“So you get to take it easy for the summer, right?” or “Must be nice to have some time off now, right?” These questions ring in my ears countless times after we close the last show of the season. If only I could answer “Why yes, we get to take a break for the summer until the first show in the fall.” But alas, the answer is a resounding, “No, we have too much to do.” As I write this blog entry, my desk is piled high with projects to complete, files to put away or go through for the next show, scripts to read for shows that need a set or a lighting design, applications for the TheatreWings Program that need to have interviews, a new version of the computer drafting program that needs to be installed, a list of furniture we still need for the new Resident Actors apartments and much much more. The scene and costumes shops stay very busy over the summer but most of the work we do has none of the glitz or glamour that the rest of our year shows. Starting in July with the SummerStage Production of High School Musical, we will be building everything for all 8 shows this season which is about a show each month as well as moving into a space we have not worked in before. With that kind of schedule, we have to do a lot of the planning during the summer. As soon as one show opens another one starts rehearsal and another is ready to start right after that one so there is not a lot of time to work out what the set will look like or how the costume changes will work during the season. We are doing all that work in the summer months so we can hit the ground running come the first show in the fall.
So although we will each be taking some vacation time during the summer months, our work does not slow down. Come on out to the shop in July when we have Volunteer night each Tuesday and find out what we have been working on.
Stefanie Christensen,
Tech Director and Resident Designer