Backstage Bruins: Student producers work with tech-crew time crunch in ’24-Hour Musical’

The tech crew lacked the time, money and supplies to construct the barricade for the “Les Misérables” set design, so the crew members formed one made up of people.

While this year’s upcoming “24-Hour Musical” production still lies under wraps, third-year political science student Ariana Garcia reminisces on last year’s performance of “Les Misérables.”

“(’24-Hour Musical’) forces the crew to think creatively to get the things we need without spending money,” Garcia said.

Garcia, along with the three other producers, wait for Saturday to reveal the culmination of months of coordinating play rights, auditing cast members and finalizing logistics: the “24-Hour Musical 2016.”

“24-Hour Musical,” co-produced by HOOLIGAN Theatre Company and Act III Theatre Ensemble, gives cast and crew 24 hours of closed rehearsals followed by one performance supported by a tech crew of 25 students. The show raises money for a local nonprofit, No Limits, which volunteers their Culver City location for day-of rehearsals.

Garcia and Julia Nelson, a second-year theater student with a costume design focus, make up half of the team of producers. Garcia, HOOLIGAN’s artistic director, and Nelson, Act III’s executive producer, will head the design team.

For “24-Hour Musical,” Garcia and Nelson said tech becomes something entirely different from a traditional production – figuring out what is possible for a full production in 24 hours with a nonexistent budget.

After a night of planning on Saturday once the musical is revealed, Garcia said the crew will drive to HOOLIGAN’s storage space to pull any usable costumes, props and scenic backgrounds. She hopes to divide the tech crew into teams, such as costume, prop and set.

“In the end, everyone just does what needs to be done,” Garcia said.

While both Garcia and Nelson said they are dreading the sleep deprivation, Nelson said there’s a certain thrill in everything coming together, with things going wrong and running around to fix everything.

“Being backstage, you get to absorb all of the energy,” Nelson said. “Good and bad, hectic and crazy and wonderful.”

Both Garcia and Nelson discovered their passion for theater in high school, beginning with onstage ambitions. While Nelson said she couldn’t muster the courage to audition for her high school’s production freshman year, Garcia spent all of high school acting.

Before UCLA, Garcia said she filled backstage roles only when necessary for her high school curriculum.

“I didn’t realize how amazing tech was until I came to HOOLIGAN,” Garcia said.

Garcia said she auditioned for HOOLIGAN’s fall show, “Curtains,” her first year. She didn’t receive a role, but still wanted to be involved and joined the production management department.

Although Garcia said there’s a satisfaction to performing, she prefers the behind-the-scenes aspect of equal involvement without the stress of memorizing lines or onstage mistakes. She said she has learned real-life skills, like working a drill and handcrafting a platform.

“Visually, without tech, the show is not a show,” Garcia said.

Meanwhile, Nelson said she painted set designs in high school, which later transitioned to special effects makeup and finally her current passion: costume design.

“(In design), you get to be a part of the storytelling in a slightly more objective way,” Nelson said.

Nelson said she wanted to pursue her passion in college, applying to all of her schools as a theater student. She selected the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television for its ability to fluidly incorporate her interests in all specializations, rather than isolating subsections of acting, design and direction.

“Getting to be a part of the process and the theater-making in a visual way is just the method that I resonated with the most,” Nelson said.