Stage crew looking behind the curtain

      Stage crew is an essential part of a musical, the people behind the scenes are pulling all the strings, and sets, to make the stars on stage look good. But there are hidden struggles along with being behind the curtain. While it may look effortless, these people have to do weeks of hard work and coordination to get these set pieces right. Take, for example, the west wing of the castle in “Beauty and the Beast.” Multiple people must be inside that side for an entire 3 minutes in those three minutes, they are surrounded by body odor and constant heat, along with not being able to see. 

    Aster West, the stage manager, must direct the people inside the castle to make a more seamless transition. On the topic of stage manager, Aster West, they must manage who does what and keep track of scenes, props, sets, and location of everyone on stage. Aster says, “ It’s a lot of work. I have to manage a lot and it’s hard on my studies. I don’t get as much time as I need so I’m constantly stressed.” 

   With the constant stress of stage managing and hard work, with set moving and props, it takes time and rigorous practice. The reason they do it is pretty simple that  reason could be because they love the crew. It is another family, the connection they share on stage has no other parallel. They would be right.