Setting the Stage: Cast vs. Crew

Cast vs. Crew

by Lindsay Champion

The full story of a junior high musical production, told exclusively from the POV of the kids backstage. It’s High School Musical, from behind the scenes…without the high school.

Eighth grader Ella Amani has waited her whole life to be stage manager, and this is her year! She has a clipboard, a headset, and a clear vision for the grand finale of Marie Curie, The Musical.

Ella’s stage crew comes from all over Juniper Valley Middle School. There’s a girl who’s doing stage crew instead of detention, a sixth grader whose sister is the star of this show, a kid who’s been homeschooled on a boat… plus Ella’s best friend and sidekick, Levi, who used to tell her everything.

Even if they’re invisible to the audience, the crew is key to the whole show.

But what happens if the cast is out to get them?

Setting the Stage, well, sets the stage for a brand-new trilogy that exposes all the secrets behind the curtain and follows one epic battle between cast and crew!

Genres: Middle Grade, Fiction

1 pages, Audio CD

Published November 11, 2025

About the author

Lifelong theater geek Lindsay Champion made her stage debut as a tiger in her second-grade musical. Since then, she's built sets, run the light board, operated the spotlight and (her favorite) stage managed. She is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and was the Features Editor at Broadway.com. She writes books about kids discovering and falling in love with the arts. She is the author of the YA novel SOMEDAY, SOMEWHERE and the middle-grade drama club series CAST VS. CREW.

Reviews

[Ashlyn]

In Setting the Stage, there are multiple character POV’s with their own stories. This book is set in middle school and revolves around the stage crew of a play. There are new friendships that are formed, there are old friendships that are tested, and of course there is the Cast vs Crew rivalry. The crew is upset because the cast doesn’t realize how much work they do to put into a play, and that they don’t understand that without them, the play would not be good. On the other hand, the cast just thinks that the crew are people who weren’t good enough to act, when in fact, the crew loves the work they do. This is definitely a middle school drama with all the things that middle schoolers might go through. I love how each character was unique with their own problems and insecurities. One thing that I will note is that this is book one in the series, and the plot does not resolve in this book, so it’ll be a continuation to the next book. This is perfect for middle-school readers who like contemporary books with drama or those who like watching/acting in plays.

I received this book for free from the publisher, which does not affect my review.>

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really cute, but, as a middle school teacher who works on the school musicals, I have a hard time imagining a community that would be okay with 6-8th graders starring in a musical that needs a bed set for the lead character’s “multiple romantic trysts.”

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

https://yabookscentral.com/setting-th...

[Tweller83]

I received a free copy from libro.fm as part of the educator audiobook listening copies. All opinions are my own. #librofm #dreamscape

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

[Desig · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book

[Lindsay]

The first book in my middle-grade drama club trilogy, CAST VS. CREW, officially has a cover! We're whipping out the fog machine, the glow tape, the spirit gum and ~*the drama*~ on October 21, 2025. Theater nerds, I have written this series especially for you: It's packed with Broadway easter eggs, musical theater references and inside jokes, with lots of BEE (Big Elphaba Energy).

Preorder links are now live on every retailer! Click here to get a copy on its release date: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...

Adding this book to your Goodreads "to read" list will spread the news to fellow theater fans. Stay tuned for more updates!