Pageantry is often referred to as a sport and as with any sport, there are coaches and support staff that help competitors be their best on stage.
Pageantry is also entertainment.
To be blunt, no matter how great your contestant is on stage, if there are no lights or sound, there is no show. Shows do not happen without a crew; much like those who produce the effects and create movie magic, they are often the unsung heroes. Even worse they are often disrespected by parents and contestants.
Who’s The Boss?
While shows and pageants both have directors who give the overall vision and direct the big picture, it’s your show producer who runs things once pageant week starts. Your show producer is the final authority on everything that happens on stage and backstage. Disrespect this person at your peril.
At World’s Perfect Pageant & Model Search, the show producer/choreographer is Frank Arcidiacono. He’s an Emmy nominee who has produced shows at Walt Disney World for decades. He runs an incredibly tight ship and has created something on stage that others have tried to copy with scant success. One of my favorite Frank-isms is “The winner will be on time and will know their schedule”.
My addition to that statement is “The winner will also be respectful of the entire staff and crew’s time and patience”. If you are disrespectful or rude to the staff and crew, it doesn’t matter how pretty you are on stage, you will not finish well. This is where so many people fall victim to FAFO. The backstage crew at Perfect is compact but efficient. They work as a cohesive team and they compare notes. If you disrespect one, you’ve disrespected all.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Respect includes (but isn’t limited to) the following:
- Showing up to rehearsals (and being on time)
- Keeping control of your belongings (including your children)
- Being quiet backstage
- Listening to & following ALL directions from staff
- Cleaning up after yourself in the ballroom, backstage, AND the dressing room.
Let There Be Light
…and sound. I’ve had the privilege to work with an amazing AV crew and they are some of the hardest working people I know. In addition to the backstage pageant staff, support staff like the lighting and sound technicians deserve to be respected. They come in before everyone else and leave after everyone else. It takes 18-24 hours to build and install a pageant stage with a full light show and audio. And that’s just to get everything set up. Before every show, there’s a soundcheck and after every show, there’s a meeting to adjust for the next show.
If your event has a specific requirement and deadline for how and when your audio should be submitted, respect that. Do not roll up 5 minutes before and expect to be accommodated. When you’ve politely turned away, don’t blame the crew for your misstep. Own your responsibility. Especially if you’re an outgoing titleholder. You’ve had 365 days to prepare for your farewell. You should’ve been working on it from the moment you were crowned last year.
No Pictures Please!
If the event you are attending has a “No Photos or Videos At Any Time” policy, respect that. Do NOT, and I cannot stress this enough, whip out your mobile device and try to surreptitiously film/take pictures. You may think you’re keeping it on the down low, but the staff knows who you are. Be glad that the staff doesn’t have you called out by name from the emcee stand. This goes double for reigning royalty. We get that reigning titleholders have a little bit of latitude, however, when you’re posting pictures from crowning on social media before the official social media manager of the event, it’s NOT a good look.
We Are Family
Yes, pageantry can build a familial bond. Yes, we get to know each other. But that doesn’t mean you can talk back to pageant staff and crew like they’re your mama or your sister or your bestie. Treat the staff and crew like they’re your great-aunt, the matriarch you respect (and fear just a little). You’ll have a much better experience overall and it will be much less stressful for everyone.
Don’t be a Victim of FAFO
If you want to know more about how to create the right atmosphere backstage and how to have a top-notch production, drop us a line.