Stage crew assists in success of recent Peet variety show

Sixth graders from every Cedar Falls elementary arrived at Peet on Wednesday, Feb. 23 to watch the Peet Junior High Variety Show, a production filled with songs, dances, music and skits performed by the seventh, eighth and ninth graders. While many were paying attention to the acts performed on stage, what was happening behind the scenes was equally as important.

A stage crew is one of the most essential parts of a staged production, and this year’s variety show stage crew consisted of freshmen Kaia Bartlett, Gene Warby, Azunie Jenkins and Alanna Reynolds and eighth graders Ethan Ganfield and Owen Dralle.

For Bartlett, who also performed in Melodies, communication was key. “The only way Melodies got in the way was in figuring out how things would run with each other,” she said, “but it all worked out fairly well because we communicated with each other.” 

Bartlett also worked on stage crew for last year’s variety show, and was asked this year by band director Ben Byersdorfer to help again.

Stage crew attended every rehearsal in the week leading up to the show, and Bartlett witnessed the progress made by everyone involved each day. “When we first started, it was very disorganized, and it was sometimes hard to know what was going on, but as the rehearsals went on we all began to fall into roles so that everything was being covered,” Bartlett said. 

Stage crew also had to arrive early to rehearsals and shows in order to set up for performances so as not to take away from the practice time for the acts.

Because of her positive experience surrounding the stage crew at Peet, Bartlett is now considering working on stage crew for musicals at the high school in her future years. She said, “[Stage crew] was a really good way to learn, meet new people and get new experiences.”