After the success of The Addams Family in November, cast and crew members were gearing up for their second production of the year: Animal Farm. The play
premiered on Thursday, January 30 in the Glenbard West Auditorium and featured the classic story by George Orwell. This article focuses on the unique roles of the crew- the behind the scenes that keeps the show running.
1. Lights Head, Allison Penley
“For this show I’m one of the lights heads. That means that I program all the cues, set up the lights, focus them, design them, etc.” She also noted that for most of the shows her main role is painting, where she helps design the paint jobs and “non-structural aspects of the set” and then paints it. She has also been involved in the shows as a Sound Head, who focuses on the music for the show.
2. Toadie, Kristin Vogel
Kristin explains that Toadies “program the lights and sounds and fit up microphones, and set up the whole auditorium for people.” Working with the lights and sound means that they often have to go up into the sound booth and program equipment to make sure everything is working right for the show. Setting up microphones, focusing lights, and taking care of music and sound are all part of this job.
3. Makeup Crew Head, Annalise Ricci
Makeup Crew does the makeup and hair of the whole cast. Because I had spoken to her before the show had started running, she noted that, “So far, we’ve done practice makeup.” She also mentioned the unique things she does for her job. “Like Sophia Savarese [actor] we’re doing her hair in different curl types to make her look like a horse. We’re trying out different textures to mimic the animals without making them look like an animal.”
4. Stage Manager, Owen Rees
“I’m more of a secretary figure almost, I take down the blocking and where everyone is and take notes for Mr. Kelleher.” Owen explained his job as more of the technical aspects of a Student Director. While Lindsay directs the actors onstage, Owen is the one taking notes to make sure everything stays in its place for the next rehearsal. He also mentioned his job is to help run props for Mr. Kelleher and keep things organized.
5. Student Director, Lindsay Seifert
“I basically just assist our main director, Mr. Kelleher with running rehearsals.” She noted that she leads warmups, helps advise on what scenes should look like for blocking (the planned and deliberate movements of actors onstage), and watches the show and gives notes, “just basically everything a director would do.”
6. Director, Jacob Keller
Last, but not least, I was able to talk to the actual director of the whole show. He explained (while putting together a prop cane) that his job was to create a “unified vision” of the show, and to make sure everything matches that vision in terms of the set design, costumes, and many other things. He also explained that his vision and concept for this show was to take the focus off of the farm and instead set the show in a factory, and make the actors more human-like with animal qualities (like Sophia’s curls). He directs the staging and acting of the cast and directs each department within the show. He says that “a director is just a really good audience member” referring to his task of analyzing the show from an audience perspective and fixing it from a director perspective.
The cast and crew’s hard work culminated in a series of performances running from Thursday, January 30, to Saturday, February 1 at 7:30 P.M.
