Backstage Calm During the Storm

Mr. Fitzpatrick and Mr. Tomizawa backstage at the
talent show with a few production crew members.

Another successful Edgewood talent show this month! One more round next month! Since 2010, we have offered three lunchtime shows each year, with each production repeated for a grade K-2 and 3-5 student audience, plus a dress rehearsal.  Our production crew is made up of about a dozen staff members and three dozen students to pull off a lunchtime show.

Our first talent show of the year is usually in February. The learning experience in this first show is pure madness, as crew members stumble through production routines and responsibilities and are oblivious to the flow of the show. We're often too busy or confused to eat.

Typically, we hit our stride by that third show in May, when the team is a purring V8 engine. That's when the adult supervisors in the balcony and backstage are able to sit and eat lunch, while the students manage the production. But this year, our crew gelled quickly. This year in our second talent show, I snapped a group selfie without worry of distracting the crew and then watched the team execute a flawless production -- while I ate my sandwich. Great show everyone!  -- Paul Tomizawa