When sophomore Rachel Mattson reflects on her experience being involved in theater, she feels proud of what the crew members create together.

Mattson said she looks forward to the performance of “The Drowsy Chaperone” because she enjoys seeing the final product of what has been built.

“I like working with everyone,” Mattson said. “For the one show that I did, I liked seeing everyone on the set and how good it looked. That was the best part of the show.”  

According to theater director Jodi Hatzenbeller, the most excellent crew members began as aspiring actors.   

“They want to be actors at first, and then they realize that they’re really good at something within crew and that sort of sticks for them,” Hatzenbeller said. “Sometimes that’s the way we find our best crew people.”

Sophomore Zoey Zachek said there are many traits needed to be a successful crew member.  

“(Being a crew member) requires good listening and visualization skills,” Zachek said. “It is definitely a really nice community of people because we all are very focused.”

Hatzenbeller said there are plenty of crew opportunities within “The Drowsy Chaperone” and the 1920s time period provides inspiration.

“We have a lot of different crew positions. People can build the set, which is going to be pretty massive for this show, so we need a lot of people for set,” Hatzenbeller said. “The costumes are all 1920s, so it’s going to be very involved.”

According to Mattson, the crew member schedule and hours are flexible.

“Crew is usually from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. after school, and sometimes we have late Fridays if more work has to be done,” Mattson said.  

Hatzenbeller said being a participant in the technical crew requires independence.

“We also have a sound and lights crew that basically focus and prepare everything, and then they run the board during the show,” Hatzenbeller said. “No adults sit back in the booth, it’s all student run during the actual show.”

According to Zachek, the crew stays on task and is aware of the time constraints involved with the show, “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

“Right now, we are working on building the second level of the platforms for the set,” Zachek said. “We know we need to get this job done, but then also have fun while doing it.”

“The Drowsy Chaperone” will be performed on Nov. 11-13 and 18-20.