Dragonflicks crew junior Nathaniel Arrighi anticipates the scene change behind Ariel’s grotto while senior Angelina Chen
performs as Flounder during dress rehearsal for “The Little Mermaid” on March 10.
By Jinghan Li
Staff Writer
As the closing phrase from “Oh, No, the Concert” rings throughout the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, the Dragonflicks stage crew hurriedly aligns the glittering shell throne with the glowing marking tapes on stage in the dark. Assistant lighting designer junior Aaron Del Carmen shoots a colorful blend of lights to finish the scene change, revealing the vibrant coral reef decors on the annual musical opening night on March 13.
“It’s really fun watching Dragonflicks turn ideas into reality,” Dragonflicks advisor Michael Kidd said. “I want the ideas to be better than I imagined them. Part of the creative process is you get people who are good at other skills. You come up with the core ideas, and then they figure out ways to make it even better.”
Working with Kidd, the students of the Theatre and Film Production I and II classes, also known as Dragonflicks crew, operate the technical aspects of performances for almost all school ensembles, sports games, senior sendoff and graduation. The class requires students to attend a set number of events for their grade.
“When you’re first joining, Mr. Kidd encourages you to diversify a lot because your first year is just about finding your niche,” senior Caden Osoteo said. “[You] just learn as much as you can and keep building upward momentum, so you’ll be prepared for the higher roles.”
In a show, the student stage managers, who cue all the components of the show, along with the audio and light students sit across the stage in room 601 or in the tech booth at the Playhouse. The rest of the crew stays offstage behind the curtains. With coordination from the crew chiefs, they prepare the microphones, look after the props, move the sets and fly the casts. After the opening of the renovated Bob Hitchcock Field, Dragonflicks control the lighting, audio and gas canisters in football games. Monitoring the game in the media booth, students switch between the three cameras, broadcasting a variety of angles and close-up shots on the scoreboard.
“[The challenges] depend on the setting, but usually they are deadlines, trouble finding materials, or just missing our scene changes,” freshman Taylor Tang said. “For scene changes, we usually have crew chiefs break the work down, and then we would start rehearsing the change together.”
Depending on the event, preparations can span from days to months. Their biggest 2026 production, the spring musical “The Little Mermaid,” required planning as early as Aug. 2025. The team started with designing the patterned textile portals that frame the stage. Then, Dragonflicks crew and volunteer woodworking students worked on set-building in class and after school for two months this semester, while the stage managers recorded cues. Leading up to the performance, the crew would work in the venue from 3:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. for rehearsals and clean-up.
“We have so much theater time together,” Osoteo said. “It’s such a weird time crunch where stuff is happening more than it should be in that little amount of time. But because of that, we’re able to learn so much about each other and about collaboration.”
Beyond stage production, the first-year students learn about the basics of film production, while the returning crew expands on different storytelling techniques. Between the shows and school events, the crew also submits film videos to contests with the potential to advance on to statewide competitions.
“I’d probably say 25% of the class is film and 75% is stage and live production, which includes the musical, football games and running the broadcast,” Kidd said. “They are a part of all of it.”