Bright lights, colorful clothing and beautiful voices bursting out song is just the part the audience sees when Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is being acted out on stage. But what happens behind-the-scene? This is a backstage pass to see exactly what goes on behind-the-scenes.

The journey to the stage all begins with the auditions. The director, Ms. Karyl Schnyder, selects the best she sees fit for the parts. Her vision for the stage is just the start to a crazy whirlwind. At the end of the 2014-’15 school year a list is posted with who gets to play each part. During August the cast came together to practice singing the story of Joseph and his brothers. The crew came into play with creating the backgrounds and finding the props needed for the musical to come alive.

Once the school year began the hours put in for practicing on stage became longer. Most of the actors and actresses did not leave the school building until nine some nights, according to Jack Murphy, junior, who plays Joseph.

The stress levels rise as the opening night grew nearer and nearer. A week or two before the opening night, on a Saturday morning, the cast and crew merged together to have a cue-to-cue. The cast and crew came to school at about 7 a.m., had breakfast together and then begin to mash together the lights, the microphones, the voices and the acting in each scene. Sometimes spending an hour on one particular scene just to make sure everything is on point.

The final week, after cue-to-cue, the cast and crew worked their hardest to make sure everything was perfect. Even Jason Stoll, theater assistant, stayed early into the morning of Oct. 15 to finish putting the LED lights onto the staircase, according to Mady Anderson, junior, who is on costume crew. Murphy and Hugo both talked about resting their voices the day of opening night because of the musical being an operetta, which means there is little dialogue. “To prepare for the opening night of the musical, I made sure my mind, body, and spirit were fully engaged,” Hugo said.

Opening night for Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat was Oct. 15. Some of the students arrived at Pickard around 5 p.m. to prepare for the musical to apply their stage make-up, get their microphones checked, and change into their costumes, according to Murphy. “The atmosphere in Pickard was a mix of nerves and excitement,” said Emma McCarry, junior, who plays Gad. The nerves that run amuck backstage are pumped up even more by the music played for the actors and actresses to listen to.

When the crew calls for the cast to get set, the real magic begins. “I like to keep things fresh so I don’t go on “autopilot” onstage,” explained Hugo. He likes to play off the audience’s reactions and positive energy to keep his performance original and new. Many of his cast mates agreed. With any performance there will be mishaps and stumbles, but according to Murphy there were only a few minor technical issues on opening night. “As for things going wrong, I’d be shocked if everything went perfect, especially on night one,” said McCarry. That is all part of the theatre’s charm and adventure though!

Through all the stress and late nights a community has been formed. “There is an amazing sense of community here and I hope that showed on stage as well as it did backstage,” said McCarry. This is a community the audience sees onstage and offstage when the cast and crew go out into Pickard Lobby to meet all who came to see them. The show is not one disappoint nor leave the audience unsatisfied.  “I shall give you what you came for and much more beside,” said McCarry when asked to pick a quote from Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat to describe opening night. According to Anderson, “If you thought Footloose was good then Joseph will completely blow your mind.”

The show has one weekend left for performances, Oct. 23 and 24 have a 7 p.m. show, and a matinee on Oct. 25 at 2 p.m.