McCaskey’s fall play and spring musicals are always amazing productions because of our extremely talented directors and cast. But when they bring the talent, who brings the set, the lights, the props, the stage? Obviously, it’s our stage crew in McCaskey’s stage design and production class. But what does the whole process look like, and what do we actually do for our biggest production of the year?

The sets for the spring musical vary significantly, which is what makes building them so fun. Around this time of year, after fall play is over, we have a lot of free time to take a break. However, after winter break, we get to work on brainstorming ideas for the sets after getting a general idea from the director. This can be from the color palettes we need to use to paint the sets with to the actual structure of them. 

Each year, we have design ideas that we end up not being able to execute like we think. A great example is a set piece that gave us a lot of trouble last year in The Wedding Singer–the rotating tables for the number with the revolving restaurant. It took much trial and error to get them to spin properly, but we ultimately found a way to do so, and that’s a lot of what happens behind the scenes each year. Even in the rare circumstances we do need to completely scrap something, we make sure to substitute it with something that’ll ensure the audience gets the same experience.

After we go through our trial and error and build some of the sets, we paint the finished ones as other sets get built. This part of the process is more intentional than some may think, because it’s not just about the colors matching the themes of the show, but also about creating textures that’ll stand out to people watching all the way in the back or on the balcony. This part usually begins once February hits. 

Once the sets are completely built and painted, there are a lot of miscellaneous things to add, like the disco ball in The Wedding Singer or the fountains in Anything Goes. The majority of the crew class stages the crew for the musical season, and this is the same time tech week starts – when the cast begins rehearsing with all the lighting, music, sets, and props as they become available. Tech crew practices the lighting and sound/music cues, deck crew practices their cues to bring sets on and off stage between (and sometimes during) scenes, and the prop managers organize the props for the cast members who need to use them. 

During real shows, many unexpected things happen that we need to create fast solutions for, on top of managing sets and props. Numerous hectic costume changes occur, and many require assistance to be completed in under 30 seconds; set malfunctions will happen at the beginning of the show and need to be addressed before the act resumes, or they must be minimized as much as possible. When anything does happen on stage, our cast is always able to handle it amazingly.

All of McCaskey’s productions are a huge team effort. They can be very stressful at times, but everyone involved can agree that it’s a gratifying experience. The best part? Putting on phenomenal illusions for the audience every show night, even when cast and crew are running everywhere backstage as quietly as possible. Now, when you come see Something Rotten this spring, hopefully you’ll pay just a little more attention to the craftsmanship of the stage’s background, the lights shining on their faces, and the items they’re waving around.