Behind the Booth

Inside story of what its like to be an actor learning the ropes of tech.

Behind+the+Booth

Throughout all of high school, I’ve been happily active in Theatre Productions; particularly active on the stage. I have portrayed roughly 13 roles and loved every minute of it. I understand the essence of it all: you learn your lines, you formulate a character, and you perform for a crowd. While finding  my technician resume to be scarce, I also found that I was rather clueless when it came to a light board. I decided to interview to be the light technician for the upcoming Varsity show: Miracle on 34th Street.

I went into production knowing absolutely nothing; I’m not exaggerating, I was completely new to the tech booth. I remember my first lesson was how to turn the light board on and off: this took me a few times to perfect. From then on I learned about subsets, light placement, and the difference between an LED light and a working light. This might sound completely foreign to you and it was to me too; but in all honestly, I was pleasantly surprised. The show is this week, and I find myself learning new things every day. I am nowhere near perfect but I have acquired some basic skills.

Don’t give me wrong, I am thankful and excited to be a part of a learning opportunity; but it has not been easy. Sometimes I’ll find myself in a lighting rut and it’s really frustrating. Other times it is a lot of fun: I get to sit in the booth with my good friend, Sofia Hernandez, who is working on sound for the show and play with color LED lights whenever I deem necessary.

Going into the process I was really afraid that I would mess up horribly but I am glad that I challenged myself and I encourage everyone to do the same. If it makes you nervous, do it! You never know what anxieties you could conquer if you simply push yourself.

Elizabeth George runs the light board during this year's production of Miracle on 34th Street.
Elizabeth George runs the light board during this year’s production of Miracle on 34th Street.