Before the curtains go up on opening night, tech crew members shut off all the lights backstage and close all the doors to the shop. The only lighting in the room is that of flashlights shining down on two crew members arm-wrestling in the center of the crowd.
As much as it may surprise people that tech crew arm-wrestles backstage on every performance’s opening night, this is just one example of their many unique pre-show traditions.
From dumping glitter on each other’s heads in the shop before every Winter Show, to waking up early the day of the first in-school performance to go to Denny’s, tech crew keeps performance weeks high-spirited.
“[Going to Denny’s] is my favorite just because it’s so weird and fun,” senior Gavin Guttmann said. “We all go to Denny’s at 4:30 a.m. on the morning of opening show and talk and eat for a few hours… everyone is pretty crazy since it’s so early.”
According to junior Laura Gusewelle, another tradition that’s unique to tech crew is “techies don’t smile.”
“We take photos after the in-school performance and the techies are supposed to not smile,” Gusewelle said. “Sometimes we do anyways.”
According to Gusewelle, these traditions have been with tech crew for a long time, and it’s no longer known how they started.
“They’ve been done as long as anyone can remember, even before Jonah and Melton came to work here,” Gusewelle said.
But just because something has been around for a long time doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to last forever. According to sophomore Olivia Burkey, the members of tech crew are responsible for keeping the traditions alive and preventing them from falling out or being forgotten.
“Traditions get close to ending pretty often because we get really busy,” Burkey said. “But it’s nice people care enough to keep them going.”
According to Burkey, one tradition that has nearly been lost in recent years is the “PROP. OF TECH” tradition, where a member of the crew, usually the stage manager or assistant manager, goes around before the performance and writes “PROP. OF TECH” on the hands of the crew members with a Sharpie.
According to Guttmann, these traditions and rituals are important for tech crew because they help establish a necessary sense of community and keep morale up when their workload becomes demanding.
“They are fun when the [work for the] show is so grueling, and it reminds us that we are all friends,” Guttmann said. “Techies don’t get to talk during the show, [which] creates a sense of distance between us. Traditions help us stick together.”