The Star Behind the Stages

The greatest star in theater is arguably not on the stage – he’s up in the light booth, clicking buttons for the audience’s enjoyment. Senior William Unk has become a star technician in the theater department over his high school career, managing all three areas of theater tech.

“I started working with sound, but then I’ve moved to lights and sets. So I do all three equally,” Unk said. “In November of sophomore year, I started really messing around with the lightboard. [For] set, I started sophomore year with the musical.”

Besides theater, Unk also handles all technical activities for the music department.

“I do pretty much all the tech for all the concerts. I’m in marching band right now, and I’m Hoover’s tech guy,” Unk said. “I am out there on the field with the front ensemble, making sure everything works.”

Because of his comprehensive technical knowledge, he is a favorite among the Parkway theater community. Parkway Central’s theater director, Alex Moore, sees him as a leader in the district.

“He has worked probably in every single space, every single theater program, helping with their lights [and] their sound,” Moore said. “I told William he’s Parkway famous.”

Unk started his theater technology journey in sixth grade. His first experience was with soundboard, which is still his favorite technical area to work in.

“I started on sound, that’s really where my home is,” Unk said. “There’s a lot of tweaking you can do with the sound to make it sound better. A lot of just mixing stuff that takes years of experience to develop.”

Unk took Tech Design and Construction class his freshman year, but since it was virtual, he didn’t get any hand-on experience with the technology. He gained most of his knowledge through other means.

“It’s mostly self-taught through the Internet,” Unk said. “I’ll learn that the soundboard can do one thing, and then I’ll get really interested in it. And then I’ll just spend a lot of time reading user manuals.”

Unk’s passion for technology revolves around a simple purpose: he likes to solve problems. His knowledge in tech allows him to assist teachers from different departments in a multitude of difficult situations.

“I like making stuff work in general,” Unk said. “Like last night, I did a live stream for one of Ms. Prange’s college series seminars, and it was kind of a mess getting that all worked out.”

However famous he is in the Parkway community, Unk doesn’t think he has mastered his technical skills yet. In comparison to the high standards of the professional theater in the St. Louis District, he thinks he has a lot to learn.

“The lightboard-I don’t know how to use it,” Unk said. “I’ve done some community theater shows where I’ve watched them programming on the lightboard. They have really mastered it, and I’m nowhere near that.”

Although there is no teacher specializing in technology in middle school or high school, Unk was able to get some guidance from Parkway Central alumni Doug Gardner. Gardner, being an active theater student in high school, studied technical sound and light design at Webster University. He started mentoring Parkway Central’s theater students in January of 2008.

“I’ve worked alongside him since his freshman year,” Gardner wrote in an email interview. “I hope I’ve taught William not only the basics of sound design and techniques, but primarily how to look at problems and think about solving them in unconventional/outside the box ways.”

Unk regards Gardner as the person who influenced him the most in theater.

“He taught me a lot of what good sound is supposed to sound like for theater, and how to do things the right way,” Unk said.

In the theater, Unk is both a student and a mentor. Since joining the department, Unk has been working with underclassmen. One of the sound technicians, sophomore Finn Borchardt, claims Unk inspired and mentored him with regard to operating the sound board.

“He ran the soundboard in middle school. So he got me really interested in running the soundboard,” Borchardt said. “Then COVID hit for seventh grade and I came back in eighth grade. Nobody knew how the board worked except me, because William taught me.”

Borchardt called Unk the “go-to” for technical questions in the theater department.

“This year he’s not working on sound anymore, so I’m following in his footsteps,” Borchardt said. “But I still can go to him and ask him questions. I know I can rely on him to help me out when I need it.”

Right now, the theater department is preparing for the fall play, with Unk being the production manager. Unk believes the crew is working effectively.

“We already have most of the walls put up,” Unk said. “We try to have production meetings once a week during Ac Lab with all the crew heads, to make sure everyone’s on track for getting stuff done by show night.”

Unk is one of the first people Moore talked about the show with, and Unk has been assisting him throughout the production.

“He can train students in a wide variety of areas in the scene shop. ” Moore said. “It’s rare that I even have to ask. It’s just ‘hey, here’s the plan today.’ And he knows what to do. So he’s really a strong leader.”

Although many people in the theater department look up to Unk, Moore describes him as a very humble person.

“He doesn’t talk about his experience, or his knowledge and doesn’t show off,” Moore said. “He does his work, and then he very quietly sneaks out the door and leaves.”

Gardener, being a long-time mentor of Unk, is very proud of his growth as an individual.

“It’s been VERY fun and rewarding as a mentor to watch William grow as a both student and a person. William is generally very stoic, and started very quiet and shy, but it’s been very fun watching him come out of his shell more and become more outgoing.” Gardner wrote. “I think he’s got a great future ahead of him, whichever industry he goes into. ”

Looking into the future, Unk would like to take a similar path as his mentor Gardner. He wants to continue pursuing his love of theater technology into his college studies and career.

“I’m hoping to go to college for electrical engineering, and then work theater into that,” Unk said. “So like designing the sound equipment, designing the lighting equipment and all that.”