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All-of-us Express
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The work it takes to put on a show |
We are the "theater for and by children" place, but adults, including parents, are an important part of the framework that makes this possible.
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When the curtain goes up, the audience experiences the performance, which is made up of the acting, costumes, sets, makeup, hair, lights, and sound. A lot of work by a lot of people is required to bring all this together on opening night! The shows to be produced in a season are chosen by the company's Artistic Director, and approved by its Board of Trustees. Artistic direction comes from the show's director, who may have one or more assistant directors. Some shows are directed by experienced young people; assistant directors are always students, learning to direct. Costume design, set design, and makeup and hair design is done by experienced adults or Master-level students who head crews learning to do the work involved. Lights and sound are designed by the director and carried out by small crews. |
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We are revising the information about our crew and guild system and making a few changes which will be introduced in our twentieth season, 2008-2009.
Our productions, whether the cast is 10 or 80, are supported by many people working on crews. There are crew jobs for children as young as age six. Working on a crew is a good way for younger kids to get used to what goes on during a show, and to get to know some of the adults and the older kids. Once a child has been in the cast of a production they must work on a crew (in a different production) before they may audition for another role. We do not have a group of "stars" who are in all our shows; everyone has a chance to audition and perform.
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The show's Front-of-House and Back-Stage Volunteer Coordinators are responsible for coordinating a set of crews headed by parents of the cast. These crews do the show publicity, transport the set to and from the theater, arrange the after-show cast and crew party, and greet and usher the audience. Parents also help out backstage and in the greenroom during shows, helping maintain order and decorum. So there are ample opportunities for everyone in the family to get involved. We're also happy to have adult volunteers who do not have a child in the current show, and we have a need for a few adults to volunteer some big chunks of time on a year-round basis to help with tasks such as publicity and office management. If you need more information, or would like to visit and see what's going on, just get in touch with us! |
In our 2000/2001 season we divided our crews into guild crews and experience crews. This allows us to better recognize the crafts and skills being learned during participation on crews, using a series of certificates and patches. Our previous policies regarding crew points continue.
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The experience crews perform necessary short-term functions and provide a way for people to become familiar with working behind the scenes at the Theatre. Many of these crews are open to participation by younger children. Details on the crews needed for any particular production are available at the auditions for that production. Serving on an experience crew earns a crew point, listing in the program and on the lobby display board, and a certificate of crew service. |
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A person may serve more than once on an experience crew.
The guild crews are those that directly support the production of a show (the so-called "running crews") and in which one learns a theater craft. Each guild has several levels of achievement, which will be recognized in programs, on the lobby display board, and with a suitable patch. The awarding of Master status in a guild will take place as a public ceremony ("walking the tables") at the cast and crew party when one receives the Master patch.
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A person who has achieved Master status in a guild is eligible to be hired to run that craft for a mainstage production. As we have had experienced students direct productions in the past, we are introducing this way for students to have total responsibility in other areas as well. Further requirements and pay scales are set by the Board of Trustees in conjunction with the Artistic Director. |
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Ultimately we are aiming for the possibility of a mainstage production that is in every creative aspect carried out by people under the age of 18! (Including perhaps being written by young people taking our Dramatic Writing course.) Though we may rarely attain that level, we hope that after a few years of using this system of learning we will have trained enough Masters to allow us to increase the number of mainstage productions we can mount each season.
The descriptions that follow are general in nature. Each guild has a book that describes in detail the skills and experience required to earn advancement to each level. It is this learning and experience, plus approval of the head of the guild (the "Supervisor"), that qualifies one for advancement, not simply working on a certain number of shows.
This document, and the system it describes, will change as we go through the next few years. This is a work in progress.
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Every show that has one or two student Assistant Directors who are directors in training and fill many of the traditional roles of a stage manager, such as recording blocking and calling cues and places.
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We design, make and store all the costumes used in each of our productions. In addition to people playing people, we have people playing animals, plants, objects and even the wind that must be constumed. Our casts can be as large as 60-70!
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Performers in our shows wear stage makeup, ranging from simple "straight" makeup to animal or old-age. The makeup crew provides work space, supplies and materials, and helps performers learn to apply their makeup. The crew usually applies special effects such as beards and scars, and does the basic designs.
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Hair dressing is also an important skill and area of experience for performers and makeup artists. Many performers need specific hair styles, either for a period role or so that a hood or costume piece fits properly. Beyond attaining the level of Makeup Master there are a wide variety of skills one can learn in this craft, including advanced makeup designs, construction of hairpieces and rubber prosthetics, the use of adhesives, and mastery of many tools and materials. Makeup Artist is a legitimate field of study whose graduates are in demand in the advertising, beauty, motion picture and television industries. |
A lot of work is needed to make a production hang together and for there to be an audience in the seats. This work is loosely termed "front of house" in the theater business, and that's what this guild is about.
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You wouldn't believe how many props are needed by some shows: baskets, daggers, money, flowers, pots, cups, and more! Finding or making props, then ensuring that performers have props when needed, is the work of the props crew.
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A set is much more than a painted backdrop. Houses, walls, bushes, furniture, dragon eggs, a well, a sailing ship, a river, a small forest; these are all parts of the set. Set pieces are made by the set construction crew and moved on and off and around the stage by the set movers.
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Stage lighting and sound are an important part of what an audience experiences during a performance. In facilities such as Riverwalk Theatre and Hannah Community Center we use the available equipment. Elsewhere we take our own sound board (pictured) and hang some of our own lighting instruments. The Sound tech chooses music and effects, prepares CDs and tapes, and runs the sound for every show.
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The Lights tech helps hang and focus lights, then runs the cues. (Here at LCC's Dart Auditorium.)
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After you are first cast in a show, you must earn a crew point before you may be cast in another show. You earn a crew point by serving on any type of crew, guild or experience. You may "bank" at most one crew point, that is, if you have served on a crew in two or more shows without being cast, you may then be cast in two shows without earning a crew point between those shows. (If this sounds confusing, please see the policies page.)
For the 2007-2008 season the fee for serving on a guild crew is $45 ($30 for members) if you are not working toward the Journeyman or Master level. All guild crew members receive a folder, a script and additional material pertinent to their craft area.
If you have agreed in advance with the Guild's Supervisor that you are working toward the Journeyman or Master level, and so will receive additional instruction and responsibilities, the fee is $90 ($70 for members) for participation on the crew for that show.
Fees are due when you sign up for a guild crew, or at first read if you were assigned a guild crew through the audition process. If a person drops out of a guild crew, a full refund is available after the first crew meeting or class, a 50% refund after the second meeting or class, thereafter no refund is available.
There is no fee for serving on an experience crew.
T-shirts ($15), photo CD ($20), video ($20) and the cast and crew party ($5) are optional fees. The non-member cast participation fee for the 2007-2008 season is $90; the member cast participation fee is $70. (Membership in All-of-us Express begins at $25 per year.)
It is the mission of All-of-us Express Children's Theatre to offer young people of all backgrounds, cultures, and lifestyles the opportunity to produce professional quality plays, study many aspects of the dramatic arts, and develop valuable life skills while providing outstanding entertainment to the community.
All-of-us Express Children's Theatre is an Equal Opportunity employer and provides programs and services without regard to age, color, creed, gender identity, disability, height, membership in any labor organization, national origin, parental status, political identification, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or weight.
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