Well, the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts in Louisville is celebrating its 40th anniversary now called Kentucky Performing Arts.

The organization now includes the Brown Theater and Old Forester's Perry's town hall.

On Sunday's episode of Inside Louisville, I got a sneak peek behind the scenes at Whitney Hall.

Take a look.

I've been here.

This will be 35 years.

Yeah.

So you've seen.

I've seen a lot.

Started out, you know, I started in as a calling employee in the theater.

Our campus is the Kentucky Center, the Brown Theater.

And, of course, was Paris Town Hall.

And I'm over the engineering production, housekeeping and security departments across the campus.

We're a well equipped facility, very well maintained.

And again, this art center and built in 83, opened in 83.

It was really put together in a way to accommodate particularly the Whitney Hall touring show.

So the size of the hall, the the construction, the layout was really to accommodate those shows.

And we have again, I think we're if not the biggest the largest facility as far as layout to be able to accommodate those.

There's a number of newer facilities out now that probably compare.

But I think that we rank with the top.

Although the layouts the same for the theater, it's undergone a number of changes throughout the history of the last 40 years.

The acoustical clowns have been resurfaced.

We've had we've gone from getting getting kind of deeper into a high draw like rigging systems to changed over to a motor driven rather than hydraulic, which was a big change for us.

Those are big things.

At being 40 years old, we were trying to move in to the next generation in equipment and updates because we are 40, so things are reaching their end of their life.

So we have request, we have projects underway and requests in for the state to improve and change those pieces out.

You know, LED lights like the camera has here, updates to our rigging systems, theatrical systems, sound systems and so on.

Change is constant.

And so we're we're examining who we are and how to serve our our region in the best way possible.

One of the tools for me is really be up at the fly rail in this theater when Broadway shows come through.

They tend to most of them will leave a trace that they've been here.

And it's a little piece of art that we've collected over the last 40 years up on the fly rail.

And I think that's one of the neatest things.

Show us around.

Okay, let's do it.

Right now, we're right outside of the state stage, right?

Fly rail and when we go through, the door will be on stage.

Right.

Fly rail area.

But right outside here.

And actually inside as tourists come through, they've had a designated artist, so to speak, that has left their mark from being here on the tour.

And as you can see, these go back a number of years.

So each most every tour comes in and leaves their mark on on our on our stage and outside the room here, this is the fly rail and this is the fly systems counterweight system.

A number of them are electric, but the majority are just straight forward counterweight system.

These are the locks.

When you want to move a pipe, when the scenery is going to move, you would take the ring off and lock it and move the rope to move the pipe to move the scenery.

So this is a directions for the Fleischman for a particular piece.

And as I said, it's choreographed and scripted in it shows the time.

What is the cue?

What line set is it that's being used?

What is the piece?

In what direction is that piece moving in or out?

In or out?

What is the spike mark?

The ropes themselves will have spikes on when to start or stop.

Who is who is pulling the rope?

And that's to probably there's up to four linemen on this particular show and specific notes about that move rigging in general came from ships and sailing.

So a lot of the techniques all came to theater from from sailing.

And there's a lot of, you know, myth about you don't whistle on stage because signals on ships for instruction were in whistle.

And so you don't want to confuse and ask someone to do something by whistling.

You can see that entire episode of Inside Louisville Online.

It's at George Slash inside at Louisville.

And coming up this Sunday, we explore the history and future expansion of Louisville's waterfront park.

That's this Sunday at noon 11 Central on Katie.