What does one do when working in the "crew" of a theater production?

Question

I recently auditioned for two plays at my college. I didn't get callback from either one. But I was wondering if working in the crew would be a good opportunity to get involved in the productions as well? What is the purpose of the crew? What do they do? Are their tasks hard? Do they have to stay at the rehersals for as long as the cast members? Help me out here. Do you think I will benefit or learn anything from the experience of working in the crew?

Answer 1

Working crew is a great way for actors to understand everything that goes into the play, and all the people that work on it.
At my college crew involved everything, from lighting people to dressers. For most crew jobs you have to be quick on your feet, board ops just have to be on top of things, but for most the show they are pushing a button. Stage hands and dressers have to be quick, sometimes you have less than a minute to change someones whole costume. Sometimes in college a crew position will entail more than one area, you may have to do props and dress.
Sometimes though crew positions can be boring. An example would be having to sit under a dark stairwell for 3 hours waiting to let down a drawbridge, and not being able to see anything. But those kind of jobs are character building. Laundry crew though is a position were you probably don't want, all you do is come in after the show and do laundry. but there are also great jobs like getting to 'bloody up' an actor, or getting pour sparkles from the grid.
Usually crew isn't brought in till the end of the rehearsal process, or periodically during the rehearsal process.
Crew is great, its character building, and you get to meet a lot of people.

Answer 2

There are different crews. The light and sound crew is responsible for spot lights, house lights, microphones, sound effects, etc. Costume and make-up crews help apply make-up for the characters and keep the costumes together, take care of the costumes, and help streamline costume changes especially if they must be done quickly or if the costumes are elaborate or difficult. Stage crew is responsible for running the curtain, taking care of props, changing scenes, moving the sets around, and often building the sets. Crew is really important in a stage show; if the crew does not do a good job then the show is in trouble. It is a great way to be involved, and you can learn a lot. You may not have to stay at every rehersal the full time. The first several rehersals the crew may not be needed because they will likely be reading through the script and practicing lines and getting into character. The director will let everyone know when the crew needs to come. Also, the particular crew that you are on will determine which rehersals and how long.

Answer 3

Alright.. Number one, time to clarify. The crew doesnt involve the make up, or coustumeing or anything like that. The crew is the Lights, sound, set, rigging, and anything that involves any technical type thing to make the show actually go. You have sound techs, light techs, riggers, carpenters, electritions, stage managers, deck managers,stage hands, misc. equip. people (spots, cameras, etc.), special effects people, any one that makes the play go without nessicarly involveing the actors (not coustumes, make-up, etc.). Theres lots to learn here...great skills for later jobs and you can apprentince under masters in trades, teamwork, leader ship, all sorts of stuff. Now..rehersals... Some jobs require more than others. The stage manager is the go between for the director/actors and crew. There all the time. People who build the set, there before rehersals, and during the first few normally. Stage hands, there after theres a set to move and effects to add. Sound guys, depends on the house and micing and such (my specialty), light guys are the same deal as well as electirtions and all those areas. Deck manager is there as soon as there is a set as well, since hes working on cues for his crew so he can call the technical shots. If your talking HS, do it, its a great thing. Even college. Theres schools just for stuff like that. If your looking for a job shift, its all unionized and is fairly difficult to shift into. But its a real good experiance and alot of fun. Alot of commradierie

Answer 4

whereas actors are responsible for making the show work onstage, it's the crew that has to make it all click behind the curtain. To answer a few of your questions, the crew is responsible for all backstage business and includes positions such as technical crew (responsible for lights, sound, building of set, etcetera), props crew (responsible for maintaining and organizing the props used by the actors), costume and makeup artists, the tech director (who oversees the technical crew) and the stage manager (who serves as sort of a right hand for the director, overseeing everything and everyone that takes place backstage).

Crew isn't by any means easy. Many directors, including mine, require crew to be at every rehearsal, even if all they do is provide a fresh outlook from the audience. A lot of what the crew is required to do, however, will depend on your director and his/her personal views on it, but every director I've ever had has been harder on and more demanding towards the crew than the cast.

With that in mind, I've never crewed a production, but one of my closest friends is a stage manager and she swears up and down that it's one of the best experiences imaginable. And if you're looking for experience in theatre, I'd say crewing would be a great way to get going. :)

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you enjoy it and that the plays go well!

Answer 5

Well that all depends on what part of the crew you are in. There is alot of different backstage jobs. There is the costuming. Props. Technician's.

Whatever position you get will determine how much you are at rehearsals. Though I can tell you now that you will learn alot from whatever position you get.

The best out there, but the hardest, in my opinion would be a technician. There is the set building tech's. Then there is the sound techies. The set builders are rarely at rehearsal's because they make too much noise but if they are running out of time they will usually be painting the sets during rehearsals. That is unless your school has the sets purchased and all you do is have to set it up.

Now the sound techies. They are there for the last bits of rehearsals. A few weeks before opening. Their job is to make sure all the mics work and that the lighting and such is down for each scene. This will gurantee that there is no mad rush come opening week. Hell week as it is called.

I hope that helps. Oh and one last thing. Sound techies are present at every show. to take care of things.

Answer 6

I was part of the "crew" as the Hair Dresser/ Makeup Artist. But there are many positions available. I highly recommend joining. The people and experience can open doors to other positions, many opportunities can evolve. Once the production company(s) know you as a honest and reliable member, you will be called back again and again.