Two OCU students recently worked for the Hamilton tour.
Alix Phelan, design and production senior, and Erin Wilson, design and production junior, got to experience working on a professional Broadway traveling crew.
For traveling shows, crews often hire local people for crew work. When the touring production of Hamilton came to Oklahoma City, they reached out to locals with a background in wardrobe crew to work on the show from July 30 to Aug. 18.
Phelan said she helped actors with quick changes as well as other needs.
“Our job is to literally dress the actors and make sure they are wearing the right thing when they go on stage and double check that their accessories look good, as well as help with quick changes when needed,” Phelan said.
Phelan said the opportunity came suddenly.
“They texted me a week before the show, and I had to respond quickly, because if not, they would have just moved down the big list of names they have,” Phelan said. “The boss of the show texted me and I replied yes, yes, yes, and that’s pretty much how it happened.”
Phelan said this was not her first time working with a touring Broadway cast.
Phelan began working as a dresser for Lyric Theatre. She also worked with the traveling Broadway cast of Cats last summer when they were in Oklahoma City.
Phelan said these opportunities have opened more doors for her future in the business.
“For the last year and a half I have been trying to get my name on a list to be hired by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Union, to work touring shows,” Phelan said. “It is hard to become a member of IATSE because in order to be a member, you have to work a show first. I am actually working on gaining an IATSE membership now that I have worked two official IATSE shows.”
Along with these two OCU students, a group of 40 students had the opportunity to sit down with a panel of department heads for the traveling crew of Hamilton, such as the stage manager, and learn from them about working on a touring show.
Laura Tapia, theater performance freshman, was one of the students who attended the event on campus. Tapia said she gained a lot of insight into the specifics of the business and was excited by this opportunity.
“Through speaking with the panel from Hamilton, I gained a lot of knowledge about how to be successful in the industry, as well as how to be professional and how to build better connections with people, which will lead to better jobs,” Tapia said. “Two of the main things that they really hit on were taking care of your body, because if your instrument of work doesn’t work, you don’t work, as well as to be kind to people and be easy to work with, otherwise you will stop receiving job offers. Overall, they were just really fun and nice; they answered all our questions and were incredibly smart.”
During this discussion, Tapia also asked about scenic elements of the show. In the original Broadway Hamilton show, the center of the floor rotates during specific scenes. Tapia asked the stage manager how that translated to the touring show.
“Apparently every time they go to a new theater, they have a crew that goes to the next theater 12 hours before the rest of the cast to set up the floor so when everyone else arrives, it is ready to go,” Tapia said. “It is just a six inch tall deck that they mount on top of the stage wherever they are, but they have two so they alternate which one is being used and which one is at the next location being set up.”
Phelan said this unique show element played into her role as a dresser, as well as the show as a whole.
“They give us a packet for the shows of where we are supposed to stand at every moment, and if we mess it up, it is such a big show that we can get in trouble,” Phelan said. “Even if a button fell off one of the coats, they would have to literally stop the show because of the turntable on the floor, which something as small as a button could break.”
Both the students who were able to work hands-on with the show and those who had the opportunity to speak with members of the crew said the experience was special and reinforced that they truly do want to go on to work with a Broadway show after their time at OCU.
“I smile every time I think about that show, because every day was so much fun,” Phelan said. “Something new was always happening, and there were always problems we had to solve, and I loved that atmosphere and the show itself. I knew after I did Cats this was what I wanted to do as a career, but my experience with Hamilton really stuck with me and reinforced that.”
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