A typical Amherst Community Theater production requires hundreds and hundreds of hours of labor. Much of this time is donated by the production team and non-cast volunteers in our community, but our extraordinary shows would not be possible without the work of cast members and their families. In order to coordinate our efforts and ensure a high level of support, we expect a minimum of 8 hours of pre-show donated time per cast member in November and December. The pre-show time may be spent in the costume shop or the set shop and may be performed by the cast member, a family member, or friend. We also ask that a family member or friend provide support work during two performances in January.
*Pre-Show: 8 hours of work – per cast member – at the Set Shop and/or Costume Shop – 4 hours in November, 4 hours in December. These hours can be worked by the cast member, family member, or friend.
- Set & Scenery – assist with building and/or painting sets. The set shop typically operates Saturdays 8 am -5 pm, Sunday afternoons 12 pm -5 pm, and Tuesday and Thursday evenings 7pm -10 pm.
- Costuming – assist with finding, building, or altering costumes. The costume shop operates on Sunday afternoons during rehearsals, and some work can be taken home. Volunteers will be needed every Sunday to help set up and break down the costume shop. This includes lifting folding tables and plastic bins of clothing.
*During show: work a minimum of 2 shows (each family must provide a family member/friend to work at 2 shows)
- Cast Supervision – Required of parents of children/teens (high school years and younger) in the cast. Supervising children and teens in cast during dress rehearsals and performances when they’re not on stage.
- Backstage Crew and Props – Working backstage during dress rehearsals and performances. Must work 50% or 100% of shows and January rehearsals.
- Wardrobe – Ironing, repairs, dressing room duties during dress rehearsals and performances.
- Make-up/Hair – Helping cast members with make-up and hair at dress rehearsal and performances.
- Ushering – Collecting tickets, handing out programs, seating patrons, and selling concessions during intermission (must be 18 years old per UMass rules).
- Telegrams – Organizing and selling telegrams for the cast and crew prior to each performance and during intermission. In additions, siblings or children of cast members ages 9 and up are encouraged to participate as telegram runners.
- Raffle Sales – Organizing and selling raffle tickets prior to each performance and during intermission.
- Company Party – Assisting with set up, decorating, and clean up.
*Strike – every cast member is expected to help with striking the set & costumes and/or cleaning the lobby, hallway & dressing rooms in Bowker after the last performance.
Years of experience have showed us that asking cast members to participate in technical aspects of our productions lead to stronger community building and a greater understanding for those cast members of what it takes to put on a major musical production. If fulfilling these requirements is a hardship for any cast member, we encourage them to speak with a producer or our volunteer coordinator to learn about other ways they can meet these obligations.
We believe that you will find working with Amherst Community Theater to be a fun, rewarding, and amazing experience. We can’t wait to get started!
Please reach out to chair@amherstacts.org for more details.