The Tech Squad

Sleep Tight!

"Once Upon a Mattress"

On Murrow's Main Stage Opening night of Once Upon A Mattress will be December 12th 2001. Mr. Robert Elman will direct the production, presented by Murrow's Circle of Friends. Both Mr. Scott C. Parker and Ms. Allison Galker will design the production.
The lighting will be designed by Mr. Parker and Ms. Galker will design the costumes. Scenic design of the massive ship will be a collaborative effort between the two designers.

Students play a major role.

Sonia Rapaport (2003) is serving as Co-Assistant Set Designer and has been working over the summer on the Castle's design. Aaron Jaker will join Sonia's team during Cycle I. Denisa Rodoncic (2003) will be preparing the technical drawings while serving as Assistant Lighting Designer. Adam Glick will assist Denisa until he begins his duties as Co-Master Electrician.
The costume design team has yet to be named. Denisa will also serve as the technical stage manager, (for more info, see the TSM article). Students will also serve as technical directors, production supervisors, master electricians, master carpenters, stage crew, followspot operators, fly rail technicians and more. If you wish to join any of these crews, stop by room 184 and talk to Mr. Parker.

AIR CONDITIONING!

Yes, it’s true. A/C has come to the main stage. At long last, Murrow’s Joseph Anzalone Theater is air-conditioned. We will be sitting in comfort during next May’s Spring Musical.

The Player’s Circle of Friends worked long and hard to raise funds to pay for the upgrades to the theater’s air system. Fortunately, the building was built with air-conditioning in mind. In the mid ‘70’s, however, the Board didn’t have the funds to install the then-very-expensive equipment to cool the theater.

Get Involved
with Theater Tech!

~During the Day~

If you’ve ever wanted to get involved in theater but didn’t want to get on stage, join the back-stage crew. Murrow has several options open to all grades.

	Stage Lighting
	Set Construction
	Stage & Set Design
	Stage Production (a.k.a. K-Band)
	Costuming
	Scene Painting

These classes are offered each cycle.

Afterschool!

If you don’t have any time in your school day schedule, you can still join the crew. Everyday we have a class called Technical Production, a.k.a. K-band. Anyone is free to join and you can even earn an additional class credit. See Mr. Parker (room 184) or ask any of the tech crew kids for details.Website: www.hstech.org

We are all…

“Waiting for Godot”

In Murrow’s Black Box Theater

Samuel Beckett’s famous tragicomedy will be presented in the Papp Theater this November. The production, directed by Mr. Rory Schwartz, will be presented in English. Beckett, himself, translated it from his original French.

Student designers have yet to be named. They will be members of the tech classes.

Job Focus:

Technical Stage Manager

The term “technical stage manager” is unique to Murrow. In professional theaters, the production stage manager (PSM) is in charge of the entire production company, including all the actors and the technicians. The PSM is the director’s right hand person. S/he works with the designers on the timing of cues, with the actors on timing of entrances and exits and more.

Here at Murrow, our productions are so large that we have split the SM duties in half. The “stage manager” works directly with the director and the actors.

On some productions, this person is called the assistant director or assistant to the director.

The “technical stage manager” is in charge of the technical running of the show. S/he is responsible to calling all the set, lighting and fly cues that occur during the production.

Choosing a student for this position has always been problematic and so, this year, we are trying something new. We will have the Assistant Lighting Designer call the cues for the actual performances. This should solve several problems faced in the past. First, as the show opens, the Asst. LD has been left without a running crew position. Second, the person coming in as Tech. SM doesn’t know the show. Since the Asst. LD has a deep understanding of the show’s lighting cues from her/his research and design work, the entire show should benefit from smooth tech rehearsals. This will also leave the other show supervisors free to focus on the last minute details that may get overlooked.