] will be where tech shines the most, [audiences will not] necessarily notice, but I think tech’s gonna have the biggest effect on the show compared to any other show … There’s going to be a lot of blood, really cool lights, and some scares that are very tech heavy,” Longhini Xavier said
In any production, the most important outcome is immersing the audience, making them feel like they are truly experiencing what they are watching. While many aspects play into creating this effect, it seems that this year, tech is the most powerful one.
“The more we get experience with theater, the more we learn how to use stuff and the more we try to explore new things,” Becker said. “Like this year, we’re using some haze machines, some fog machines, and trying to elevate the viewer’s experience a bit more, but in a general sense, it is complex.”
Along with special effects, another powerful factor in grasping the audience’s attention and submersing them into the story is the connection of props with said special effects.
“The special effects definitely bring the audience in. One example is the [prop] blood transfusion machine. Through the blood transfusion, we found a way to get fake blood to flow through the machine; there’s a wire and a tube, and you can see the blood going through from one person’s arm to another, and that really brings people into the show– along with sound effects that are used and different parts of the set where we can hide things or people, so those jump scares and scary parts of the show are really brought into play,” Collins said.
With each production, NVD continues to outshine the last with incredible acting and technical components. With the experimentation of darker genres this year, many new experiences were formed, and thanks to the incredible tech department, the standards for future performances have been raised.
“You know how every year I say, ‘this is the most advanced we’re going to go with lights and fixtures, and pyrotechnics, and attributes, and everything in between that?’ I think this year does take the crown,” Becker said.
