Tech Week: The Inside Scoop

Tech week has officially begun! Everyone hang onto your notepad. For those who have never been through a tech week—lovingly referred to as "Hell Week" in some circles—let me break it down for you: a week (give or take a few days) prior to opening the show, you begin to add in technical elements, like lights, sound, and costumes. This where you can really start to get an idea of how the finished show will look. This is also the time when Murphy's Law kicks into high gear. Mics picking up feedback, costumes ripping, lamps blowing, sound cues shattering ear drums... things like that always go down during this time. Thankfully, this means that those things don't happen during the show...usually.

Saturday we had an all-day rehearsal. We added in the orchestra, microphones for the actors, a click track, and lights. If you don't spend a lot of time studying theatre, it's easy to take these elements for granted—you only really think about the process if something goes wrong. But each element requires a team of people working almost around the clock to get them up and running. Picture a back row of a theatre, filled with tables, and each table is covered in notebooks, spreadsheets, pencils, coffee cups, empty twelve packs of Diet Coke (I swear, Coca-Cola is missing an epic sponsorship opportunity with theatre), and electronic paraphernalia that I couldn't even begin to explain to you. Behind those tables sit a slew of people: designers, assistant designers, a stage manager, the director, board operators. Now add to that more electronics and people behind them: The sound crew. The choreographer. The props and scenic designers. The technical director. Scene shop supervisor. Assistant director. Costume designer. Costume crew. Everyone waiting with a notepad in hand to record anything that isn't the way it should be, making sure every element is as perfect as possible. That's what you're looking at when tech starts. If there is ever doubt that theatre is a collaborative art, look at those rehearsals.

It's stressful, sure. But it's also so exciting! You know that it's almost time to open, and you really get to start polishing the show, and seeing what it will look like when it's finished. And seeing it all together in one cohesive vision makes it all worthwhile. Besides, there's something kind of thrilling about the stress of it, at least for me. Sure, it gets tedious. And frustrating. And there are moments when I think that if I hear "Hold, please" one more time my brain will explode. But at the same time, the frustration reminds me that I'm here because I love what I do. I freak out and lose sleep and moan and groan because I'm putting everything I have into this; this is where my passion is, and that means there's going to be some highs and lows. All I can do is hang on and enjoy the ride.

Get your tickets if you haven't; they're going fast!

--Sarah Coon