Lincoln’s well-known black box theatre is finally receiving the TLC it needed. From new lights to a private light booth, everybody is excited. The only downfall is that the renovations won’t be finished until 8 days before Lincoln’s musical Be More Chill. After interviewing a technological theatre student, Ethan Heckman, and received more information. 

They’re starting with remodeling the booth. They added glass around it so the tech team can talk without disturbing the audience. 

The tech team is very ecstatic about the new installation according to Heckman, due to the new LED lights and the convenience of a cooler (temperature) booth and the lights are “easier to fix and they can go to any color”.

When asked why Lincoln decided to build new lights, Heckman said, “It’s all very old and it all started with the fact that we were supposed to get actual seating instead of the seats that are in there now,” such as booth seating. He let us know that the seating renovations will occur over summer for the 2020-2021 school year. 

“All of the lighting is being completely redone and everything is being run through conduit, which are little metal pipes that keep all the wires nice and neat” 

Heckman stated “We’re hopefully getting some moving lights and other fancier lights that are new. The lighting and sound will be higher quality and we have twice as many mics…every single cast member can have a microphone for the first time”. 

After the lights are fully installed, the tech team only has 8 days to rehearse the lighting, fix any mistakes and move the show props into the theatre. 

Jasper Hawkins pitched in and gave his opinion on the matter “I’m annoyed because we can’t start building props [sets] which is my favorite part.” 

Due to these theater renovations they had to move back “Puffs” which is normally performed in late February, is now 3 weeks after “Be More Chill”. Which means the tech team is building 2 sets at the same time with only a couple weeks to prepare for the next show. 

 Come check out the new lights and booth at Lincoln’s next performances: Be More Chill, Thursday, April 2nd through Saturday, April 4th as well as Puffs, Thursday, April 30th through Saturday, May 2nd!