If you've had to entertain children or grandchildren, then you may have taken in a show at Children's Theater of Charlotte.

It's currently in its 77th season and this year marks the 20th anniversary at ImaginOn.

Did you know it can take a production team of about 35 people to create the magic you see on stage?

Producer Russ Hunsinger takes us backstage to meet some of those dedicated people.

(graphics whooshing) ♪ Oh, we're all in the middle - There is an army of people behind the scenes.

(sewing machine rattling) (tools whirring) (paint roller scraping) We get to create these fantastic worlds.

(tool clattering) (equipment whirring) (measuring tool clacking) I'm Tim Parati.

I'm the resident scenic artist here at Children's Theater of Charlotte and sometime designer.

(upbeat music) I have worked on over 200 productions over 20 years.

It's one of the top children's theaters in the country and we have this big, beautiful building that we work in.

We've got two big full theaters.

(artist screams) - Hi, I'm Sara, I am a scenic painter and I also work sometimes in the costume shop as well.

I think every department is very important here in the production.

We have lights, we have sound, we have costumes, we have sets and each department has different subsections.

We have someone who works the mics while someone works the speakers.

Someone who hangs the lights and focus them while someone else runs the board.

(tools whirring) - [Tim] With theater, there are so many different departments going on and then we all have to work together.

- [Artist 1] I don't know, it's square and flat.

- And it all comes together hopefully by opening night and we see the product of all that collaboration.

(tool thudding) - My name is Melissa Mendez and today I'm working in the shop as a carpenter.

One of my favorite things is actually making things outta foam.

(machine whirring) You would be amazed how realistic you can make foam look.

- [Tim] These are color elevations that we get from the designer and that's where the whole process starts with the director and the designers talking about what they wanna do.

The director gives 'em the concept of what they want to achieve with the show.

(machine whirring) - Hi, I am Andrew Gibbon.

I'm the technical director for the Children's Theater of Charlotte.

(upbeat music) Work with the designers for each show to take their concepts and their designs for the shows, and make sure that they fit in with the budget and the timelines that we have to create these shows with.

The most important thing about my job is make sure everybody's staying safe.

Pieces of scenery, moving on and off of stage, plus flying in from above all, the actors are moving around on the stage, so it's this whole sort of coordinated dance.

(electricity buzzing) - My name is Sterling Lett and I'm a props carpenter.

(machine whirring) (lively music) I'm working with the props master to build the furniture that kind of doesn't quite fall into props or scenery.

- [Artist 2] Step on, Peter.

- I'm setting up to build a cable that needs to be jumped on by multiple people.

Hits the steel.

(playful music) - Hi, I'm Elizabeth Swanson.

I am the costume craft specialist.

My favorite part of this job is the problem solving element.

I love the kind of engineering that has to happen.

With a lot of costume pieces, you know, there is a standard way to make a dress.

There's a standard way to make a shirt, but there's not a standard way to make a cartoon head.

- [Artist 2] No way you love that.

- I'm Anna Klinger and I am the costume shop manager.

We build and create everything that the actors wear in a show, everything from hats and sometimes shoes to their garments.

We are in charge of makeup, things like that.

We try to build about 85 to 90%, sometimes 100% of shows.

There's some specific pieces that you may have to hunt online.

And one of our pieces that we did for "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" was this poncho that I got off of Etsy that came from Peru.

It's very authentic.

It's super soft and beautiful, but there's no way I could find something locally.

(bell dinging) ♪ Ah, ah, ah - [Anna] There is an art to what we do.

The amount of specialized skills that I have to have and stay up to date on I think earns me the moniker of artists.

(people cheering and clapping) - [Tim] When something happens like a drop goes up or a big reveal and the audience gasped.

♪ Hey, you gotta gotta go (people screaming) - [Tim] It's an amazing feeling and especially when you have an audience just full of kids of like school shows and they are just rocking out to whatever's happening on the stage.

It's really a cool feeling.

- [Artist 3] Drop them up.

(audio chiming) (people cheering)