On Feb. 16-18, the winter musical “The Addams Family: A New Musical” will be presented at the Rome City Auditorium. To prepare for the show, the production company goes through a technical week starting last Saturday, Feb.10. This is the week where the company loads in all the props at Rome City Auditorium, actors will runthrough all stage directions and acting notes and the crew have the chance to rehearse with stage technical such as lighting, backdrops, etc.

For some students, “The Addams Family” is their first musical. Since each person has a different role, their experience during tech week is also different. For freshman Daria Black, this is her first musical tech week.

“Tech week has been very fun so far. One of my favorite parts of it is when all of us just come together, doing our Zombie makeup and talk about the most random things,” Black said.

Outside of theater world, people might not expect how much energy is put into tech week in order to present the musical smoothly.

“I think most people don’t understand the drain that just comes with tech week. No matter what you might be doing or how large or small your role is, the week is just tiring,” Black said, “It’s a lot of fun, but it also requires some mental strength.”

The interesting part of tech week is how everyone gathers together and sees how the show develops.

“Tech week is constant work but also constant fun. You get to spend hours with your friends working to create something amazing.  It is really awesome to see the pieces of the show fall into place during tech week,” junior Olivia Harper said.

Beside having the show rehearse multiple times, a lot of lessons about theater professionalism are given out to everyone.

“The only thing that differ from my expectation was the being on stage in character. I need to learn a lot more than I expected. I would classify this week as very successful and educational. I learned new things and got a new and exciting perspective of this week,” Black said.

Junior Olivia Harper has experienced many tech weeks for different shows. However, this year’s show is especially distinctive from others.  

“This show is much more complicated technically and aesthetically than last year’s show,” Harper said. “During this year’s tech week, it has taken me longer to adjust to all the changes that come from moving from the black box to the Rome City Auditorium, and it has definitely taken me longer to get into costume.”

Overall, participation in a musical production is a special experience for each individual in the company. “The Addams Family” not only gives the company a great time with their peers but also shares the meaningful lesson behind the musical itself.

“I think the variety in costumes and personalities that we have on the stage is what great about the show. No two people are alike and there is a lesson about family importance tied within it that I really think we could all learn from.”