Costumes on hangers? Check. Makeup available for everyone? Check. Cough drops backstage? Check. Props in place? Nope, the coats for the beginning of act two have been moved around again. Angel’s dress is nowhere to be found, and it needs to be in place before the start of the second act. After making sure the whole cast is onstage in time for mic checks, it’s time to sweep up any sequins and feathers from a rushed quick change last show so no one slips getting in place for the top of tonight’s performance. 

Thanks to Lucia Almeida, Siobhan Tran, and Alex Rodriguez, who are all members of stagecraft class, and Charlie Gilligan, Kieran Herwick,  Ewuraesi Korankye, Malea Caplan, Ashley Williams, and Louise Hall, all of these things were achieved during show week with minimal issue.

When you’re watching as an  audience member , everything you witness is carefully curated– every musical number, every line of dialogue, even the speed and style a performer walks with. What the audience members don’t see is the people who make each transition flawless, every prop handoff snappy, and every set piece sturdy enough to dance on. Like a stone bridge, everyone on a crew is vital to keeping things moving, with certain members acting as the keystone. Leading the crew is the technical director, who is followed by the costume, light, and sound designers, as well as a stage manager who acts as a central hub for those mentioned and the actors, director, and others. Even though the audience rarely sees the crew, it’s important to give credit for all that they do. At Parker, students fill many of these roles. Junior Lucia Almeida was the stage manager for “Rent”RENT along with Parker’s fall play Antigone Now. 

Because of the show’s themes regarding sex, drugs, poverty, and other potentially controversial ideas, Almeida said that the experience working on it was “a complicated couple of weeks” and she “still hasn’t figured out how [she] feels about it.” Additionally, Almeida also shared that “tech week puts [her] unredeemably behind” when it comes to schoolwork and that a perfect run of a show has “never happened” for her. Despite that, “it feels like it doesn’t exist in the auditorium. During rehearsal, there’s nowhere [she’d] rather be”. 

With Almeida’s focus, dedication, and commitment, Parker got to see not just a functional but skillfully executed musical. She demonstrated that she makes sacrifices of her own relating to her academics, but the value and contribution of her work proved irreplaceable in “Rent”. Along with her work, the stagecraft class spent their mornings building sets, painting, setting up lights, and developing other critical parts of the show’s presentation. They ensured the safety of each one of the props so that actors would be able to perform without any risks, and since Parker’s 2026 musical included high scaffolding and dancing on tables, it was critical that they were sturdy. Although there was inevitable human error and prop malfunctions, the overall production was not only entertaining, but a tight, well-oiled machine that couldn’t have run so smoothly without the strong input from the stagecraft class and crew.