Behind the scenes in Elizabeth Forward musical
Emma Stragand and Bethany Fuga.
Submitted photo
Student directors Emma Stragand and Bethany Fuga go over plans with teacher Alana Wieclaw.
Student directors Emma Stragand (left) and Bethany Fuga (right) are in constant contact with teacher Alana Wieclaw.
Emma Stragand and Bethany Fuga adjust the position of one of the props for Elizabeth Forward’s production of “Anything Goes.”
Submitted photo
Attend any high school musical and a standing ovation is a foregone conclusion, regardless of whether it be opening or closing night. A stage-full of cast members take their bows and fittingly acknowledge the efforts of the orchestra, stage, lighting and sound crews.
But just who are those people proverbially behind the scenes and often in the shadows ensuring that everything proceeds as planned?
At Elizabeth Forward High School, they are captains of the soccer team and all-section players who found a greater calling.
When they were in middle school, student director Bethany Fuga and stage manager Emma Stragand, now soon-to-be graduates, appeared on stage in the ensemble in their eighth-grade musical. But as freshmen, then as sophomores, they became involved with the stage crew and their theater careers took off in a new direction.
“Bethany and Emma are both very organized and dependable students,” said Alana Wieclaw, high school English teacher and director and choreographer of the school’s musical, “Anything Goes,” this spring. “They joined the stage crew and worked their way up from assistant stage crew managers as juniors. Their leadership skills will be very hard to replace, and the cast and crew feels very comfortable coming to them for assistance.
”Since there are no adults backstage, they essentially run the show while the assistant director and I watch from the back of the auditorium. These ladies are my right hand. It would be very difficult to put on the production without them. They are leaving some very difficult shoes to fill.”
As student director, a post she has held for two years, Fuga assists Wieclaw in organizing and planning the production. She helps plan scenes and provides all-important feedback to the students regarding rehearsals. “Bethany is also responsible for making the microphone book, which is not an easy task,” added Wieclaw, who has choreographed the last nine shows and directed the last six at Elizabeth Forward. “This allows the technical crew to know who is wearing microphones during each scene and when each mike should be turned on and off. During the show, Bethany orchestrates all of the microphone changes on the actors and actresses backstage.”
Stragand also helps Wieclaw organize and plan the entire production, and is in charge of the entire stage crew. “She assigns jobs for each member and plans out every scene change, each timed and planned out to music, how many people are needed to move each set piece and move all props on and off stage.”
In making the microphone book, Fuga compared it to a giant puzzle and referred to it as a challenging operation. She creates a “blueprint for actors who are wearing microphones, with the blueprint changing from scene to scene as different actors wear the mikes.”
In addition to the microphone blueprint, she produces a props list, identifying what props are needed for every scene. She then gives that list “to an excellent group of parent volunteers who get the props,” she said.
But with every production, she acknowledged there may be snafus. “If and when that happens, or if an actor does something wrong, I like to tell them in a nice way,” she chuckled. “I prefer positive reinforcement, rather than yelling.”
Involved with four high school productions, including the last two as student director, her favorite moments occur “any moment right before a show opens,” she said. “Prior to every show the cast crew gather in a circle for a prayer and on Final night the seniors do their ‘thank yous,’ and reflect on tell why the musical is so important. This moment also illustrates how groups with different interests come together and make the musical so successful.”
When she is not consumed by soccer each fall season and the musical every spring, Fuga plays indoor soccer for EF and teaches soccer to children ages 4-8 at Court Time Sports Center in Elizabeth. She is a member of the National Honor Society, student government, Mock Trial, Secretary of Tri M, the musical honor society, and she has been her class secretary for four years.
As her scholastic career draws to a close, Fuga plans to enroll at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg to study management, prior to transferring to the university’s main campus in Oakland for completion of a Human Resources degree.
“Playing soccer and being student director have given me the background to become involved in a management capacity,” she said. “I like to consider myself as more of a leader than a follower.”
Reminiscing on her time in the ensemble in middle school, “it was fun,” she said, but chuckled and quickly added that she is “not as talented as other kids, but being involved with the musical in this capacity is definitely fun. I liked being involved with the stage crew for two years with Mrs. Wieclaw, and I am proud that she has trusted me to be stage manager.”
In her role she is in charge of the approximately 15-member stage crew who move the sets between scenes. “That’s where I was as freshman and sophomore and even though I’ve taken on a leadership role, I’m still helping move some of the scenery.”
Stragand noted the musical and her role may be stressful at times, but still fun.
In fact, she laughed as she recalled the time the stage crew forgot to put in one particular prop. “It was a painting and the scene was about the painting, and the actors had to make up lines as they went along. But everything worked out perfectly.”
In leadership roles as one of the soccer team’s captains and stage manager, Stragand pondered the question of which was more of a challenge.
“In soccer we are together six days a week and sometimes because of the interaction we get tired of each other,” she said, “and that makes it a little tougher than working with the stage crew. At first the stage crews does not put in as many hours, but those hours add up the closer we get to the performances.”
At EF, Stragand is treasurer of her senior class, secretary of the National Honor Society, and a member of the student government and mock trial. “Being involved in so many clubs, organizations, soccer, and the musical has created friendships and fantastic memories,” she said. She plans on attending the University of Pittsburgh to study pharmacy, following in the footsteps of her pharmacist father, Jay Stragand.
Not only are both girls very good soccer players, but also “They are involved in a ton of extracurricular activities, and they take all of the most difficult classes at the high school, which makes their dedication all the more impressive,” Wieclaw said. “It has been a pleasure watching them grow and mature as young ladies. Their leadership skills have definitely grown over the last four years. They really stepped up as juniors and learned the ropes so that they could fully take over as seniors. They will be successful in all they do.”
“Anything Goes” will be performed on the Elizabeth Forward stage at 7 p.m. April 6, 7 and 8 and at 2 p.m. on April 9. Tickets are $10 and may be ordered by calling 412-896-2362.