A big focus at Hollis Brookline High School (HBHS) is the school plays and musicals put on every year, but what happens behind the scenes? The tech and costume crew contribute a lot of effort and attention to detail to present to HBHS the impressive plays and musicals that are showcased every year.
HBHS exhibits two plays and one musical throughout the school year, in which students devote a lot of time outside of school in preparation to exhibit entertaining and engaging performances.
One of the members of Tech Crew, Adrienne Rosenblatt ‘25, explains that the Crew’s contribution to the play or musical does not go unrecognized, except for the case of the audience. “Tech jobs are not supposed to be noticed. If they are noticed then something is going wrong,” said Rosenblatt.
The biggest rehearsal for the play or musical has a tech week in which students run through the show multiple times and reflect on how everything is turning out. These practices usually span from right after school until around 9 p.m. Marc Croteau ‘25, a contributor to the theater’s tech shared his opinion “It’s a little stressful, but we’re all friends in the tech area. We keep high spirits so it doesn’t get too overwhelming,” he said.
Students from tech and set crew notice a rise in interest for different positions in the plays or musicals by underclassmen. “I think there’s definitely been an increase in underclassmen generally being interested in doing the set stuff, more than I’ve seen in the past,” said lead set manager Casey Young ‘25.
As underclassmen get involved in the Hollis Brookline productions, generally, their roles and amount of responsibilities grow. “You’ll get opportunities as you become more experienced on the [tech] boards,” said Roseblatt. There are also many other opportunities for students to become comfortable with different tech equipment, such as at Hollis Brookline’s community events, presentations, and band performances.
The first school play of the year, 12 Angry Jurors, is in early December, so don’t forget to buy a ticket and watch an entertaining and immersing show.
