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Schools

MRH Offers Behind-the-Scenes Glimpse of "Harvey"

MRH high school students open "Harvey" tonight at 7 p.m.

Director Holly Potthoff shouts from the balcony, "Speak up!" and "Slow down!"

She watches from the theater seats as students from  perform their first dress rehearsal for this weekend's production of Harvey.

Harvey is a Broadway play written by Mary Chase in the 1940s. It's a three act comedy about a friendly man with a fondness for the drink. His imaginary friend, a large white rabbit, causes a series of mishaps among his friends, family and doctors.

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The production is the result of months of set design and construction, lighting and sound development, and line memorization.

It's easy to forget the crew that works behind the scenes while you are sitting in the audience of a play.

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"They are like the unsung heroes. As a matter of fact, they are called the 'ninjas.' They wear all black," technical director Joe Hosea said. "We know that we've done a good job when the audience doesn't complain about the set and the actors and actresses walk off the stage safely."

Hosea, from Florissant, is a speech, theater and English teacher. Potthoff, knowing that Hosea was in need of work, asked him to work as the technical director for the production.

Hosea wears many hats as the technical director. Hours before the dress rehearsal, he was on stage directing kids to paint trim, create curtains from fabric scraps, hang photos on the set walls, and use screw guns to create stage doors.

"I did research online of past productions and came up with drawings and ideas," Hosea said. "Then we worked together to come up with ideas for the set."

Many students haven't used power tools before joining the stage crew.

"I didn't even know what a screw gun was," Charlotte Ludwig said. "Then last Saturday, I was a master. I used it for six hours."

Hosea often has the task of teaching the students to use these tools. For Hosea, it has become a perk of the job.

"I like seeing the kids when they have accomplished something and they are like, 'Wow! I built that!'" Hosea said.

Freshman Alexis Telford and sophomore Will Tipton both work behind the scenes as well, except they work behind the audience in a dimly lit room above the balcony. Telford controls the lighting for the play and Tipton works on the music and sound effects.

Lighting, while not a star of the show, is key to creating the right ambiance for theater productions.

"I think it adds a lot to it with the moods. If you want to do something dark, you would add a darker color so it looks more mysterious," Telford said.

Tipton researched music from the 1940s to go along with the setting of the play. He also collects sound effects—like the buzzer, phone and gong sounds he found for this production.

Many of the students have hopes of working in theater after they graduate. Junior Brianna Jones worked as a miscellaneous set crew member, where she hung pictures and cut trim. She hopes to work as a theater teacher some day.

Junior George Dunn also works as part of the stage crew.

"I signed up so I could get some feedback on what goes on [behind the scenes] because I want to become a theater director and then work my way into films," Dunn said.

Harvey opens tonight at 7 p.m. and runs through Saturday at the MRH high school theater. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $5 for adults and $4 for students. 

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