If these Winship walls could talk.

Westlake High School, nestled in the Texas Hill Country, wrapped up their fall season this week with their annual production of The Nutcracker. This year’s iteration of the seasonal favorite included a “Carol of the Bells” light show and a band.

The onstage performance is designed and orchestrated in large part by the Westlake Technical Entertainment Crew (TEC), an organization comprised of over 100 students from Westlake High School. Mentoring this group of talented is a staff of four, which includes three University of Texas at Austin alumni.

David Poole (BS ‘86) is the managing director of the Westlake Community Performing Arts Center and is a teacher at Westlake High School. He oversees the performing arts venues, technical theatre program and the Chaparral football television broadcast. Poole founded TEC in 1997.

Jacob Wiederanders (BA ‘07) joined the staff of the Westlake Community Performing Arts Center as Operations Manager in August 2010. Following his graduation from the Department of Theatre and Dance in 2007, Jacob worked as the Master Electrician for Texas Performing Arts at the University of Texas where he managed the lighting needs for Bass Concert Hall and the surrounding theaters on campus.

David Tolin (MFA ‘10) joined Westlake High School as Technical Director in 2010.  Prior to his arrival in Austin, Tolin attended the University of Nevada where he received his bachelor of arts in theatre with a concentration in design/technology. As an undergraduate, he worked in the Theatre Department’s scene shop and built over 30 productions. In 2006, he was selected to be an intern at Cirque du Soleil’s resident show Mystère at Treasure Island. In 2007, Tolin worked for Fisher Technical Services, Inc which is leading supplier of mechanical automation for theatre, film, and themed attractions all over the world. He also worked for Desert Entertainment as a stagehand on many large scale concerts, productions and events in venues large and small across the Las Vegas area.