Behind the Scenes Look at our Midyear Showcase
You all see what happens on the day… There is a buzz of energy, lots of excited dancers and for our end of year concert, lots of sparkles and colour…. But have you ever wondered, what goes on behind the scenes? Here we will take you through the prior preparation needed for a concert…
There sooo many tasks that have to be done and they are done months prior. Let’s break it into sections…
Running Order:
- This is HUGE task as there are so many kids that do multiple classes, have to change outfits, have to change shoes and they may also have siblings as well – Miss Tash spends HOURS upon HOURS working out the program for the show and does try her hardest to make sure there are no tight changes and no clashes (this is probably the biggest task!)
- Next Miss Tash sends through the running order to the teachers where they will double check and see if there are any impossible changes – if there is… Sorry Miss Tash… More editing!
- Once a final copy has been made for each concert – a concert survival guide can finally be put together for the parents (once the hall and times have been triple confirmed!)
- A design for the program and running sheets will be made so that it can be printed prior to the concert…. A technical running sheet is also created and written on with any sound & lighting notes… Before it is printed though, it is doubly doubly proof read for any errors… Because well… That’s A LOT of paper wasted for one simple error!
Music & Lights :
- Music is collected from all of the teachers weeks before the show (for the teachers that means making sure it is completely edited, it has the right file name to correspond with the running sheet and is in folders ready for the show!)
- All of the teachers USB’s are then transferred to the music laptop, ready for the concert…. It is DOUBLE checked that ALL the music is there and backups are ready just in case!
- Any extra lights and smoke machines are packed and ready to go… We are lucky to have a lighting guy at the hall, but there is still a lot of technical things that we’ll pretend we know about!!!
- I will then hunt down the teachers again and get them to gather photos and videos from the year, so a slideshow can be formed. Again, all of these photos are put into one folder, so that they are ready for the big screen.
- We also have to pick a finale song, the teachers have to learn it and then we teach it to the kids…
Signs:
- Luckily many of the signs have already been created and laminated, however we still have to go through and make sure all of them are there and create any extra signs if necessary
Logistics:
- A plan of how the kids are going to get on and off the stage, changed into different outfits and staff delegation, is formed into one document. I will then communicate with all the teachers and helpers prior the concert, to first of all, make sure they are definitely coming and then second of all, let them know their duties. On the day of the concert, we have a quick brief of who’s going to be where and when and how the day will run.
- A ‘to pack’ list is formed and it is made sure that EVERY item on that list is brought to the concert… That means canteen food, utensils/eskies for the canteen, stationary items, spare uniform/costume parts, costume fix-erup-erers (ie. Safety pins, hair accessories), music and lighting, speech notes, awards, props, gaffa tape for the stage, programs & running sheets, extra tickets and many other items…
- Emails – information is communicated to families regularly and a concert survival guide is sent out with all the information about the day and times… Notes are handed out with extra information and for our midyear (littlies) wristbands need to be ordered ready to hand out…
- Ticket selling – a date is decided at the start of the year as to when tickets will go on sale… Tickets need to be printed and ready to go prior to this day…
All the while, we are making sure every little element is prepared and organised with weeks to spare!
I know it seems like a lot and even now I have probably forgotten some things (which is why we have it written down somewhere…) but we all love it and wouldn’t have it any other way. There are so many people who help at concert day – admin staff, senior teachers, junior assistant teachers, older students, neighbours and family… It really is a team effort. The work that goes into it though, is so worth it when you see the kids smiling up on stage, having the time of their life.
Miss Tash xx
