# Other Crew Activities?



## chrispo86 (Nov 14, 2008)

I was thinking about this one for some random reason last night and figured I would pose the question here for your input. I'm curious, does anybody's high school stage/tech crew do anything other than just shows? Things like field trips or any other activities not directly related to getting ready for or running a show?

We have a stage craft class that goes on a field trip or two (or attempts to, because apparently there's a district policy that's now being enforced that you can't propose a field trip that costs a student more than $40 in order to be fair to people with less money; and let's face it, with gas prices these days, the busses alone to go anywhere practically costs that much) and the teacher is trying to get someone from ETC to come down and give them a demo/workshop of some sort. The actual crew though as a club doesn't do anything other than the shows. So, does anybody do anything interesting, or is it strictly business?


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## Sony (Nov 14, 2008)

I work on a farm sometimes...

I don't exactly know what you're asking, do you mean personal activities outside of work? Or do you mean other work we do?

Personal Activities: I enjoy Mountain Biking, Boating, Modifying my Toyota Tacoma, Computers and much more!


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## themuzicman (Nov 14, 2008)

Our biggest activity was going backstage at the Kennedy Center (awesome tour).

Other than that, a few of us will go camping together, but that's more of a personal outing with a few kids who happen to do crew =/


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## lieperjp (Nov 14, 2008)

I once went on a Tour of ETC in Middleton, WI with a local theatre (Schauer Center in Hartford, WI.) What do you mean by things other than shows? Like, workshops? Pretty much any workshop that teaches you something practical or certifies you in something would be a good idea.


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## chrispo86 (Nov 14, 2008)

Yeah, I'm looking for theater related things to do with the crew other than shows. Field trips to theaters or manufactures (or other places), workshops, guest speakers, trip to go see a show outside of the school? I knew as I wrote that post it wasn't coming out clear, but I can't figure out how else to word it. I'm looking for a school-based activity (not necessarily inside the school though) to do with the kids on the crew that's not running a show... I'm not referring to personal extracurricular activities. I like the idea of touring a place like ETC, though it's just a little far from NY and I'm not sure who's in this area (about 40 minutes outside of NYC). Hopefully that came out a little better


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## WestlakeTech (Nov 14, 2008)

We have a lock-in every year. Always includes good food and team building activities. Once the activities are over (usually about 2am) everyone's free to play DDR, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, watch whatever movie's been projected in the theater, eat food in the shop back-stage, play games in the green room like Twister or Catchphrase or even ping-pong in the lobby.

We also always have a trip.
Freshman year: Las Vegas
Sophomore year: Italy*
Junior year: New York
This year: Los Angeles

The trips highlight the theatre scenes of wherever it is we are, but they also cost a lot even with TEC paying for half and I know very few schools can afford to be so generous.

*Italy is the only one I will have gone to and I must say that Teatro La Scala is flippin' amazing! Their entire stage right wing is bigger than our black box and we got to talk to their LD during the tour a few hours before the show we saw there. Though watching the show from the front row of the 2nd Galleria is quite uncomfortable. All-in-all though, a must see for techies everywhere.


But seriously, consider a lock-in.


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## chrispo86 (Nov 14, 2008)

WestlakeTech said:


> We have a lock-in every year. Always includes good food and team building activities.



What exactly happens at this lock-in? You said team building activites, but could you elaborate a little? The idea sounds interesting...


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## Traitor800 (Nov 14, 2008)

Your located on Long Island, theres all kinds of things to do. If you want to view a colleges space, contact someone at SUNY Purchase, they cant be that far from you guys. If you want demos or training sessions, I know Syracuse Scenery and Staging came up to potsdam with a bunch of toys one weekend a couple of years ago, they brought 10 different moving lights and a couple of light boards and just had a info session/demo day with us. So they might be able to do that more local is BMI, you can also try them.


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## WestlakeTech (Nov 14, 2008)

chrispo86 said:


> What exactly happens at this lock-in? You said team building activites, but could you elaborate a little? The idea sounds interesting...



The basic concept is camaraderie and getting to know and trust each other. Basically, TEC hires professional team-builers (I don't know if that's their official title, but I can check). Basically, they're those people who have everyone do activities that encourage trust, teamwork, and communication. If you can't afford to hire someone, you may be able to find some activities on the internet. I'll give the search some effort when I've got the time and let you know what I find.


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## ruinexplorer (Nov 14, 2008)

I lived a couple of mountain passes away from any professional theater, so the only thing we did was attend the state Thespian conference. While the conferences were geared towards the actors, there was still opportunities for technicians to network and learn something. Twice we went to the International Thespian Conference which had a few more opportunities, plus the opportunities to "audition" for colleges. 

I also took the time to volunteer for summer stock productions at my local college. While that didn't help with team building at all, it allowed me more knowledge without needing to pay for classes.

Since all the stagehands in HS were my friends, we did take trips that were not part of a school function. We would go and see Broadway tours or professional regional theater shows as well as concerts. Of course, this came out of our own pockets.


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## RUNtheatre2 (Dec 3, 2008)

I do a leadership retreat and it culminates with a tech olympics. It is nice to get out of the school environment and bond in a way that also serves character development issues!


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## waynehoskins (Dec 3, 2008)

In college a group of us went to USITT. Good times. Also the local bar was a popular place for all us theatre folk to go.


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