Following a Friday performance of Miss Saigonat the Hobby Center, members of UP (the Theatre Under the Stars organization for urban professionals) embarked on an exclusive backstage tour of the musical’s production. Company manager Nicole Young led the group of twenty and thirty-somethings through the ropes – literally – of conducting one of the company’s largest productions ever. Members of UP@TUTS were granted a first-hand peek at the divas’ dressing rooms, the top-secret Green Room, and the magic of the mysterious hydraulic orchestra pit.

Young and TUTS personal relations coordinator Misty Robertson entertained the group’s “I’ve always wondered how…” questions. One of the juiciest details? The actors wrap their microphone packs in condoms to prevent the mechanisms from getting wet and causing electrocution.

Now, that's playing safe.

(To learn more about UP@TUTS, call 713-558-2658 or e-mail elizabethd@tuts.com.)