Crew Questions and Answers

Q.  What is Crew?
A.  Crew is the term that describes the group of people/students who work on the technical side of theatre.  The crew builds the sets, organizes the props, organizes the costumes, moves sets during the show, helps with lights and sound, and manages the stage action.  Being on crew is an incredibly educational experience, as members are taught to use power tools and often given lots of leadership experience.  They are also allowed to be very artistic in design and painting, and learn great organizational techniques.

Q.  What are crew interviews?
A.  Crew interviews are simply the process through which Bexley "auditions" its crew.  If you show up, you will be allowed to help with crew as long as you have a good track record on crew (i.e. you haven't violated any of the safety rules, and you have showed up to builds and shows).  If there are a ton of people who show up, we will still take you, but we'll need to stagger who comes to what build, simply because we can't have 60 kids working with only 8 drills.

At crew interviews, each student will fill out a form stating what experience he/she has with power tools and leadership, as well as what area he/she would like to go into (management, set, costumes, light, sound, props).  He or she then talks to the director and tech director, is placed into the area he/she fits, and given a crew schedule.

Q.  Who leads/teaches the crew and makes the schedules?
A.  The theatre department hires tech directors for every major show.  These tech directors are responsible for designing the set, buying materials, leading the builds, assigning run crew positions, managing the crew during the show, and running strike.  These are always respected individuals who are skilled in both technical theatre and management/leadership.  They are responsible for creating the crew schedule.

Q.  How can I/my student join crew?
A.  Simply attend a crew interview and you can join crew.  For more information, you can go to any Thespian or Jr. Thespian meeting, or talk to Ms. Rhinehart or any of the Tech Directors or Assistant Tech Directors.