“When I arrived at Springbrook there was no theatre program which I thought was too bad,” John Weinshel said. “Ms. DeTroye [Mrs.Donaldson] really got the ball running, she wanted to put on a musical. I volunteered Ms. D’Orazio and Ms. D’Orazio volunteered me.”

Weinshel is now the supervisor of Springbrook’s stage crew. Stage crew is responsible for putting together almost all aspects of a play including lights, sound, set design, costume design, and props. Due to the number of jobs, stage crew has 31 members, outnumbering this year’s cast of Dracula.

“There are a lot of new crew members this year, we actually had more than we needed for the set that we’re building for Dracula, but because we wanted more kids in the spring … we kept everybody that wanted to do it,” Weinshel said.

Every rehearsal, the auditorium is shared between stage crew and the cast. The actors are running their lines on stage while members of crew can be found all over the auditorium. Set builders share the stage with the actors. The set requires the most labor to accomplish a fully developed environment in the two months. Under the stage, in what is known as the orchestra pit, old costumes are being detailed and sewn by costume design members.

“I like this year’s set because usually the sets for the musicals are showy and big, but for the play we got to turn it down and do more subtle things,” senior Jamie Davis said.
Davis is stage manager of crew and has been on stage crew for three years. She assigns jobs to all members of crew and oversees the production of set.

During the performances, there are members of crew doing make up, working spotlights, controlling microphones, and pulling curtains. Running crew is responsible for rushing platforms on and off stage between scenes.

“It’s kind of tense sometimes especially when we’re in situations like microphones aren’t working, but it’s all really thrilling, it’s fun,”running crew member Lily Wright said.

Wright was also responsible for the design of the Dracula t-shirts and some of the signs outside the school promoting the play.

Performances showcase the actors talents and their hard work in preparation, but people do not acknowledge the backstage work enough. Both the cast and the crew deserve a tremendous amount of credit for working together to be part of something much larger than themselves.

Dracula opens this Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.