For Brownwood Middle School theatre students, a recent visit to the Brownwood Lyric Theatre offered a close look at the work audiences rarely see. Instead of remaining in their usual classroom setting, students in Keren Myers’ Advanced Theatre, Tech Theatre and Intro to Theatre classes toured the backstage areas where productions take shape.
The visit, described as a “tech tour,” showed students that a live performance depends on much more than actors memorizing lines and performing beneath the lights. Assistant Managing Director Levi Packer led the group through the technical elements that help transform a script into a complete theatrical production.
What students saw backstage
The tour covered lighting and sound, scenic construction, costumes, props and backstage operations. Students were able to connect their classroom learning with real-world theatre practices while seeing how creativity, technical knowledge, problem-solving and communication work together in a production.
The experience also highlighted the many people and skills that support a show outside the audience’s view. The source material described theatre as a collaborative art form, with production work beginning backstage, in the props room and in the scenery shop as well as onstage.
A revolving stage and four Audrey II puppets
One of the tour’s main highlights was the elevated revolving stage floor designed by Ryan Bailey. The revolve is used for “Little Shop of Horrors” to create distinctive scene changes, and students viewed it as an engineering accomplishment that demonstrated what can happen behind the scenes.
Students asked questions about the set’s specific technical components, as well as the skills required to build them and the ideas that inspire the work. They also wanted to know about the four different “Audrey II” puppets used to represent the alien plant character and antagonist in the show.
Bailey explained that Audrey II illustrates “pivoting” in theatre: a technical element may need to change from its original concept so it works with available resources and the director’s vision for the production.
Connecting theatre education with the community
The tour gave BMS students a practical example of how theatre education can continue beyond the classroom and after graduation. The source material also noted that local community theatre relies on both onstage and off-stage volunteers, giving students a view of the broader participation required to sustain live productions.
The Lyric works with area elementary schools as well, offering production-learning opportunities through Children’s Shows by Dr. Nick Ewen, Children’s Summer Programs and roles for young people in regular productions.
For students in the Advanced, Tech and Theatre I classes, the visit reinforced a central lesson: every production tells two stories—the one presented onstage and the one built behind the curtain. The BMS Drama/Theater program offers instruction and production experiences in performance, technical theatre and creative expression, while its community partnerships help students develop skills for collaborative live theatre.