Behind The Scenes
Penn State University’s Eisenhower Auditorium houses numerous events during the course of a typical school year. Performances range from national tours of Broadway musicals, to intimate jazz shows, to student run concerts, and more. Much attention is paid to the performers the audience sees during their shows, but it takes a lot of time and man-power to put the sets together before any singer or band member steps out onto the stage.
Tom Hesketh, Events Manager for Penn State’s Center for the Performing Arts, oversees many of the setups that happen at Eisenhower Auditorium. Between five and eight or more volunteers help Hesketh assemble and put into place the various elements needed for any given performance approximately a day or two before the event. Hesketh and crew maneuvered large sound shell panels to create a backdrop for the next day’s performance of Nittany Valley Symphony
Tom Spalding, a volunteer worker, adjusts the rigging on stage at Eisenhower Auditorium
An inventory list for a Nittany Valley Symphony performance on Nov. 4, 2014 sits on a stool at Eisenhower Auditorium. Many of the items needed for concerts are stored under the stage of itself, reachable only by a moving platform that can also be used for extra seating when needed
Another volunteer worker, Harold Taddy, secures a tapestry of black fabric to a beam that will serve as the background to Bandorama, a show featuring Penn State University’s Symphonic Band and the Blue Band
Taddy attaches one of the legs to a riser that will be used as a part of the Bandorama show
Jack Dobbins, volunteer worker, moves sets of risers into place and fastens them together for Bandorama
Spalding reads instructions as to where to place the stands and seats needed for a Nittany Valley Symphony performance
An encouraging message on a stool on stage at Eisenhower Auditorium
Mike McNeil, also a volunteer worker, works on the lights up along the catwalks of Eisenhower Auditorium for a Nittany Valley Symphony performance