Behind the Scenes at the Winter Musical with Cece Lasley

By: Sam Agro '18 

Every year, Mr. Giddings and the arts department put together an uproarious musical for the students to perform, and this year’s, Nice Work if You Can Get It, is no exception. In the fast-paced comedic plot that takes place in the Prohibition Era, bootlegging Billie Bendix (Christen Morrell '17) and her cronies Duke (Charlie Olmert '17) and Cookie (Tyler Perreten '16) are dealing alcohol to New York speakeasies, where Billie meets the very stunning, very wealthy, very drunk playboy Jimmy Winter (Adam Needle '16). Jimmy is getting married for the fourth time to please his mother, but will Billie get in the way? 

When putting together a show, much of the credit is awarded to the performers. Those who sing, dance, and act are the ones taking a bow after the final curtain, but what about the people who put together the show behind the scenes? To get insight into how “Tech” works backstage, I interviewed Cece Lasley, head tech director, about her work behind the scenes.

Q: What is it like working in the tech booth?

CL: It’s kind of chaotic, but also really fun because you get to watch the show come together and do a lot of stuff.

Q: When did you first get involved with tech?

CL: The musical my freshman year. I did some tech, and I ran a spotlight. It was really fun and I just kept doing it.

Q: What’s your favorite part about tech?

CL: Lighting design is my favorite, because it allows me to get to do stuff with the lights while also letting me be creative about it.

Q: What’s your least favorite part?

CL: Well, programming can be very tedious. Actually, I don’t really have a least favorite part. 

Q: What’s the hardest part about being a techie? 

CL: Initially learning how to do everything, because when you’re learning or teaching, you do it while you still have things to do for a show, and that can be hard because it’s a steep learning curve.

Q: What’s the best part?

CL: Meeting a lot of awesome people, making friends, and getting to see everything come together!

As you can see, backstage tech can be a fun and educational thing to do for a show, even if you do not want to perform. If you are interested in learning more, talk to Cece or John Owen and get yourself into tech! These unsung heroes of theatre are always looking for more helping hands.