The works of light, sound, and set change cues all happen in the mezzanine, the place where all the magic happens that brings the big A&A stage to life. My job was spotlights, and the first time I ever did spots was during Newsies. It all happened so fast because I came late to tech week, but everyone was so helpful on how to operate the spots and explaining how they work. By the time the Sound of Music came around, I was definitely more confident in the whole “system of operations.” 

In my opinion, working in the mezzanine is far better than working backstage because when I wasn’t actively spotting an actor or actress, I got to watch the show from the mezz. It was so much fun to be behind the scenes. Most spotlights operate the same. Controlling the spots is easy once you get the hang of it, and it’s honestly satisfying to shine them. 

Tech week was a blast, and it was always funny when the spots burnt out mid-cue or when we had to keep re-doing one specific car scene because Eva Derendorf ’25 and I couldn’t get it right!  By the time opening night came around, Eva and I were ready to go. Both shows were amazing, and we had so much fun operating them.  My favorite part of the whole play was towards the end when the Nazis were looking for the Von Trapp family and Eva and I got to go crazy with the spots and shine them in all different directions. Spots add such a nice touch to the stage to make it all pull together and help the actresses and actors stand out. From the outside, the spots look like any other tech equipment, but on the inside is intricate engineering, and everything is so precise. These spotlights are what make the stage come to life, and they look amazing every time. I loved doing spots for the Sound of Music, and it’s honestly bittersweet now that it’s over. But I would always choose spots over anything else, and I hope to return to them next fall.

By Adele Lyons ’27, Contributing Writer

27alyons@montroseschool.org