Backstage at Arena Theater
What the average theater-goer doesn’t see—the troupe of dedicated student assistants who did the costuming, make-up and stage cues—is what really made this fall’s Carleton Players production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” a success.
The Carleton Players’ fall production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” was another remarkable success. The actors were well rehearsed and the play was well received—all four shows played to a full house. But what the average theater-goer doesn’t see—the troupe of dedicated student assistants who did the costuming, make-up and stage cues—is what really made the production outstanding.
Lisa Leininger, a sophomore from South Bend, Ind., who played the fairy Peasblossom in the production, recalls the preparation before a show. “The last week before going up, we were rehearsing four hours a day, every day of the week, so it was a lot for work for everyone,” Leininger recalls. “The fairies had a lot of serious makeup to do before performing and the makeup artists generally spent about an hour and a half getting it on.” Also notable were the sets that graced the Arena Theater stage. “They spent a lot a time getting those ready,” Leininger says of the set designers and stagehands.
For the makeup artists, the experience of helping with actor preparation is also exciting. “I hardly do makeup on myself, so getting to go all out on the fairies was a lot of fun,” said sophomore Melanie Yuen (Chicago). “I’ve never done stage makeup before, and I had good time—I’ll definitely be back for the show next term.”
In all, this elaborate backstage production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” involved the efforts of makeup artists, stage directors, set designers and builders, costume attendants, promotion supporters and of course, the director and his assistants. Despite the potential for a chaotic backstage environment, Leininger says it was a fairly calm atmosphere: “Backstage was always a lot of fun, people would be talking, waiting for cues, getting touched up—in general it was very relaxed.”
The production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” marked the 100th anniversary of the Carleton Players theater ensemble, and undoubtedly, the 100th year of dedicated students making sure that the work behind the scenes is as successful as the play on stage.