Backstage Mayhem

Have you ever wondered what goes on backstage during musical productions?  A whole lot of chaos...that's what.  Let me tell you about it.

I volunteered to help with my daughter's dance recital, because I'm a "dance mom."  We dance moms are required to put in time to help with productions.  Let me just say,  this was no rinky dink production.  This is a big time dance studio with some incredible guest artists that come in to perform and do choreography.   It was my job to help the dancers change costumes, fix hair and makeup, and get them where they needed to be on time.

I was assigned to a group of dancers, and my official job title was, "The Runner."  Here's how it went:

"Mrs. Ellis, I can't find my ribbons and hairpiece."

"Okay," I frantically searched under an assortment of costumes that were lying on the table.  "Found it!" I announced, just as another girl came up to me, saying that her pony tail needed to be changed to a bun. 

I fixed her hair and got it done just in time for makeup check.  Lipstick, eyeliner, and blush had to be reapplied and perfect.  I checked the dancers and hustled them off to the backstage waiting area.  Another volunteer took it from there as another dancer ran off the stage for a costume change.  It was my job help her get ready.  So we literally ran to the changing area, got her into another fancy costume, checked hair and makeup, and then ran her to the back stage waiting area just as the previous number finished.

I corralled the exiting dancers back to their waiting rooms.

On and on it went.  Running back and forth, and listening to, "Mrs  Ellis, can you help me with this?" and "Mrs. Ellis, I need this."

Do you know how long each show was?  Two hours!  Do you know how many shows there were?  Five!  Do the math.  Ten hours of running!

Talk about exhausting!