Behind the Scenes

Chandler Music Hall in Randolph celebrated its centennial year Saturday with the nine-hour spectacular, "101 Premieres," featuring 150 performers. Included was former New York Times editor, Tom Wicker, a part-time resident of Rochester, who read from John Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath." More coverage of the event will appear in next week's Herald. (Herald / Bob Eddy)

There’s lots of credit to go around for the success of the extraordinary Chandler Centennial celebration Saturday afternoon and evening—nine straight hours of art, music, poetry, film, dramaticsk and story telling by 150 volunteer presenters.

A special dose of appreciation must be reserved, however, for the people dressed in black—the stage technicians and managers that helped make sure things went smoothly, all under the capable and even-tempered leadership of Chandler’s technical director, Mimi Burstein.

Can you imagine being stage manager for a nine-hour show that has never been totally rehearsed before? Can you imagine making sure the lights, props, and mikes are set right for more than 100 separate performances? Yet those tasks were eagerly sought by the young technical crew, some of them traveling hours to lend their aid to a very special profuction.

"We were flying by the seat of our pants, using our skills to make it happen," Burstein reflected happily a few days later. "We can act on the fly, without anybody else knowing what the problems might have been."

So the rest of us can sit back and enjoy. Thanks, techies!