Maggie Nelson, a fellow senior and set designer for The Little Mermaid, was in the same boat. After looking at photos of stage crews on Tumblr, she decided to sign up. 

“It looked so cool,” she says. “I wanted to wear all black and a headset and be important.” 

Joined by fellow seniors Joan Ehrlich and Anna Schwabe, these four students have worked on stage crew for over a dozen performances here at DSHA. None of the four had worked backstage previously, but Schwabe had acted before signing up for crew. Although the transition to working backstage was originally daunting, she worked closely with upperclasswomen and Mrs. Amanda Marsala, DSHA’s Technical Director, to gain the skills and knowledge they needed to run shows smoothly. 

“I was so scared of everything at first,” Nelson says. 

But after years of being on the crew, they feel much more confident and capable than they did as freshmen. 

“My biggest challenge was overcoming being independent, and thinking for myself,” Nelson adds, who is currently working on an independent study in technical theatre. “I think for myself and make it happen now. As a freshman, I looked to other people to make it happen. I was scared to get something wrong. Now I can accept that I’m going to do things wrong, but I’m the one who makes it happen.” 

Chiefly responsible for overseeing the rest of the crew, these four seniors attribute their leadership roles to all of the time and energy they have put into working backstage on previous performances. 

“One of the things we really pride ourselves on is that the girls who get opportunities are the girls who’ve worked and spent so much time here,” Ehrlich says. “Because we’ve taken all that time, we have such an amazing product. I think it’s worth it.” 

As they embark on their final year at DSHA, they reflect on how invaluable their experiences have been here. 

“I’ve definitely seen growth in myself,” Ehrlich says. “I can communicate more. I really value the education I’ve gotten from crew."

“I think theatre can help people in so many ways,” Schwabe says. “It helps build so many skills. Communication is a huge thing. Learning how to bridge differences is big, too. It’s important to remember that it’s teamwork.” 

“Businesses are looking for people with the background acquired from technical theatre because you have such an expansive skill set,” Luna says. “You learn people skills, how to multi-task, problem solve, critical think, prioritize.” 

As they continue to prepare for The Little Mermaid, there have been both highlights and challenges for the crew. 

“The highlights of the production process so far have been seeing the designs come to life,” Nelson says. “There are a lot of big set pieces in the show, and the crew has been working hard to build them. However, one challenge is that we didn’t initially expect the set to be so big, and now we’re running low on space backstage to story everything.” 

“We have lots of new crew members this year, which is always exciting but also a challenge to train them,” Ehrlich says. “It’s always great when you see someone experience the passion that I feel for stage crew and fit in well with the crew.” 

More than anything, though, the stage crew is excited to share all of their hard work with the audience. 

“I am looking forward to sharing a beautiful, immersive setting, which will hopefully captivate them as much as our talented actors, dancers, and singers do,” Nelson says. 

“There are lots of set pieces for this show, so I hope the audience will enjoy those, and each one will be valuable in the scenes and in transporting the audience,” Ehrlich adds. 

Join the DSHA Theatre Department to see the cast and crew’s hard work at one of our five upcoming performances of The Little Mermaid at DSHA. The show opens on Friday, November 3 at 7pm and will also be on November 4 (2pm and 7pm), November 5 (2pm), November 10 (7pm), and November 11 (2pm and 7pm). 

Tickets can be purchased at DSHA’s Box Office between now and show time, or on our website at www.dsha.info/tickets. 

Click here to purchase tickets