Explore Parent Committees
Preshow
Show Week
Backstage
Set and strike set pieces from stage right and stage left on the backstage crew
The Impact of the Backstage Crew
The Backstage crew includes a group of teen assistants as well as parent volunteers. Backstage crew members are essential to the production, spend their show week volunteer hours in the wings, moving set pieces, interacting with cast and other volunteers. Â
Serving on the Backstage Committee
Preshow Backstage Committee
The Backstage Committee is a Show Week committee, and parent volunteers aren’t assigned to this committee before the show. However, the Backstage Committee chair participates in a Cue-to-Cue Meeting several weeks before the show. It is at this meeting that the chair learns the details of the show and can begin to prepare for understanding what set pieces belong where in each scene.
Show Week Backstage Committee
Parents assigned to Backstage for their Show Week committee are an important part of the behind-the-scenes show production. The Backstage crew (Parent Committee volunteers and Teen Assistants) are responsible to handle all of the movement of set pieces on and off the stage at the correct time.
This crew works during each rehearsal to position the set pieces according to the Director’s instructions, to spike the stage (mark the stage with spike tape) to indicate where each piece needs to be set, and to assign crew members to be responsible for setting and striking each set piece on cue.
Backstage volunteers are in the stage right and stage left wings throughout every tech rehearsal and performance. They are in the heart of the show’s action and see the performance from the wings! Volunteers should be agile, able to quickly move set pieces around, and comfortable on their feet for long periods of time. Backstage volunteers wear all black.
