The backstage experience

Colors. A light pink fabric ran from one end of the hall to the other, a green swirling with the vibrant highlights of purple and maroon. Adults dressed in their dark winter colors fill the auditorium as they whisper their hopes for the show they are about to witness. Contradicting the loud conversing audience, eccentrically dressed Wenatchee High School students whisper their previously practiced lines and continually egg on each other to remind them that they are the cast of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

“Keep up,” my self-appointed tour guide said. My head swirled as my five senses were enlightened. The backstage of a WHS play is no place for the mundane human, as the chit chat of little costumed characters floated in front of my nose, and the smell of blush and bronzer stung my eyes, making keeping up much more laborious than I had expected. The heat from a rushed, animated string of characters was felt on the tips of my skin, and instructions for correct placement of wigs and coats was vociferated by the volunteering mothers.

Can you imagine 165 students treating each other with not only respect but care as they dash around preparing last minute dilemmas? Paul Atwood, the director, bustled away into the depths of the awaiting stage but not before graciously grabbing my hand and welcoming me into his most sacred, prestigious, and whimsical world.  I went into the night with the mindset I would be trampled and invisible, however the kids that had a spare minute before the show explained to me their costume and their part in the play and took the time to acknowledge my existence.

“Lots of nakedness, we are all very comfortable with each other,” senior Skye Herron said, when asked what the first thing that came to her mind when she thought of her the backstage.

The hush of the crowd when the show was promised 10 minutes later, and the dimming of the lights was enough to give me a sense of pride and thrill. I wandered to the spacious makeup room and instantly was transfixed by the sight of every character in the play, the director, and a few of the moms, lacing their fingers with each other and beginning a hymn. All obviously talented, this was breath taking. The unity and family aspect was amped up to another level, the atmosphere changed from light and goofy to determined and heavy.

Though there have been many conceptions on how “theater kids” are how to act, the kids in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang were not only focused, but extremely funny, with a family mentality. Breaking out in song was greeted with jazz hands from a friend and students were accompanying their pals on the piano, way before the show even started.

The song was over, the performers dispersed, and now all that was left were the final minutes before the play. Following the scurrying actors, I finally found my cloak of invisibility and immersed into the darkness of the backstage. Anticipating a cue from the golden stage, the nail-biting students paced back and forth. The play had started and I had my glimpse into the backstage life of a WHS play.

The intensity of knowing your hard work is about to pay off is something it may take the average person years to acquire, but for these kids all it has taken is being so on top of discipline and self-awareness that even the backstage is as esteemed as the show.