Every year, Midlothian High School puts on wonderful plays, during which students have a chance to shine under the spotlight in front of the Midlothian community. Behind the stage and the lights works a team of hardworking students, making sure all goes as planned. Stage crew, running crew, costuming, as well many other facets, hold crucial roles in the success of Midlo’s finest shows.

Behind the scenes, students spend long hours, often staying until 5-6 pm and progressively longer as the premiere dates nears. “It’s fun. I like looking at all of our contributions put together for the show,” Sydney Costantino remarks as she describes stage crew. “I find that it’s a nice break from the classroom portion of school, plus it’s really enjoyable, ” says sophomore Jack Maloy. Students come in every day throughout the week to create light designs, sound effects, set buildings, costumes, and many other details. Working on the costuming end, Pauline Spencer exclaims, “I really like doing costuming because it’s so cool, and I’m a creative person, so it’s fun to express my creativity through their costumes.”

Students dedicate their time and hard work to bring beautiful shows to Midlo audiences. “It’s really cool to be a part of something bigger than you, and to see the audience come in with smiles and laughter. It gives me so much joy to see that people enjoy the hard work we do,” gushes sophomore James Davis. He plans to do lights for all shows this year. Sophomore Amanda Riddle, who will play a pirate in Peter and the Starcatcher, says, “The whole experience is just extremely fun, and along the way, you have the opportunity of meeting a lot of people while doing this.” Peter and the Starcatcher premieres November 17 and runs through November 19. While we cannot help admiring our wonderful stage performers, let us all pay a small token of appreciation to those who work so hard behind the scenes to create the magic of theater.