By: Nora Elnemr

It is no secret that this year’s Conard Musical was based on the French historical novel by Victor Hugo, Les Misérables. The theater production included around 90 members of the Conard community. If you have seen the performance, you have witnessed the hard work that was put into creating the tuneful, emotional singing and acting the actors and actresses have accomplished. However, the production would not have been fully accomplished if it weren’t for other members of the theater production, such as the pit, run, and stage crew. So what exactly goes on behind the scenes?

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Juliana Farquharson is a sophomore who helped facilitate the production of Conard’s Les Misérables for the Conard community. She is one of many who joined the stage crew to engage in behind-the-scenes work, including working with wooden props, costumes, and makeup. “I first joined the stage crew because I wanted to get more involved in theater and volunteer to contribute to giving back to the Conard community, and it excited me when I heard the performance was going to be Les Misérables because that is my favorite musical,” Juliana said. 

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At first, Juliana was part of the Stagecraft Club, where they would meet twice a month. However, once she joined the stage crew and the dates of the performances were approaching closer, the meetings gradually became longer and more frequent. For example, they met for twelve hours over the weekend, she said. The long hours were required in order to make sure transitions were satisfactory, and Juliana in particular had to verify the props were in order—i.e., on stage right or left—and confirm the actors and actresses could quickly grab whatever prop they needed to use for the specific scene. 

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 “Stage crew was fun, but some aspects of it I wasn’t expecting,” Juliana said. “For example, I wasn’t anticipating so many props to be used for the production, and I didn’t expect to have to monitor people in the hallway abusing the props. The latter part wasn’t fun; however, my favorite part about being a part of the stage crew was meeting new people and seeing the final product come to life after all the dedication and hard work. It was rewarding to see many people come together to watch the show.” When asked what being a part of the stage crew means to her, Juliana replied, “It means being a team player. Being flexible, putting in the hours along with the crew, and engaging in team cooperation are all necessities for a successful production. Everyone has an important role to play, whether they're on stage or backstage. If there was no one running the lights, no one would be able to see the whole play.” 

 

Overall, Juliana says being a part of the stage crew was a fun and rewarding experience. “I would recommend it to any Conard student,” she says. “There are a variety of jobs you can do, including props, running crew, lights, sound, pit, costumes, and makeup.” Juliana hopes to be a part of future productions as a stage crew member and bring forth more amazing performances for the Conard community to watch.