The award-winning St. Ambrose University Tech Team is back this year. With hours of practice and intense dedication, they may even become better than ever.
Following their performance at the 2018 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, senior Kendall McKasson and sophomore Anthony Duckett have drafted the talents of junior Melissa Maylum and first-year Sam Lange to help lead the team to victory!
The Tech Team is a group of St. Ambrose students who compete in the Stage Crew Showdown competition at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
These students practice five different practical technical theatre events, which include: knot tying, light hanging, props placement, curtain hanging, and costume quick-changing. This competition is geared toward helping students learn and execute valuable skills that will lead to success in the world of theatre. This year, the competition will be held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, January 21-27.
Anyone interested in joining the team auditioned in early October and learned the required skills. Then, they competed in a timed test using their talents and training.
After the fierce competition, it was decided that Maylum and Lange would fill the remaining two positions on the four-person roster. It was also decided that the Tech Team would take an alternate member, sophomore Morgan Reilly.
"We created the alternate position so that we could give one more person the opportunity to learn the ropes of technical theatre in tech-team style," McKasson said. "The alternate is someone who would be able to easily come in if anything were to go wrong in the eleventh hour."
Tech Team is a fantastic opportunity for students to develop friendships and create lasting bonds with each other.
"I was so determined in my audition because I love the idea of competing while spending time with people I love," Maylum said. "I also wanted to learn more about the aspects of technical theatre that I didn't know a whole lot about."
The Tech Team is excited to practice and take their experience to the Stage Crew Showdown! The hope is to leave victorious and to receive the coveted Golden Wrench for the second year in a row!
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