Date: Fri 01-May-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Walker-Brigadoon-NHS-Swetts

Full Text:

A Swan Song, Set To The Tune Of "Brigadoon"

(with cuts)

BY SHANNON HICKS

Rachel Walker was covered with paint from head to toe. After school, well into

most evenings lately, this is what the Newtown High School senior seems to

find herself wearing: professional scenery paint. One night last week she and

the tech/scenery crew working with her were creating a forest scene for a

massive spring production of the school's drama department.

Rachel is preparing her high school swan song. She is set designer and stage

manager for the high school drama club production of Brigadoon , which begins

performances next week. The production is Rachel's big Adios to the school

that has seen her grow from a shy freshman into a confident, outgoing young

lady.

A stage manager wears a number of hats. A good manager does a little bit of

everything in preparing a show, and when it's time for the curtain to go up,

the theatre is completely under the command of the stage manager. Stage

managers are the highest paid positions in a professional theatre, earning

larger salaries than even the leading actors.

A stage manager supervises the cast and production crews during rehearsals and

productions. They function as a liaison between the cast and director. They

see that all technical aspects of a production are functioning properly. And

in the absence of the director, the stage manager is responsible for seeing

that the director's concept for the production continues to be carried out and

that quality is maintained.

The same thing goes for the high school productions: once it's showtime, it is

the student stage manager who is in charge. Rachel will be single-handedly

running the show when Brigadoon goes into performance mode May 7-9. "She's the

one responsible for the productions," says Tom Swetts, co-director for the

school's drama department and technical director for Brigadoon .

Rachel is handling a lot of responsibility -- and finances -- for the school.

Last fall, the school presented The Madwoman of Chaillot . The department

spent over $14,000 for the musical, and Rachel, says Tom Swetts, "was

responsible for a large chunk of that money."

In the current theatre project, as with any of the four productions she has

worked on in the past, Rachel is working not only from the sidelines with the

planning and decision-making, but she is wherever there is something to be

done. She arrives at rehearsals full of energy and exuberance, with definite

ideas of what she wants her stage to look like, and her hands are sometimes

the first ones into the paint.

"Last year during the construction [at the high school], we almost canceled

Fiddler ," Tom Swetts said this week. Mr Swetts has known Rachel for four

years. "If it weren't for Rachel's energy, the staff would have packed it up.

She was the one who really took charge and got things done."

Last week, the stage manager was not only advising her crew which colors to

use where and which shade best matched another, she was the one cutting away

the headers (the partial scenery pieces that hang from above the stage). She

had paint specks in her hair and on her face, and was unconcerned with the

fact the musical opened in less than two weeks.

"It feels great," she said confidently. "Everything seems to be coming

together well." In fact, Mr Swetts reported this week the building of the

scenery was "90 percent done." The crew will spend the weekend completing

stage construction, painting will continue into the early part of next week,

and final rehearsals with the cast will run May 5 and 6. "We're in pretty good

shape," he said.

Rachel's introduction to the high school theatre came four years ago, when she

entered Newtown High. "I've always been kind of involved with drama," she

said. During her sophomore year, Rachel worked under the tutelage of

then-senior Meghan O'Connor, the stage manager for The King & I . Meghan and

Rachel actually ended up co-managing the performance.

She has also picked up the reins from departing seniors Tracey Otwell and

Kevin Walker. Two years ago the two students were the set designers for the

1996 spring production at the school. Rachel began her scenery work at that

point.

"As a freshman, she'd hide in the corner," said Mr Swetts. "But now, being in

charge, she's completely different.

"She can be very nice or she can tell people to tow the line when they have

to," he continued. "She's got a very gentle, very kind personality.

"How can I put this? Most people that have that many skills, maybe even power,

want to abuse it. She just has a gentle way of getting things done. She'll sit

and explain to crew members what she wants, and they'll go off and paint what

she sees.

"It's all her image. She must dream about it at night," he laughed, "because

by the time she comes in, it's just a drop of the paintbrush. It would take me

years to do what she does in one day."

The industrious Rachel was voted president of the drama club this year, one of

the few times a non-actor has been given the honor.

Theatre is not the only extracurricular activity Rachel is involved in. She is

a member of the NHS Color Guard, a group that practices two nights a week and

spent the day in Norwalk on April 25 competing in the eastern region

championship. She is a section leader of the school's orchestra, and she is

enrolled in a number of advanced placement courses.

Next year, Rachel will be off to college. She has been accepted to a few

schools, including Dartmouth, but is looking most closely at the University of

Virginia. She does not plan to major in theatre production, but says she will

certainly continue in the theatre.

In March, Tom Swetts arranged for the drama club to take a field trip to New

York City to catch a performance of 1776 . Before and after the production,

however, the students had the eye-opening opportunity to visit backstage, meet

the actors, and learn about the theatre.

Karen Doyle, the stage manager for 1776 , ran the entire show and still made

time to take Rachel around the production personally. Rachel saw the dressing

rooms, used a headset during the show and listened to the actors' cues, and

then met with the actors following the performance.

Ironically, it wasn't until after the field trip that the group discovered

none of the crew members had majored in stage production during their college

years. Which leaves Rachel at no disadvantage next year, or during the next

four, when she is studying in Virginia.

Brigadoon is not only the first production Rachel has been given full creative

run on, it is also one of the most ambitious the school has undertaken in a

number of years. The story calls for nearly a dozen complete scene changes,

and every one of them has come from the wonderful imagination of Rachel

Walker.

"It's funny," Rachel said last week, "but I never would have imagined

designing a full set by myself before this."

"To see the change in her from freshman to senior year is amazing," said Tom

Swetts. "I'm sad to say it, but she's ready to move on. And that's probably

the hardest thing as a teacher: to know that someone is ready to move on and

you don't want to lose them."

Performances of Brigadoon will be at the Newtown High School auditorium

Thursday, May 7, through Saturday, May 9. Curtain will be 7:30 on Thursday, 8

pm Friday and Saturday. There will also be a 2 pm matinee Saturday afternoon.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students, and will be available at the

door.