Behind every successful drama production lies the working hands of a few students who pull the whole show together with their lights, sounds, mics and more. These students are the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tech crew who are as important as the actors on stage, although their talents are shown beyond the stage.

The tech crew at MSD serve a vital role in putting together every production, from lights to sound systems and props. The crew is tight knit and like a family, as all tech members have bonded and formed friendships that last beyond collaborating in tech. New underclassmen joining learn from the upperclassmen passing skills and knowledge down as the years go by.

The tech crew are all in the Tech Theater elective course and are split class periods, one for Tech Theater 1 and 2 and the other for Tech Theater 3 and 4. Between Tech and Theater Production classes, there is an estimated 150 students in tech theater.

Tech theater has different levels of involvement and commitment between different students. Anyone apart of the crew is encouraged to participate outside of class hours to help plan and prepare for all MSD productions like the Black History Month Show, Multicultural Show as well as plays and musicals produced by the Drama department.

“Tech is really fundamental to the process of everything done in drama,” senior and technical director Colin McLean said. “Without the sound, they would not be able to hear, without the lights they would not be able to see, and so much more.”

Tech, although not serving as actors in the production, can play just as big of a role off stage as the actors on stage. All members of the tech crew are constantly learning how to improve and grow for the benefit of the whole drama department.

“I like programming light cues, and learning from other tech crew members with more experience than me to grow and build my skills to the best of my ability,” freshmen and tech crew member Belinda Beuke said.

As the opening night of the show they are working on comes closer and closer, tech students stay after school to fully prepare for the show lying ahead. Staying past school hours intensifies as the production nears ‘Tech Week’, the one-week time period before a show’s opening night.

“Tech stays late because when it gets closer to the actual show and in time leading up oftentimes the performers are on stage and we need the time after them to work on stage,” McLean said.

Despite the tech crew being behind the scenes at MSD, their hard work will always be spotlighted through their contributions to the drama department.