I help out with the musical every year. My title is “assistant director” but really, I just do whatever our director and music director ask me to do. Sometimes it’s crowd control (60+ kids can be a lot to manage), choreography help (I have minimal dance skills, but I can do a mean box step), helping kids run lines or sing harmonies, assisting with quick set and prop changes, managing costumes and makeup backstage, getting a sobbing 6th grader to come out of the bathroom before she misses her next cue, etc.
Theatre is always unpredictable to a degree. How will the cast work together? Will the director’s vision for the set and costumes come in under budget? Will the sets be built on time? Will we have all the props? Will one of the leads get the flu? You never know what might happen!
Live theatre and middle school are similar. Expecting the unexpected becomes the norm. Put the two together, and it can get really wild. The next two weeks are going to be so tiring, but so much fun.