Wichita’s Theatrical Services makes the magic of theater possible

In Kansas, the show often doesn’t go on without Theatrical Services.

The Wichita company is the secret underlying most theatrical performances in the metro area and far beyond.

It sells the theatrical lighting, curtains, rigging, gels, tape, paint, makeup, wigs, mustaches and beards that make shows possible. It also rents out lights, control boards, fog machines and other equipment – basically everything but costumes.

Although the gear makes the magic of theater possible, the company is pretty ordinary, said Stephanie Young, the majority owner.

“We’re not a glamorous company,” she said. “We’re really down to earth.”

Young, who has been bookkeeper for the company for years, bought her stake last year from her father, Steve Wolf, who started the company in 1976 in his basement. He is now semi-retired, Young said.

The company has been at 128 S. Washington in a connected series of buildings since 1980. The interior is worn, comfortable and filled with shelves, desks and theatrical equipment. On the south end is a warehouse packed with rental lights and rigging.

There are eight employees. The business is built on relationships, expertise and service.

Its salespeople know most of the lighting managers, production directors and theater teachers in Kansas. And they know Theatrical Services.

David Neville, associate professor of scenic and lighting design at Wichita State University and lighting designer for Music Theatre Wichita, said he may not be its largest customer, but, at times, he is the most grateful.

“Often, it will be, ‘Oh, crap, we just ran out’ of a certain brown paint for the scenery we are going to put on the set tomorrow,” Neville said. “A lot of times, I’ll drop everything and run down to TSI for a gallon of paint.”

He said he rents lights from Theatrical Services about every other month and buys a range of lighting supplies and hardware.

“In this day and age of the Internet, sometimes I can beat their prices, but if I don’t support the brick-and-mortar, they won’t be there – and, God knows, our timeline is always right now,” he said.

Universities such as WSU and schools are the company’s biggest customers, selling or renting lights or rigging for theaters. But it also has substantial sales to churches, community theaters and, to a lesser extent, corporations.

In its best year, 2011, in the midst of Wichita school bond spending, the company did more than $2 million in business. This year, Young expects it to do $1.5 million.

She blamed the completion of the school bond – it won the bid to equip the theater of the new Southeast High School – plus an overall tightening of school funding.

“Sales are down – the walk-in traffic, the teacher who comes in and wants makeup or paint for a show they’re doing,” she said.

To adjust, she said, she is monitoring costs closely and is looking to compete farther away, increase the company’s Internet sales and get into more weddings and corporate events.

Young, who has a nursing degree from WSU and was a nurse at Wesley Medical Center for 15 years, said she loves the business.

“It’s interesting,” she said. “I love going to plays and seeing productions. How you put together a play, to me, is fascinating.”

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Wichita’s Theatrical Services makes the magic of theater possible."