The St. Pius X Tech Crew is no stranger to working behind the scenes– but this year, they’re tackling one of their most ambitious challenges yet: making it rain indoors. As they prepare for the spring musical, Singin’ in the Rain, the team is busy engineering a full-scale downpour on stage.
To achieve the illusion, the crew had to get creative. The challenge? Construct a three-and-a-half-foot-tall secondary stage at the back of the main one. The theater wasn’t designed to accommodate indoor rainfall, so the crew engineered a water system from scratch. A backstage horse trough filled with water feeds into a sump pump, which pushes it through PVC pipes running up into the theater’s lighting grid. Carefully drilled holes in the rigged pipe system allow the water to fall directly over the stage.
“That’s where we’re going to make it rain,” senior Parker Schofield said.
And it’s not just clever lighting– real water will be cascading down, just like in the show’s iconic tap-dancing sequence.
But making it rain is only half the battle. They also had to figure out how to catch it.
“We don’t want to flood the theater… or start an electrical fire,” Schofield said. “I’m just kidding. But, seriously.”
As the stage manager, Schofield is no stranger to complex builds. Last year, she spearheaded the construction of a massive, three-sided set piece for The Little Mermaid, cutting foam with a hot knife and assembling a heavy, hard-to-maneuver structure.
After graduation, she’ll be taking her skills to Auburn University, where she plans to major in civil engineering, bringing the same innovative spirit to future projects.
While Schofield commands the stage, senior Brennan Ciccarelli orchestrates from the booth. As the show’s sound operator, he controls all microphones, music, and sound effects.
“It allows me to do what I’m really passionate about,” he said.
It’s a job that demands precision—missing a cue isn’t an option—but he thrives on the challenge. The soundboard itself is a maze of knobs, faders, and buttons that requires a practiced hand.
“I basically push them out in a certain way, and it makes the magic happen,” Ciccarelli said.
His love for sound engineering isn’t just a high school hobby—next year, he’ll be majoring in audio production at Middle Tennessee State University.
Of course, theater magic takes an entire team. The Singin’ in the Rain tech crew includes seniors Josephine Freeman (sound operator), Abigail Gregory (light operator), and Dino George (run crew); juniors Adam Dalby (assistant light operator), Long Cao (run crew), and Marc Houndjahoue (run crew); and sophomores Andy Freeman (assistant sound operator), El Hiland (assistant stage manager), Morgan Ehrim (assistant stage manager), and Davis Novak (run crew).
The eighth period Theater Tech class has also pitched in on the build, with Technical Director Keith Cordell overseeing the crew and handling power tools.
Despite the intensity, both Schofield and Ciccarelli have found joy in the process.
“My favorite thing is being able to help people and make them sound good,” Ciccarelli said.
“Building the actual set is one of my favorite parts,” Schofield added. “During tech week and performances, it’s pretty frantic. But afterwards, you’re like, ‘Wow, we pulled that off.’”
And they always do. With a history of assembling every piece just in time for opening night, the St. Pius X Tech Crew is proving once again that behind every great performance, there’s a team of builders, engineers, and problem-solvers making theater magic happen—rain or shine.
