TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — You won’t necessarily see her if you go and see the Canterville Ghost at Catalina Foothills High School. That’s because senior Sixx Elliott is in a booth behind the seats of the theatre.
As the stage manager, she wears a headset where she gives cues mixed with the occasional praise to other lighting technicians and people in other parts of the theatre.
“I really love making other people shine and like letting them have the spotlight,” Elliott said.
Not only did she also help build the set, but she also handles the curtains during the show.
Flipping through a folder with the show’s script, she reads the lighting cues written down or bookmarked.
“It’s the actors taking control of the show and us kind of following their lead,” she said about her role.
They’re skills she says she’ll be using after high school, excitedly saying she is going to be pursing theatre in college.
“They put you in the role and you get to actually practice and then learn along the way what you can do better,” Elliott said about the school’s program.
Just as fixated on her role is junior Vivianna Colson, the lighting designer and assistant director who’s also done acting in past shows at the high school.
She feels as if the roles in the show translate, saying students who do acting should do things on the technical side for at least one show and vice versa.
“It would be so beneficial for everyone in this department to really know that other side and make sure that we all know it’s a group effort,” Colson said.
Students do get the opportunity their first year in the program to do both acting and be a part of the technical side.
“Everyone here is really pushing me to want to better myself as a person and also that helps my craft when I’m acting,” Colson said.
Both Colson and Elliott see their futures in theatre even past college, and for now the theatre program at Catalina Foothills High School is helping them get there.
“We just really want everybody to know that this is their home away from home,” Elliott said.
