Eleven days before the opening night of ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee!’ the all-student staff of First Year Players trickles into Room 500 of the Hall of Languages for its weekly Sunday meeting.

Nick Deyo, a junior television, radio and film major,squeezes into the large circle of chairs to join the 57 other staffers. He scans the room.

‘OK, everybody,’he says. ‘Let’s start.’

Headed by co-producers Deyo and Kierson Siao and nine executive board members, called team heads, the staff handles the behind-the-scenes action of Syracuse University’s FYP, a student-run organization that gives first-year, non-drama majors the chance to perform in an annual spring musical. This year’s show premieres at 8 p.m. Thursday, running until Saturday.

‘This week is sober week,’ Siao says. To make sure this year’s 24-member cast is in the best shape for the show, the staff hosts a game night and other alcohol-free events.

‘Please don’t come intoxicated,’ he says, and the group promptly bursts into laughter.’Do not come drunk to sober events.’

Deyo gives the staff a long look.

‘We’re serious about this. This is our way of showing the cast support,’ he says. ‘Please understand that we are in this together. This is our show.’

Deyo and many of the current staffers joined FYP their freshman year because of their passion for stage acting. Devoting countless hours to rehearsals and performing with their peers amplified their love for theater. So when the end crept close,they took up staff positions to help create that same experience for the incoming freshmen. Split into eight teams, the staff works with the cast, creates the set from scratch and runs the entire show.

One by one, the team heads update the rest of the staff on each group’s progress. When it’s his turn, finance director Kevin Hirst bounces in his seat.

‘We’re well under budget. Which means…’ He pauses, flashing a toothy grin. ‘We’re getting very fierce, full-color programs!’ The staff erupts into applause.

After the round of updates, Siao claps his hands once. ‘All right, team meetings!’ he says, and the staff breaks off into groups.

—-

Five days prior to production, head carpenter Christine Lane, a junior mechanical engineering major, steps inside a vast room in SU’s Physical Plant, where the art team has constructed the set’s individual components since mid-March. After the show was selected last May, the teams started designing and planning in November.

Members from other teams stream inside to paint, hold up panels — anything to help prepare to move the set.

Lane observes several staff members hunched over a set piece, brushing the large, skeletal wooden frame with brown paint.

‘This is my FYP family. And its family with a ‘ph,’ so FYPhamily,’ she says. ‘And that’s the really great thing about this organization. We’re a family and we’re always there for each other, no matter what.’

Technical art director and senior industrial design major Nick Garritano quickly walks to another room, where painted panels are laid to dry. The entire staff will piece together the set in Goldstein Auditorium, before revealing it to the cast.

‘It’s that element of surprise and the magic of ‘here it is.’ I’m really excited for that,’ he says, watching four staffers roll bright red paint onto the spellers’ bench, where the main leads will be seated for most of the show.

‘There’s a lot to still do to get to that point,’ he says. ‘But it’s finally in sight.’

—-

Staff members sprawled on the floor sing along to ‘Putnam County’ tunes pumping through the speakers as they draw on posters at about 1 p.m. inside Goldstein Auditorium the next day. Onstage, Garritano steps to the edge, cupping his hands over his mouth — ‘Everybody who’s not doing anything, we need you onstage!’

Many sprint onto the stage and surround the doorframe, the set’s centerpiece.

Bending down and gripping it from all sides, they hoist it up, carefully, slowly. Garritano murmurs, ‘Whoa, nice and easy.’ They flip it over and set it down, letting out whoops of relief. The carpenters set triangular frames on top that will hold the door upright.

Offstage, director Kim Ndombe, also a senior television, radio and film and political science major, glances at them before walking toward the hallway, where stage manager and senior music industry major Teddi Lopez paints the musical’s title onto a banner set to be hung outside, the first thing the cast members will lay their eyes on before entering the venue at 8 p.m. ‘This is what I love about theater,’ Ndombe said. ‘It’s a collaborative art.’

—–

It’s 7:45 p.m., and the staff makes final touches to the set. The centerpiece stands erect onstage, two brown, wooden bleachers flanking each side. The completed spellers’ bench, positioned at an angle, mirrors a table covered with a glossy blue cloth. 

The staff waits on the balcony to the right, several sitting on the rounded railing while others pull on T-shirts designed for the show.

‘It’s good to see it done,’ one staffer says. ‘It looks amazing.’

Standing nearby, another staffer nods vigorously. ‘I can’t believe the show opens in three days,’ he says. ‘I feel like they just auditioned yesterday.’

Faint shrieks of delight emanate from outside, and all heads turn toward the doors. Siao bursts inside, hooting. Deyo and Ndombe follow suit, and the staff members erupt. Their thunderous roars escalate as the first cast member’s face peeks through the doorway. The cast files down the steps onto the floor, wide eyes fixed on the stage. Clasping one hand over her mouth, a cast member shakes her head in disbelief while another mouths, ‘Oh my God.’ The staff continues to cheer and the cast turns. Looking up, the actors applaud back.

They make their way over to public relations director Maggie Gleason to grab their T-shirts. They walk over to the sound operator. Music director Nina Elias stands nearby, watching them tape the microphone wires to their necks.

‘They don’t see what we do for a year, and then they realize, ‘Holy crap, all these people did this,” she said. ‘Seeing the realization wave over their faces is really cool and so rewarding.’

—-

It’s officially tech week, coined ‘hell week’ by FYP staff — two days until showtime. In full costume, the cast prepares for a cue-to-cue, a full run-through for the staff to review light cues, sound checks and set changes. Several executive members sit in the neatly lined chairs. Onstage, staffers sweep the floors, and carpenters bolt the doors onto the centerpiece’s opening, making final touches.  

Lopez, the stage manager, sits at a long, brown table facing the brightly lit stage and adjusts her headset. ‘OK, guys, we’re going to start, so get in your positions,’ she says, her voice echoing through the auditorium.

The cast members arrange themselves onstage and stand motionless. The music blasts, and they launch into a number. Staring up at the stage, Deyo stands upright, his arms folded and eyes unblinking. Music director Nina Elias sits near the sound operator, listening intently. The number comes to a close, and the cast flocks to the center and ends in unison, silver confetti flies in the air.

‘Yes!’ Elias says, leaping up and running toward the cast. She flings her arms around Ndombe. She shouts: ‘That was perfect!’

kkim40@syr.edu

Published on April 13, 2011 at 12:00 pm