Harrison High School is a diverse community that supports every student’s interests from a variety of IB classes, athletics, and the arts. Among its most celebrated programs is theater, which offers students a range of opportunities both onstage and behind the scenes. The spring musical and the fall play are centerpieces of the school’s arts calendar, and the department’s excellence has earned recognition from awards such as The Metros. But while the spotlight’s on the performers, it’s the technical (tech) crew that ensures the show runs smoothly. Harrison’s Tech Crew, a student-led club spanning grades 9 through 12, handles everything from lighting and sound to set changes and backstage coordination. Under the guidance of the technical director, Mr. Noah, who also teaches the school’s newly added technical theater class, students gain hands-on experience in live production.
This commitment to technical theater extends beyond the high school. At LMK, students stage their own musical each year, complete with a dedicated tech crew. With the support of the high school volunteers and Mr. Noah, LMK students learn how to operate lights, use microphones, and read stage cues, building foundational skills in technical production and teamwork.
This school collaboration not only strengthens the district’s theater community but also encourages mentorship, leadership, and technical advancement. To better understand this partnership, two high school volunteers were interviewed about their experiences supporting the LMK’s musical from behind the scenes.
Juniors Carol Brandt and Sophia Macmillan both began their tech crew journeys in the ninth grade, drawn in by the energy and creativity of theater. Carol was inspired after watching Newsies at LMK: “I went to go see [it] and I was like, wow, this is something I can see myself doing.” Sophia echoed that enthusiasm when deciding to join tech at LMK: “I thought it would be a fun experience. I really wanted to do more shows.”
For LMK’s Bye Bye Birdie, Carol served as the stage manager, overseeing the deck crew, sound, and mics. Sophia was an assistant stage manager, helping direct scene changes and supporting a group of middle schoolers on stage right. Both found themselves in mentorship roles, a shift that required patience and clear communication. “I had to slow down and think about ways to give instructions that wouldn’t intimidate them,” Carol said. Sophia added, “I had to learn how to communicate better with my words… Or else they’d just stare at me or do it completely wrong.” She found students approaching her more often than the faculty due to proximity in age. “They felt more comfortable coming up to me than to a teacher,” Sophia said. “They’d ask me tons of questions.. Even how to do their math homework.”
The experience revealed how mentorship can shape both the mentees and the mentors. “Middle schoolers are in this weird phase, they’re still figuring out how to transition from being kids to teenagers,” Sophia described. “Giving advice on how to do that was really enjoyable.” Carol agreed: “It’s something you don’t get to do every day. It can even help you figure out what you want to do in the future.”
Live theater is full of surprises, and both high schoolers faced their share. Carol recalled a prop mishap involving a croissant and a spoon flying off a table mid-scene, while Sophia had to coax a nervous student to retrieve the forgotten croissant during a blackout. “She didn’t want to go on stage because her boyfriend might be in the audience,” Sophia laughed. She emphasizes the importance of building their confidence for quick-thinking issues to have a successful show.
These moments of improvisation are extremely vital to tech crew and running shows. Whether solving logistical issues or calming nerves, the high school tech often serves as both technical and emotional support. Carol helped build brakes for a rolling bed and taught LMK students how to use them. Sophia leaned on Carol for guidance during tech week: “If I got lost because the middle schoolers were asking me questions, I’d turn to Carol and be like, ‘Where are we?’”
Their reflections also highlighted an overall growing interest in technical theater. “This year we had 30 students sign up for tech crew, which is an insane amount,” Carol exclaimed. For Sophia, the experience shaped her future goals: “I learned that I want to go into the pediatric field of nursing. Children are just looking for you to be a role model… You don’t have to be your perfect self in front of them.”
Their advice to future tech crew members?
Try it.
“Even just for one day,” Carol said. “If you enjoy it, stay with it. It can really take you places.”
