The Woodlands High School Theater production of “Annie Get Your Gun”  proved to audience members that there really is no business like show business, but the lights and sound crew for the production made it possible for the show to be seen, and heard.

Lights crew is responsible for the lighting present on stage. They use a light board, which can be used for dimming the lights in scenes to draw attention to performers during songs or monologues when they are under spotlights. The members of lights crew that use the spotlights are called spots, and it is their job to ensure that essential moments in the musical are noticed by the audience. For instance, when Annie Oakley(Lizzie Marlow) first lays eyes on Frank Butler(Jackson Kolterjahn) and is immediately smitten, the lights are immediately dimmed and there is a spotlight on the two. 

“It’s a lot of fun to be involved with the show and meet everyone, I have some great spots and great assistants, It’s just a lot of fun.” Head of Lights Riley Ellis said.

Light crew consists of  Maddie Bini and Christina Suarez, Robben Montez and the head of lights Crew Riley Ellis. Besides spotlights and stage lighting, light crew is also responsible for  hanging 50 lights and programming them, and all of the other lights for the musical.

Sound crew is in charge of making sure that all of the microphones on the actors work, they also assign the actors to specific mics and are in charge of mic changes between actors before they go back on stage. Sound crew also sets up the mics for the orchestra, to ensure all of the music is in perfect harmony. 

“Basically everything that the audience hears has to go through us.” Head of sound Bill Nowlin said, “It’s our job to make sure it sounds good, so that the musical sounds good.”

 The sound Crew consists of Bill Nowlin, Emily Komarovskiy, Hayden Cloud, Daniel Stonecipher, Audrey Wertz, and Sebastian Robledo. Sound crew is also responsible for sound design and mixing, which uses the sound mixing board,this is used to monitor input and output of sounds and making sure that the sounds the audience hears blend together harmoniously. Sound crew is in charge of every individual sound that reaches a microphone and it is their job to adjust those sounds to produce the final product that reaches audience ears.

“I love sound mixing.” Nowlin said, “Once you have everything set, and you do your weeks of work setting up…  you can mix, and it sounds good, there’s just something special about that kind of feeling.”

Both crews put in a lot of work in preparation for the musical. Signups for crew took place on October 27th, and the crews have been working since late November on setting up the show. They were at every rehearsal working to make sure that the play would go off without a hitch.

“Before break I probably spent a total of 17 hours, and then after break I’ve probably spent 40 hours working.” Ellis said.

“Annie Get Your Gun” ran from January 23rd through the 25th and was a phenomenal production with breathtaking performances by everyone involved, and the lights and sound crew helped to ensure that the audience was captivated by every scene.