After midterms, students participated in a scavenger hunt at the La Mirada Theatre, organized by 6th Street Public Relations and the theater. Student Programming and Activities also helped fund the event by providing $450 for food and marketing purposes.

exploring the theater

Six teams of four to six students on each competed in the scavenger hunt by following a set of 12 clues, which lead to different locations around the theater. Each clue included a number or letter that the team would later decode and unscramble. The unscrambled letters revealed the location of a prize basket, including six redeemable tickets to a show at the theater, which undeclared freshman Nic Nelson, sophomore Biblical studies major Jessica Cody, sophomore marketing management major Avery Ceniceros and sophomore public relations major Elizabeth Pintarich.

“It was fun to play on a team. We were just running around the whole theater in our heels and everything trying to figure out where all the rooms were,” Pintarich said.

As students explored the theater, they got to step on stage, go in the orchestra pit and enter the dressing rooms. Part of the goal of the event included encouraging students to come to the theater as a resource, according to 6th Street PR account executive for the La Mirada Theatre and junior public relations major Cristina Schmitter.  

“I think a lot of students aren’t aware that the theater’s a great option for them to go see shows and have fun with friends and it is so close and they offer discounts to students,” Schmitter said. “So, their goal was really to host an event so that it would encourage the student body to take advantage of this awesome place. So hopefully if we can get students in there they’ll want to come back.”

The backstage experience

Sophomore communications major Emily Castro enjoyed experiencing the theater in a new way, rather than coming to sit and watch a show.

“I really appreciate how they opened up this space for us to see and also some of the clues involved looking for the dates that shows happened and looking for very specific things so it caused us to engage with the theater space as well, instead of just passively being here,” Castro said.

The teams were able to engage in the area by quickly making their way through several different rooms and areas of the theater.

“I think it’ll be really exciting to see people who maybe aren’t theater-goers get to be on stage and experience the magic of that, and while it won’t be a show, there won’t be a set, I think it’s really cool to be in that environment,” Schmitter said.

While many students enjoyed being on the stage, junior business major Kasey Spidell loved the backstage experience.

“I loved the green room and the dressing rooms because that’s not something I see every day, because I mean, when you’re sitting in an audience you can see the stage and stuff. I didn’t realize that those lightbulbs on the outside of the mirrors were actually a thing,” Spidell said.