By Rebecca Riffle-Bakody
Many activities are available for kids to choose from these days. Schools offer various after school programs and sports, religious organizations have activities for their youth, and there are great organizations like The Boys and Girls Club where kids can get involved.
Did you know that community theater also is a fun option? Many kids want to be on stage and act in shows, but many do not have an interest in being in the limelight. So theater doesn’t cross their minds.
Theater is not just about being on stage. It takes a lot of people working backstage to make a show run. There are people who put the actors in costumes, who help the actors with makeup and hair, who build and paint and decorate the sets, who run lights and sound during shows, and who collect or make all of the props used in the shows.
Another very important role is a Stage Manager, who attends all rehearsals then stays backstage during the performances to make sure everything runs smoothly and the actors don’t miss their cues. Stagehands who work quickly between scenes change the sets around to make another scene come to life. Many times more people work behind the scenes than act!
So far, I’ve only mentioned the roles in what we call the “back of the house” (anything that makes the actual show happen). There are also many people in the “front of the house” who make a play a success.
For every show, there are people who sell tickets, ushers who take the tickets and show people to their seats, advertising and marketing people who make sure the community knows there is a show happening, graphic designers who design posters and programs, and volunteer coordinators who makes sure there are enough people to fill all of these rolls. It takes a lot of talented people to make each show a success!
If any of these behind the scenes roles sound like something that you would like to do, there are many ways to get involved. Community theaters always welcome volunteers into their groups. Some activities will require training and mentoring, while others, like ushering, can be done without much pre-training.
Some theaters in the area, including ours, offer spring, summer and fall camps in which kids learn the ins and outs of producing a show, from auditioning to putting on the production at the end of the camp. The goal of these camps is to teach what theater is all about while making sure the kids have fun.
There are also many wonderful colleges and universities throughout the country that offer theater as a degree field for a profession. Many people go to college to learn acting but many specialize in stage managing, technical directing and even costume design. These skills can carry over into more than just theater. Many people who graduate go on to work on movies and television. Those who have degrees in graphic arts work on many exciting projects in all industries but can also design posters, programs for shows and even visual effects during shows.
If you want to learn about theater but don’t necessarily want to make it a profession, Yavapai College is a great option locally. They offer theater acting and vocal classes, as well as opportunities for their students in other classes outside of the theater program to work on their shows.
It’s easy to see why many people come to see a show at a local theater and focus only on what the actors are doing onstage. If everyone behind the scenes does their job correctly, the audience won’t focus on anything but the action on the stage.
Many wonderful people fill roles that go unnoticed, but each one creates a piece of the puzzle that makes the show run smoothly. The sets, costumes, lighting and sound, and props all become characters themselves. Each intricate detail makes the show come to life.
So, if you love going to the theater and watching the amazing productions but don’t necessarily want to be an actor, remember all of the opportunities that are available behind the scenes. You don’t have to be a magician to make magic happen in a community theater!
Rebecca Riffle-Bakody is the Executive Director at Prescott Valley Performing Arts at Main Street Theatre located at 3235 N. Main Street in Prescott Valley. To find out more about the theater, visit their website www.pvperformingarts.org.