Stage Crew at Bremen High School had their first meeting on September 28, 2022. Students came back to school after early dismissal from the SIP day to work on the set. Students were led by Ben Salgado, the band director at Bremen. 

This is Salgado’s 17th year as the Stage Crew Director at Bremen H.S. He has also produced musicals and run both sound and lights at numerous school productions in his area.

 Mr. Salgado works with Mr. Rybarzcyk, the play director, to make an announcement in the fall and spring for cast and crew recruitment. Students tend to hear more through other crew members and then join. There’s typically 15-30 crew members for each show. 

Stage crew members do a lot; they build and paint sets for the plays, run sound and lights, move pieces on and off stage during the show, and maintain all equipment. Members stay after school; the members usually until 4pm.  However, the week before the play, members stay as late as 9pm in order to make sure everything is a go. 

Everything that you see on stage that isn’t acting was done by the crew members. Addison Fletcher, a sophomore who joined the crew last year and worked on the Beauty and the Beast musical, says “We build sets for the productions and we manage the technology that we need to use for the production to be successful.” The technology crew uses are spotlights, and light and sound switchboards. 

Many students find themselves allured to stage crew for the atmosphere members create. Mr. Salgado says “Members can be themselves, but still be a part of something bigger than just one person.” Plus they occasionally use power tools, who can resist that? 

 Crew members are greatly under appreciated. Many people don’t realize the hours that go into preparing for the plays. “I wish people knew how much work stage crew actually is, because we make the play possible,” explains crew member Fletcher.  

“Stage crew makes the set, we control mics and lights, which makes it possible for people to enjoy the production,” explains Addison.   It shocks so many that people who work behind the scenes work countless hours on the project, and never see the end result.

 Kevin Gonzales, a senior who’s been a stage crew member for 2 years knows that there is still room for the stage crew to grow.  “If you’re thinking about joining, I would say try it out and make your own experiences and friends,” explains Gonzales.  Stage crew is rather full right now, but there will be a new production in the spring. Look out for the play which is coming soon, come out and see the work stage crew has done.