Behind the Scenes: The Making of a Players Show
By Shona Goldberg-Leopold

Unbeknownst to many audience members, there is an overwhelming amount of preparation that goes into the finished product that seems so polished onstage. The wonder of theater is the way the audience spends an enjoyable few hours watching a show that took months of hard work and dedication to prepare. It’s about time to let you in on a little secret and tell you what it really takes to produce a show…Players style.

Players is well known for being a student run organization with the help of sponsors, adults with experience in certain fields of theater. Players is represented by a group of five individuals, known as the board, each of whom have specific tasks according to their position (president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and thespian representative). The sponsors act as overseers and mentors to the crews, sharing their professional knowledge of theater with the students.

"To me, it is the best example of student creativity I ever see," said faculty coordinator John Grace. "My job is to help everyone who is artistic to produce a remarkable thing—live theatre."

Due to the challenging nature of high school theater, it is vital to select a show appropriate for Players. This is accomplished through a panel of students called the Reading Committee. They assemble to narrow down a list of plays and choose the one that is best for Players. Reading Committee consists of the five board members as well as four to seven other students. The board selects these students, members of Players and occasionally non-members, through an application process. Reading committee is one of the few areas within Players in which a student can be involved with Players without actually working on a crew for a show.

Once assembled, the reading committee creates a list of about twenty plays and divides up reading assignments, usually three or four plays per person. At the next meeting the list is narrowed down by discussing the merits of each play and how it would or would not work for Players. Factors discussed include the size of the cast and proportion of male and female characters, creativity in designs and educational value. The process continues until only three or four shows remain on the list, at which point the entire reading committee reads all of the plays. A final decision is reached through consensus, the principal that all board related decisions are based on.

"[Consensus] means that all members of the committee express their views, and subsequently agree," Grace said. "This is a challenging, but rewarding practice that goes a long way to eliminate the hard feelings that result from voting."

"If any member of the committee has reservations about a show we discuss it until we are all in agreement," said Allison King, who, as secretary of the Players board, is the organizer of the reading committee.

Once a show is selected, applications are made available to anyone who wishes to be in a leadership position as a member of the production and design staff. Applicants interview with the board and at least one sponsor about their desire for the position, time conflicts and qualifications. After the board discusses the interviews and selects the students, the production and design staff meets every week throughout the production to discuss the progress, conflicts and design concepts of the show.

Email has become a useful tool in the communication realm of Players through the Players listserv, which sends important notices and reminders to the company and informs the production and design staff of the agenda of previous and future meetings.

"Meetings take place more efficiently after email because everyone has the chance to read, reflect and respond to things in their own minds before a meeting happens," said Grace.

At the first company call of each show, students sign up for their desired crew. Company call is a large meeting for the entire company of the show designed to update everyone involved in the show on the happenings of each crew and make general announcements. It also features Arts in the News, an open forum to advertise artistic endeavors, and Word of the Week, a creative theater terminology lesson.

As the show gets under way, each crew works on their own projects. Each of the six crews represents an individual element of theater: acting, costumes, lighting, props, publicity and scenery. A few weeks before opening night, these elements merge for tech runs and dress rehearsals. This is generally when loose ends get tied up and the show really comes together.

A successful show requires a lot of time commitment and students are often working on their crew until 7:00 or 9:00 at night or on Saturdays. On 9:00 late nights, dinner is brought in from local restaurants. Dinner orders become more complicated when the entire company has a late night because it is rare to find a pizza place that will accept an order of 30 pies and 12 two liter bottles of soda without laughing and gracing you with the sound of a dial tone. Dinner break is a relaxing time for the entire company to bond and have fun together.

After much preparation and hard work, opening night inevitably arrives to display each company member’s dedication to the show and to theater. So while you see a finished product onstage, bear in mind the ingredients it takes to make a successful show.