While sitting back and enjoying a tale interpreted by the live theater, few people stop and take into consideration on how the smoothness of the play is pulled off.  Well, out of the audience’s vision there is a whole team of people scrambling around making sure everything runs in precision that goes unseen.  And, usually, the whole behind-the-scenes production is ran by and the personal responsibility of one person, the stage manager.

In the case of Drama teacher Samantha Brown’s case the place of stage manager is carried off by none other than Junior, Liz Larson.

Larson is not new to the theater scene and taking charge either.

“I started being interested in theater and acting when I was 14, I always loved it”, said Liz. “Then I did theater tech last year, and when I moved here I became the manager”.

The title of “manager” could be seen as degrading to some, but in this case, Larson is a star player, who is actually in charge of almost too many things.

“In this play, I’m not acting but I’m the stage manager, which means I’m in charge of everything; lights, sound, stage movements for props, if actors have their props, the actors, and making sure scene changes go smoothly”. Said Larson, “My team consist of about 12 people, all in different positions.  And they get things done.”

To pull off such a feat, it is apparent that quite a bit of planning needs to go on to get the show (and the props) on the road.

“We start reading the books and set designs, then we start with building platforms [and make sure they’re safe] and literally build up from there.  All the props are made in the seam shop, and we collect things from past performances to.  But we made chairs and tables this week”, said Larson.

From beginning to end, Liz sees it all eventually mesh together. Apparently, some times prove to be hectic.

“We’re in a transitional period right now, so were incorporating new things with the actors. Like, we’re about to go in this weekend and set up lights, about to add props and the band.  So with just adding these things, we’re also about to add and drop other things [props, songs] so it could get crazy”, said Larson.

Luckily for Liz and her team, they have quite a bit of time to prepare and almost develop a muscle memorization for what needs to happen and when.

“If we mess up in rehearsals, no big deal”, said Larson. “But usually we’ve practiced so much that if something does happen I yell at people on my headset and things usually get fixed in a timely manner”.

She always has a trained eye on the stage when the real thing comes around.

“I have to watch the play to see when things need to change or fix problems before it happens.  It’s pretty chaotic but its exciting!”, said Larson.

Drama teacher Ms. Samantha Brown has nothing but praise for her young back-stage chief.

“Liz is such a gem of a stage manager.  She is organized, diligent and fun to work with.  I see great things happening for Liz in the future.  She is definitely ‘on board’ for our stage manager for Anything Goes”, said Brown, “as our stage manager, she also brings a youthful eye to the production.  It’s nice to see a student stepping up to the challenge to work with five teachers in one collaborated effort”.

You could even say that in some ways, Liz has the lead role or is the star of the show.

“This is what I love to do, whether its seeing a play, helping it in production, or whatever, I just love it!”, concluded Liz Larson.

Recently, Liz Larson won a superior at the 2012 thespian festival for stage management.