At Paul VI Catholic High School, the backstage crew works extremely hard to make every production the best that it can be. Mike Monseur, head of the technical department, has been involved in production support since seventh grade. Now a senior at PVI, he directs all backstage work in the making of every drama experience.
Many people do not know the myriad of jobs behind the scenes, but a massive amount of effort is needed from every member of the tech department. "Hours upon hours are spent planning every last detail of the show so that the actors can depend on perfect technical work during the shows," Monseur said. The planning takes at least a month and during the week before the production opens, every tech worker is needed all day, every day, to work out every last glitch.
The power of each technical subject is delegated to crew heads, including such committees as props, sound, light and costumes.
This way, each person can work specifically on one aspect of the show in order to bring it together to produce a fantastic show. Monseur said, "No one thing is more important than the other. The aspects must come together to make one whole project."
Every tech worker can say how hectic the job can be of
controlling the backstage work. Monseur strives for perfection in
sound, which obviously has a titanic effect on the mood of the
performance, but the details of each tech committee must be paid
attention to in order to raise attention to moments of suspense or
scenes of heart-wrenching love. Monseur sums the importance of
backstage work into: "Taking one faction away could skew the entire
effect of the technical work."