Austin Independent School District Theatre Programs Thrive with ETC Lighting Solutions

The Austin Independent School District Performing Arts Center (AISD PAC) is on track to host 193 events this school year, catering to AISD’s 73,000+ students and the wider Austin community. As it approaches its 10th anniversary in January, the PAC remains highly active, typically booked six days a week. Events include student performances, visual art shows, district trainings, rentals, career fairs, and meetings, along with high-profile events like the State of Texas UIL Theatrical Design Contest and the 1A-6A One-Act Play Contest. Throughout their active schedule, much of the lighting is provided by ETC fixtures and control solutions.

“We also host the largest summer theatre program in Central Texas—the Austin ISD Summer Theatre Series (STS),” says Brad Distelhorst, Austin ISD PAC Coordinator. This series includes Rising Stars, a two-week instructional camp for students new to theatre, as well as a play in the PAC’s 200-seat Black Box theater and a large musical in the 1,200-seat proscenium theater. In 2024, AISD fully funded this camp for 250 students from 43 campuses, covering all costs for teachers, theatrical supplies, meals, and transportation through the AISD Fine Arts Department.

Currently, 92% of the 382 theatrical fixtures on the PAC mainstage are ETC, including Source Four ellipsoidals, PARs, D40 Vivids, and Source 4WRD PARNels, along with 28 High End Systems moving lights (Lonestars, SolaWash 2000s, and Shapeshifters). The PAC’s control boards are exclusively ETC models: the Ion Xe 20, Ion Classic, and Element, matching the Ion Xe 20 boards in all AISD high school theatres and the Element 2 in middle schools.

All lighting fixtures are part of an in-house rep plot, allowing the team to adapt quickly for various lighting settings to suit any performance genre. For concert performances, they utilize a Wenger Diva Acoustical Shell, equipped with ETC Source 4WRD PARNels to enhance both visual and acoustic quality. This setup ensures that each event—whether a theatrical production or a concert—benefits from dynamic, high-quality lighting that meets the needs of every performance type.

“Having Eos control in every AISD theatrical space allows students to gain hands-on experience with our equipment during UIL events and other productions,” Distelhorst notes. “We’ve also worked with AISD Construction Management to update the Theatrical Lighting section of the AISD Production Manual, now requesting ETC products for all new builds and redesigns, from elementary to high school. This consistency supports seamless training throughout students’ years in AISD.”

Following the pandemic, the PAC, in collaboration with Phillip Taylor, AISD’s Executive Director of Fine Arts, launched what they call the “trickle-down effect.” 

“We upgraded our wireless microphones and theatrical lighting and established the district’s first PAC costume shop, allowing schools to borrow costumes and our used equipment for free,” Cole Rickman, Austin ISD Production Supervisor explains. “Our used gear, lights, mics, consoles, projectors, and costumes are now part of the Austin ISD PACFA Borrow Program, enabling fine arts programs to access costumes, lighting, and sound equipment at no cost, reinvesting those savings back into their programs.”

Using an internal Booqable website built by the PAC team, Fine Arts teachers can log in, select dates, and reserve what they need—all free of charge.

Photos of Shrek the Musical provided by Mike Reyna, Violet Crown Photo Works