Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1990)
Page 4 The Battalion Tuesday, September 25, 19S[ Applying black mascara, Christie Vela O'Connor gets ready for a performance of“ Non Si Paga! Non Si Paga!” in the costume shop. wr% w # w Behind the Scenes L/ight cue #14, ready,..light cue #14, GO! The lighting instruments flood the stage with a com mand by the stage manager and a careful touch by the light board operator. Boundaries are set by the scenery that surrounds the action of the play. The actor’s faces and costumes are illuminated as they appear on the set. The performance has begun, but not before months of preparation. The Aggie Players is a student organization which sup ports the Theatre Arts Program. Students from all over the University with different areas of knowledge and cre ativity assist in the production of a play. Two months be fore the fall semester, a play selection committee made up of the Theatre Arts professors and a student representa tive selects the plays that eventually will compi i$e the Ag gie Players’ season. The 1990-91 season marks the 46th season for the Aggie Players. The director, designers, stage managers, and crew heads of each play hold weekly meetings on the progress of their mission. Six weeks before opening night, the stu dents prepare monologues for the audition. The cast list is posted on the call board and the written text begins to take shape. From the black and white print on a page to the three-dimensional form, the road to a successful pro duction takes time, money and teamwork — something the Aggie Players have learned to cope with. Each crew has a special purpose which contributes to the overall picture. The promotions crew hangs posters on campus and sends thousands of flyers to theater pa trons all over the state. The set crew builds and paints the scenery using renderings and models designed by the set designer. The prop crew finds or makes the necessary props for the production. The lighting crew hangs and focuses the lights which the light designer has specified on his light plot. And finally, the costume crew builds the cos tumes which eventually will help the actor put the fin ishing touches on his or her character. Once the show opens, the stage manager is in full com mand. He or she lakes the reins which the director has left. The stage manager has many jobs ranging from mak ing sure the actors arrive on time to calling all the cues. The production depends on all the people involved. If one person does not do his or her job, the production suf fers and the audience is cheated. Working on a scene painting for “The Mikado, “ Rick Boultinghouse traces a three-dimensional picture into one of the flats. Rick is in the advanced technical theater class. Dr. Roger Shultz, director, instructs Jessica Lowe in the rehearsal of “My Children! My Africa! Story by Rudy Cordova Photos by Sdndra Robbins Running a light check for the production of “My Children! My Af rica!,” Rob Ward works in the light booth in Rudder Forum dur ing rehearsal of the play.