As the audience members make their way to the auditorium, the technicians for the musical are scrambling to get everything ready. The ancestors are getting their makeup airbrushed in the dressing room, the costume crew is sewing and ironing, and the sound and light crew are running last-minute tests to ensure everything is working. The time goes by quick as the curtains open, revealing the first act. 

The Addams Family Musical was performed from Jan. 25 to Jan. 27, 2024. But without the technical aspect, the show would have not been possible. From the stage manager to the props crew, they made the musical possible with each tiny detail planned and calculated.

“We like to put on good performances, and we like to make sure everything looks good,” Tech Director and Auditorium Manager Charles McLean said. “We do hold a standard to that, but we still have so much fun. Most of the people who are here want to be here and they want to do this stuff.”

For the Addams Family musical, there were 30 crew members who helped build the set.

“We’re one big family,” McLean said. “That’s been our theme this year. I treat them like they’re family. They’re really good kids. We have our traditions before shows and it really helps bring us together.”

As the assistant stage manager, junior Savannah Deville was in charge of taking blocking notes for actors, calling cues for lighting and sound operators and helping with the organization of actors and crew members alike.

“I joined my first show on a whim and fell in love,” Deville said. “I love being a part of tech, and this show in particular was a lot of fun to work on. I loved seeing all the loose components come together to make something amazing.”

From making designs for an official Instagram page to coordinating with the house crew, house manager junior Owen Ramirez was in charge of promoting the show. 

“I would absolutely do this show again if given the chance,” Ramirez said. “I had a wonderful time watching the cast and crew get everything done and see the entire show come together. I managed to get a lot closer with some of my friends in house crew. I’m quite grateful for it, and wouldn’t trade them for anything else.”

On the set, there were painted boxes that were designed to allow actors and actresses to enter from the back to make it seem like they were coming from the house during the show.

“We wanted everything to glow,” McLean said. “That was our big thing. So we hope everyone saw the glowing aspect of the show, [and] the connections.”

Since October, musical technicians have been planning, designing and coming up with ideas for the show. There were a lot of readjustments during the process, where some things needed to be fixed or taken apart.

“Once we had all the elements and put it together and ran through the entire show for the first time, it was magical,” McLean said. “It looked beautiful. It pretty much looked exactly how we wanted it to.”

One of the many things that were built for the set was a curved staircase. The production crew already had one but needed two of them, which led to them mirroring the one that they had.

“It was really cool seeing them try to take apart the original one, measure everything, figure out exactly how they built it and then make a complete mirror image of it,” McLean said. “It worked perfect. I was very impressed with how they did that.”

“Actors can’t act on stage without lights and sound, and lights can’t be on stage without an actor performing,” McLean said. “I love how collaborative it is. You have to work together for it to work out.”