Since December 13th 2024, here are the tasks and events that have been accomplished by me and the Stagecraft department:
- Advertised and auditioned for a spring musical
- Teched and ran the school talent show
- Changed plans from a musical to a play
- Advertised and auditioned for a spring play
- Inventoried all props and costumes
- Started rehearsals for the spring play
- Created a props list
- Created a costumes list
- Created a sound list
- Collaborated on set design
- Welcomed in new members to the stagecraft team
- Taught a new generation of paint mixers
- Gotten initial feedback on T-shirt design
I have been involved in all of these tasks, however, did not complete them alone.
We have had successes in the past 9 weeks as well as a couple challenges.
One of the successes we had was the speed and efficiency at which we created the plans for costumes, sets, sounds and props. Now that this crew has had experience with a production before, the systems that have been made to get tasks done have been well practiced.
A challenge we have faced in the past 9 weeks was our spring production.
We had initially planned and advertised for a musical called “Between the Lines,” however, when auditions rolled around, the drama and music teachers who are our director and music director made the decision to not go through with the musical. We did not have enough people who could be cast as a majority of the roles. It was later decided that we would put on the romantic comedy “Tom Jones” instead.
The drama program at Best has been growing smaller as more and more people loose interest in acting. To counteract this, we have done our best to spread awareness of the benefits and community that the drama program provides.
This had set us back several weeks in terms of auditioning, casting and rehearsing the spring production. In the hopes that in a few years the Best Players will audition once again for a musical, I will be working with my crew to promote the drama and stagecraft programs by continuing to use offline marketing tools, creating and maintaining a logo for the department (2), as well as honing and maintaining our social media presence (1).
Our next steps are to continue to work towards the completion of deadlines for specific projects and tasks within stagecraft to be ready for our build-in date of April 25th.
February 13, 2025
Melea Chew Roberts.
1. 6 advanced strategies to promote your classes—Eventbrite. (2017, August 10). https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/how-to-promote-classes-ds00/
2. 10 ways to market your student club on campus. (n.d.). Www.Canva.Com; Canva. https://www.canva.com/learn/10-ways-to-market-your-student-club-on-campus/?msockid=2bcf505f65776f821cba42ad64c36e5e
This is such an impressive amount of work in just nine weeks! It’s amazing to see how you and the Stagecraft team have adapted to challenges, especially with the shift from a musical to a play (that I unfortunately auditioned in). Your dedication to keeping the drama program alive and engaging new members is inspiring. I love the idea of using marketing tools and social media to build interest – those strategies will definitely help grow the program in the long run.
It’s clear that you’ve handled the transition really well, and I’m excited to see how everything comes together for the spring play!
Laura