Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Warren County Career Center Building Construction Occupations student Avery Smith attaches some hardware to the wood chopping contraption that will be used in the All-County Musical next month.

Some students sing and dance on stage.

Others work behind the scenes — playing music, operating lights and sound, making sure the right props and scenes make their way to the stage.

And, some don’t even have roles inside the theater, but the audience sees their work.

Students in the building construction occupations class at Warren County Career Center are in charge of making a number of the pieces of stage scenery for the All-County Musical.

On Thursday, students were putting together village houses, including Belle’s, attaching hardware to Maurice’s wood chopping contraption, and applying polyurethane to the bar for Gaston’s big scene.

The students aren’t just helping out. “The process is the same whether you’re building a house or you’re building these,” BCO instructor Greg Waterman said. “You start with a plan. You follow the plan. You change the plan or change the project if needed.”

“In the end, you have a project that uses all the same tools, machines, and measurement skills that you use to build a house,” he said.

“The measurements on these are harder,” BCO student Devon Nasman said.

The students are given fewer details when asked to construction a musical set than when they have to build a house.

“It’s very good for them,” Waterman said. “They use more imagination.”

The class has been working on the scenery for about three weeks.

The larger pieces have to be done early in order to give time to the painters who will apply the final details, according to Waterman.

The production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast will be put on on Thursday, March 16, Friday, March 17, and Saturday, March 18. Pre-sale tickets will be available starting March 6 at the Struthers Library Theatre box office from 10 a.m. through 7 p.m.