One Man, Two-hundred hands

When I first began this project, there were a number of things I hoped to take away. The first was relatively simple—something I have learned to love through four years of Journalism. I wanted to see people in their element. High school sometimes begins to feel like an exercise of going through the motions, of going to class, doing an extracurricular (or four, or ten), and then sleeping enough to ...

Today, April 9, is night two of the One Man, Two Guvnors show week. The following coverage reflects the backstage happenings of the week’s second dress rehearsal and attempts to provide a glimpse at the passions, laughter, and emotions of the night as they unfolded. 3:00 p.m.: Run crew is called via a GroupMe text to the Performing Arts Center to have a scene change rehearsal. When I arrive, a q...

Today, April 8, marks the beginning of show week for One Man, Two Guvnors. The following coverage reflects the backstage happenings of the week’s first dress rehearsal and attempts to provide a glimpse at the passions, laughter, and emotions of the night as they unfolded. 3:00 p.m.: Everyone is running around trying to complete last-minute jobs. I see people drilling wood signs, sanding odd stic...

I spent the last week in the haze of my first tech week, which saw crews working tirelessly to put finishing touches on their work to prepare for this week’s rehearsals and shows. The run crew, the group of people who manipulate the set and move props onstage between scenes, was assigned, and I was trained on when and how to spin periaktoi number three. I also lent a hand across a variety of crews, hel...

The hair and makeup room is labeled only by a small sign and can be found opposite the choir and orchestra rooms at the back of the arts wing. The space contains what feels like endless drawers, labeled with specifics like “palettes,” “bobby pins,” and “Capri Suns,” as well as long mirrors and chairs facing them. Light bulbs line the mirrors, ensuring that there is adequate light to mimi...

Conversely to my previous meeting, when I had to descend a flight of stairs to find the costumes crew below the stage, I had to climb up to find the lights crew. Between the two sets of doors into the Performing Arts Center lies a little-noticed door, behind which is a staircase leading up to “the booth.” When one looks up from the stage to the back of the PAC, they see a set of windows, behind...

When I descended the stairs on stage left into what is known within the theater program as, “The Cages,” I was immediately met with racks upon racks of costumes. They were labeled with signs like, “Women’s wear—bridal dresses, formal dresses, and historical,” and spanned various colors, age groups, and decades. Walking in, I essentially felt like I was entering a world where Alice in W...

Because of the way my schedule fell, I ended up shadowing the house and marketing crews over several weeks, which gave me the chance to watch their work translate into real products. Walking into my first meeting, I had a strong belief that the two crews were similar. I planned to combine them into a single article and shadow both at once. However, what I found was a considerably wide range of responsi...

Walking into the first of two props meetings for the week, my expectations were based entirely in two facts. One was the concept that I had never really considered the props when I had watched plays and movies in the past. They were, for all intents and purposes, “just there,” helping move the plot along and otherwise not really standing out. Two was a warning Naomi Sherman, the props lead for One Ma...

Beginning next week, I will be embarking on six weeks of shadowing technical crews to understand how various parts of One Man, Two Guvnors will come together. Over the past week, though, I decided to delve into production management—to describe the roles, and the students, who will make sure communication between technicians stays open and that all gaps in production get filled. Shows at Fossil Ridge ...

As of Friday, February 8, the cast and crew for Fossil Ridge High School’s spring play, One Man, Two Guvnors, was finalized. While tech crew lists were released nearly two weeks prior, actors spent the past week performing monologues, reading dialects, and demonstrating any additional talents. The final cast list is as follows: Francis………...Parker Bennett Stanley Stubbers………..Austin Hand ...

Fossil Ridge High School has just about every activity anyone could want to participate in. The school boasts, if I remember correctly from the tour I was given as a nervous, awkward eighth-grader, the best-equipped weight room in the state. One can pick from a range of sports that includes baseball and field hockey, swim and dive and cross country. Last year’s Lip Dub has, at last count, 102,00...