Deck Crew!

I am fortunate to have found a passion and love for carpentry over the years. I decided to start set building my sophomore year of high school for the drama department and absolutely fell in love with it. Here are some of the sets I have built as a Deck Crew Leader, managing on average 15 kids, and teaching them how to make theatrical sets come to life.

Hades Town Teen Edition- Assistant Technical Director

"Hadestown: Teen Edition" is a folk-jazz musical retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, adapted for young performers. Set in a gritty underworld, it explores themes of love, sacrifice, and hope as Orpheus journeys to rescue Eurydice from the industrial realm of Hades

The process

The process was a quick and challenging time for the crew. We had an intense time crunch and had to make about 30 brand new 4x8 platforms for the stage. We also had to install a motor for the turn table in the stage. The painting and decorating took about 2 weeks. in total 15 hours per week. Overall, this process was draining and hard but worth it.

The Crew

I was thankful to be able to take on the role of Assistant Technical Director for this production. I led about 20 kids in the building department, and we ended up having one of the best sets ever produced.

The show

For Deck Crew the show itself was also challenging due to its intense live technical ques. This includes 2 doors that open center stage that are operated manually, and a turn table operated by the crew as well during the show time. The crew had about 40 turn table Queues to memorize and 30 door Queues. Perhaps the hardest part of these Ques was that it was all musically timed.

"Deck crew lead, Sofia Montero, left the audience in awe of the set and the intense technical aspect of the show leading her crew to victory"

-Cappies Critic

9 to 5-Assistant Technical Director

"9 to 5: The Musical" is a comedic tale of three working women who team up to overthrow their sexist, egotistical boss. Set in the late 1970s, the show celebrates friendship, empowerment, and the fight for equality in the workplace

The Process

The process for this show was definitely a fun one. I had about 50 students for this production help build this set. I met lots of new people and taught them how to build and use tools. This was by far the best production I have led, I loved teaching the kids, making memories, and overall, just growing my ability of leadership as a whole. The sets most intense part was the amount of wall the crew had to build and these Pullie and elevator doors we had to build for this 1970s set.

Technical Queues

The Pullie doors on this set was the main attraction in the tech department of the production. It was all done by a small show crew I lead with about 5 students including me. There had to be complete precision in these queues due to it being center stage and the number of actors that would walk in and out of them. The total queues for this show were 284, the most I have ever done in my high school technical theater career. This was insanely difficult but was so much fun. I got to learn the music from the show due to the amount of practice we had, but overall, such a fun show.

Anastasia- Deck Crew Lead

The Process

As Deck Crew Lead for the musical Anastasia, I supervised over 20 students in building and preparing the production’s set. I helped coordinate carpentry projects, including spiral staircases and large stage pieces, while also leading painting and finishing work. Through teamwork, organization, and creativity, we successfully transformed the stage into the world of Anastasia for the performance.

The Show

During performances of Anastasia, I helped lead the backstage deck crew through over 78 technical cues. We manually operated two rotating turntables while rapidly changing set dressing between scenes to seamlessly transport the audience into new locations. The process required precision, communication, and timing, ensuring every transition flowed smoothly and kept the production visually immersive throughout the show.