On Friday, Oct. 27, Cal State Fullerton’s Behind the Scenes (BTS) club had the opportunity to tour Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The tour, which 20 BTS members accompanied, began at 10 a.m. and took attendees throughout the venue.
According to BTS president Erine Lamb, this was the club’s first tour of a performing arts space. This fact, plus the reality that Segerstrom is local, is why BTS decided to explore Segerstrom and get a glimpse of a performing arts venue behind the scenes.
“The overall goal [of the tour] was to expose our members more to the different facets of the entertainment industry, explore careers and build those meaningful connections,” said Lamb.
The tour began with students exploring the ‘jewel’ of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts plaza: the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Primarily, this hall conducts all of Segerstrom’s live concert productions, such as orchestral and vocal performances. As students convened at Segerstrom, they were met by venue docents to guide them all around the event space. Considering Segerstrom opened in 1986, a lot of culture and history was covered on the tour.
Students learned numerous fun facts about the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, including how the hall was built and why the space is shaped to resemble a guitar.
The tour docents also explained the rituals that take place before a concert, such as tuning the hall to perfect the proper acoustics for each performance. Sound technicians can manipulate the space’s sound by opening and closing specific doors and lowering curtains for timbre control.
Further, students were also able to tour the Segerstrom Hall. Not to be confused with the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, this space primarily hosts the venue’s musicals and dance recitals.
Notably, attendees could glimpse the Hall’s backstage area, including the dressing rooms, prop and scenery closet and green room; this was an especially unique experience for BTS because the Hall was housing an ongoing production at the time. As a result, attendees could see costumes and the production’s various trap doors.
Last on the tour was The Center Room: an exclusive room where only Segerstrom Center for the Arts donors and philanthropists are allowed. BTS members were granted admission inside the room to peek at the glamor that routine Segerstrom guests cannot see. The tour ended with a quick question and answer between BTS members and Segerstrom employees.
Segerstrom Center for the Arts hosts internships for spring, summer and fall. Their summer 2024 internship positions will be opening very soon!
