A Peek Behind the Curtain at the Athenian Theater

Despite the popularity and history of the Athenian theater program, the process of its production remains mysterious. Behind the curtains, there is much unseen effort and time required to assemble an intricate and complex art.

One of the first things to take into consideration when putting on a show is choosing what show to perform. Many people in the theater department have ideas for shows that could be potentially put on. With various options, the list needs to be compiled and then narrowed down. An 11th-grade production manager, Kate Moon, said, “When proposing a show, we have to include a synopsis, the title, who wrote it, the rights available for us, and reasons why we should choose it. We then narrow the list down and show the list to the whole theater. We then pick which shows that are realistic for us. The final decisions are made by the production managers, stage managers, directors, and the crew heads for tech.”

When considering what show to perform, the Athenian theater needs to think about how realistic it would be to successfully pull it off. Eleventh-grade stage manager Bia Rodrigues De Lima said, “If it's too hard to the point that we as a class cannot do it, it doesn’t become an option. To perform a show like ‘Hamilton,’ for example, we can’t dance that fast, we can’t sing that fast, and we don't have the space. It just wouldn't be realistic. ‘The Great Comet,’ however, is a really hard show, but it's the kind of show that is learnable.”

Many people wanted to see Athenian perform ‘Mean Girls’ as the musical, but despite people’s excitement for the idea, it ended up never being an option in the first place. Eleventh-grader Sofia Doherty said, “I do know that a lot of the reason that they didn't want to do ‘Mean Girls’ is because they were saying we don't have the voices for it, yet we're doing ‘The Great Comet’ and we are changing a lot. We're bringing everything down or up an octave because it's too high for some singers and we don't have enough low voices for this show. We have to change half those characters to be higher because we don't have singers to be able to sing those lower male roles. So the show that ended up being picked (‘Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812’) wasn’t much better than ‘Mean Girls’ in how well the actors could sing the role.”

Another thing to take into account before performing a show is its production rights. Bia said, “You have to get the rights for the show And depending on how popular the show is, the price is going to change a little bit. So, for example, I think ‘Mean Girls’ was way more expensive than the one we're doing right now. For example, ‘Percy Jackson’ was really expensive, too. ‘Addams Family’ was really expensive. So I think the more popular ones are the most expensive. Before we do any show, we have to buy the rights.”

Casting the shows is also a difficult process. The show’s cast gives it a personality by filling the roles with students who are already well-acquainted around campus. The Athenian theater is a welcoming place, and when it comes to who can be in a show, there is no exclusion.

Bia said, “There are no prerequisites required. You just need to be committed because it's a big commitment. You have rehearsals basically three days a week. You also need to be able to sing for the musical and dance, that's basic, but you don't need to be super good at it because you're basically learning.” It’s inclusive and gives an opportunity for those who want to be on stage no matter what experience they may have.

An 11th-grade Production manager, Ziyan Wen, said, “The casting experience is not a very complicated process and everything is pretty chill. I feel like if you're new to this, when you're in the casting room you can feel under pressure. It's actually super chill. You submit a form that's just basic information about you, like your experience, your name, grade, how tall you are, and stuff like that. Anyone can audition. We try to include everyone for our casting.”

As well as teachers, students who are part of the theater can give their opinions in the audition room.

Kate said, “For casting for the play it's usually Misty and our new co-director, Annie, who are the main decision-makers. Other production managers like me are in the audition room and we can observe them and we usually write down our opinions, and stage managers are also involved. Since actors, like Ziyan, me, and Alex are in the show we do provide them with our opinion but it doesn’t mean that it’s going to go into the final decision. We usually tend to not talk about the roles that we are auditioning for or talk about the people in the room, so I think it’s pretty fair in terms of who is deciding because it’s mainly the teachers.

While for some the audition process may seem unchallenging, in reality auditioning students have to put themselves out there and be vulnerable.

Bia said, “The environment in the audition room is a little tense. It's really awkward actually. We're sitting in the theater and there's no one in the room. It's just like five people clumped together and you stand in the middle of the stage. It's a little nerve-wracking, but I think it's preparation for the show because if you get super nervous auditioning, how are you going to actually perform a show with 200 people?”

While the impressions of each audition are recorded and judged by the directors, production managers, and stage managers, some of the people judging other people’s performances are also auditioning themselves.

Bia said, “If I were auditioning and I knew that two of the people judging my audition were auditioning for it as well I would feel intimidated. I believe that actors shouldn't be allowed in the audition room even though they’re production managers. Even though they are really professional, and they are awesome actors and people, I still think that we as humans are biased all the time and we as humans are going to try to benefit ourselves.”

But, Bia said, “Even though we have some inside disagreements about the show choice, we're going to have a really amazing show because we'll be putting so much effort on it. The singers are doing awesome. The dancing's awesome. The story is really funny and we're going to have the best set we've ever had in all of the shows ever. We're doing something super different.”