Stars Behind the Curtain

Lukas Deskevich’s ’26 mind raced like a firefly released from a jar as Technical Coordinator Gabe Yelanjian and Theater Production Technician Ellie Wilder showed him how the fly rail in Oates Theater worked. The huge, intricate wall of ropes and pulleys, all of it weighted and hanging mystically, just off stage, responsible for the magical movement of lights and scenery on stage. Pull one rope and night becomes day; pull another and a forest opens to a city scene. The moment was a surge of recognition, gathering gnawing interests and exploding them into a specific passion. “We finished showing him the system and Gabe and I started walking back to the shop when we heard him shout, ‘This is so cool! I finally found my thing!’” Wilder remembers. “I can’t express how happy that made me, because I like seeing the students enjoying themselves and eager to learn.”

The diligent, hard-working theater production team of Andy Santalla, Yelanjian and Wilder create these moments of discovery all the time for students. No matter the occasion — whether it’s a Lower School play, Middle School choral performance, Upper School assembly or Parents’ Association presentation — this small but mighty group working behind the scenes makes those on stage, when the spotlight is on them, look and sound their best. Think about the magnitude of that work and the areas of the School that work encompasses. Between January and May of 2024, excluding graduations and assemblies, there will be more than 50 performance arts events across all three divisions. Students will get on stage to sing, dance, act, laugh and cry, and, pulling the strings of the fly rail, adjusting the hue and brightness of a spotlight, and building out sets is the theater production team.

“This is the gathering place for so many people,” Yelanjian says from the stage of an empty Oates Theater one Friday afternoon. “In a way this place symbolizes and represents Collegiate. This is where we get people together — to perform, to speak, to give updates. And then, behind the scenes, it’s a place for us and our students to play, explore and be creative.”

And if there’s any place on campus that places a high value on creativity, it’s the theater. Under the high ceilings of pulleys and lights, this is a place that encourages students to indulge in the multitudes of their enthusiasms and dramatize the self. Santalla, laughing, brushing sawdust from his jeans, has been building what he calls theme-setting wagons all afternoon. Small boxes on wheels with rectangular slits in the center, this device allows the stage crew to easily pull scene-setting props on and off stage. Constructing a single box is a multi-layered problem that blends art and math, but Santalla approaches these challenges with giddy alacrity. “Theaters have always been the place where I feel most comfortable,” says Santalla, who has been working in theaters since he fell in love with the artful arena as a student at Bishop Ireton. “And Collegiate — this space in Oates — feels no different. It’s a place where people come to be themselves and collaborate. I don’t think you can get more collaborative than theater. It’s an inherently collaborative art, and that creates a sense of community. Whoever you are, whatever you’re going through, we’re all here with the same goal. And there’s space for you — even if you just want to come in and cut some wood or paint a prop.”

That morning, the production team taught 1st Graders how to use a microphone. That afternoon, they oversaw an Upper School assembly, where a handful of Seniors delivered Senior speeches. When the Upper School tech crew comes in later in the afternoon, they’ll continue working on the set production for the Upper School’s rendition of Pride and Prejudice. “On any given day, we can work in every single division, focusing on a different thing in each one,” Yelanjian says. “But no matter how seemingly small the production, you are helping students learn and grow. A Lower Schooler learns how a microphone works and you suddenly see them getting more confident on stage. The same thing can be said of a parent speaking at a PA meeting. The variety of things we do can be chaotic — because who knows what’s going to happen on a day-to-day basis — but that is a really great, fun challenge. Those kinds of creative challenges are the reason I got into theater in the first place.”

When the Upper School tech crew arrives, Wilder will go back to work building a giant scuba mask for the production of Finding Nemo KIDS. Her mind hums as she considers the weight of the mask, its colors, its size. She’ll oversee Lukas’s work as he operates the chop saw, tucked safely away behind the stage, cutting out pieces for the next set. She anticipates being needed elsewhere, but part and parcel to the production process is not knowing where creativity and problem solving are necessary until an issue emerges. Her voice rises with excitement just speaking about the upcoming afternoon. “The theater is truly like a haven for creativity for me,” she says. “I get to do a variety of wacky, fun projects with students that bring people joy.”

Convocation. Commencement. Homecoming. Pep Rally. If you look around during any production, you’ll see Wilder — and Yelanjian and Santalla, each of them in their respective positions, too — guiding the show along, the way an airplane pilot silently pulls passengers through the air without them fully knowing it. Every show is different, but each has the same goal in mind: bringing the School together to celebrate those on stage. “Collegiate is at its best when we’re all together,” Santalla says. “We’re all in one spot, being creative, having fun, enjoying a shared experience. That’s what a theater production at a school is all about.”