How It Works

            I’ve been remiss in explaining to non-alumni just how this pageant works.

            Auditions are held in February and March in several locations including South Eastern Theater Conference in Atlanta, Institute of Outdoor Drama in Chapel Hill, UPTA in Memphis, and of course local auditions in Manteo.

            Out of this mish mash of seeing hundreds, if not thousands, of auditioners, approximately one hundred are chosen, as well as technical staff (stage managers, lighting crew, property crew, and others).

            The cast breakdown is:

            Dancers. They obviously dance, but are also part of the crowd scenes and are given minor speaking roles (which are auditioned here after rehearsals begin).

            Choir. The same – they sing, and lead the crowd in singing, and are also minor characters.

            Actor Technicians. There are the cast members who do all of the technical work. They are the hardest working members of the company. I remember someone describing what an AT does: “We lift heavy shit and stand in the crowd.”

            Principals are the leading characters in the show. They don’t really do anything except perform, and offers to help out are generally rebuffed. “Stay out of the way of the people doing the real work backstage.” That’s our motto.

            During the day in the rehearsal period you’ll generally find the Choir practicing in the administrative building, the dancers will be dancing in the Gazebo (which is an enclosed rehearsal hall backstage), the Actor Techs are doing a hundred different things all the way from digging trenches to run underground cables to freshening up paint on scenery, rebuilding old scenery, helping the lighting crew, pounding down nails that have popped up on the stage during the winter and a million other things. The properties crew are freshening and repairing old props or building new ones. The sound and light departments are working on their projects. The Principals rehearse their scenes on the stage, with minor characters being pulled off their other duties on join in.

            In the evenings the full company comes together in the theater to rehearse from 7 pm – 11 pm.

            One department I haven’t mentioned yet is the costume department. Those people are working the longest hours of the company in the costume shop. There are over one thousand costumes in the show. About four years ago the costume shop burned down in the middle of the night in the off season taking not only the costumes-in-use but also seventy years of historic costumes and many props, costume bibles, and a wealth of irreplaceable memorabilia. Massive fundraising drew over a million dollars (I’ve also heard the number was closer to two million) to replace the costumes and the entire show was redesigned and built in time for the following summer.

            All of us in the cast have been in for a costume fitting at least once in the past two weeks but other than that we don’t see the costume department very much. This will change tonight.

            I also need to mention the administrative staff. They work all year long to prepare and execute the many things that must happen to get this monster lurching into motion in May. As busy as it is on the north end of Roanoke Island during the summer it can be a long, cold and lonely slog through the winter for these people.

            All of these elements having been working, separately and together, to cook this feast. It all must come out done at the same time.

            Last night was the last full run for actors that we’ll have until Wednesday night. The next two nights we add costumes, lights and sound.

            A Monster.