Following Monday night\u2019s Broadway show of \u201cIn the Heights\u201d at the NPAC, it really hit me just how much effort it takes to put on a show such as this.\u00a0 For the typical audience member, you purchase the ticket, make arrangements to reserve that date, and come to the show for a good evening of entertainment.\u00a0This is exactly as it should be. \u00a0But I thought it would be interesting to let you know just what goes into the effort to get that show to you so that you may enjoy it.<\/p>\n
Monday night\u2019s show was our typical 7:30 p.m. start time.\u00a0 But before most ever gave any thought to their evening\u2019s plans, work began at the NPAC at 8 that morning.\u00a0 Over 40 workers, many of them volunteers, brought their coffee and work gloves to the loading dock to start an effort that would last until 1:30 a.m. the next morning.\u00a0 Four semi trucks needed unloaded, moved in and placed in the right locations.\u00a0 Then after the unloading, set construction, hanging, lighting, wardrobe, catering, and much more began.\u00a0 Somewhere around mid-afternoon, the stage was finally ready to go so the performers could run through the show and get used to the performance hall.<\/p>\n
Around 6 p.m., another round of volunteer ushers, ticket takers, safety crew and others started gathering for a 6:30 p.m. pre-concert talk in the Lecture Hall.\u00a0 The show finally began at 7:30 p.m. as the audience had arrived in their seats and was ready to cash in their $16-$46 ticket investment for two plus hours of world-class entertainment right here in little old Van Wert, Ohio.<\/p>\n
After the show finished around 9:45 p.m. and the audience was heading out the exits, a crew of 40 plus workers reconvened on stage to start undoing what they had just done at 8 that morning.\u00a0 By 1:30 a.m., the trucks pulled out of the loading dock and the last worker turned out the lights and headed home with a job well done.\u00a0 By then, the audience members had certainly packed it in and had visions of \u201cIn the Heights\u201d dancing in their heads.<\/p>\n
Many of the volunteers who help load in, set up, construct, and load out our shows do it out of community service.\u00a0 What a blessing they are!\u00a0 I wish I could name all of them, but they are certainly unsung heroes in our community; many of them you would know and recognize.\u00a0 It takes a community to deliver the kind of shows we have come to expect at the NPAC.\u00a0 As we sit back in our comfortable seats and enjoy these wonderful shows, we have little idea of what has gone into making it possible.\u00a0 I just can\u2019t say enough about those who volunteer their time at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center in order to allow us to present big-time professional shows like we have had.<\/p>\n
I am certain that those involved in the Van Wert Civic Theater, Wassenberg Arts Center, the Van Wert County Historical Society, and others know exactly what I am saying.\u00a0 They have existed and continue to exist with a core number of committed volunteers. We are very fortunate in our community to have people who care enough to work and serve for the good of others.\u00a0 Our community lost a real servant last week when my mother, Katherine Hoverman, passed away.\u00a0 She did things for others, never ever expecting anything in return.\u00a0 I can\u2019t tell you how much the condolences and expressions of sympathy meant to my family and me.\u00a0 It sure is good to live in a community where servant hood and volunteerism is just something we do.\u00a0God bless us, everyone!<\/p>\n
FIN\u00c9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Following Monday night\u2019s Broadway show of \u201cIn the Heights\u201d at the NPAC, it really hit me just how much effort it takes to put on a show such as this.\u00a0 For the typical audience member, you purchase the ticket, make arrangements to reserve that date, and come to the show for a good evening of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-02 07:33:55","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24375\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}