For most of us, for whom theater is an entertainment, the rising of the curtain represents the beginning, the revealing of the entertainment, the start of the event.

For the actors too, Scene 1 Act 1 means time to go work.

But for those employed in the creation of what you see on stage, by the time the curtain goes up most of their work is done — opening night is for them a culmination, an ending, a closing night.

Like an iceberg, what actually appears to the audience is just the tip — below the surface is where the bulk of the endeavor lays.

Sets need to be built and decorated, costumes researched, designed and sewn, lighting arrangements staged, and effects programmed.

And for a production like “Show Boat,” the musical set on the Mississippi River in the turn of the 20th century, this work can reach epic proportions, as the lavish set and spectacular costumes become a feature of the show itself, rather than just a supplement to it.

And so when the Village Theatre in Issaquah decided to take a shot at Show Boat for its 2009 season, production manager Jay Markham knew he was in for the challenge of his career.

Six months after he first began planning, Markham has overseen the preparation of a 6,000 pound boat, which moves up and down the stage and splits in half, period costumes for 28 cast spanning four distinct decades, and five state-of-the-art automated cable winches to move four tons of machinery.

As the director of a play or musical controls the activity of the actors on the stage, so the production manager control all the other activity.

“I manage the crazy,” Markham said. “Each of the elements you see on stage, like the lighting, set design, costumes, has someone directly responsible for it. It is my job to make sure they all play well in the sandbox.”

For Markham, his involvement in Show Boat began in November last year, when the director and the various designers got together to discuss how they would be able to implement their creative visions within the scope of what was practical and affordable.

Much of those discussions centered around the boat itself.

“No pun intended, but the boat really anchors the show,” Markham said. We are sitting in the back row of the now empty theater looking down upon the lit stage. “It’s in half of the scenes, it moves up and down the stage, and the show begins with it pulling in to dock.”

A big part of Markham’s job is also crunching numbers — Show Boat’s $1 million budget had to cover everything from the actors to the marketing and PR, to the wood and paint used to build the sets and the material for the costumes.

“The designers will come and ask for a golden pony, when what we might have for them is probably a nice brown pony,” Markham said.

He said that the new technical studio, completed in downtown Issaquah in September of 2007, had dramatically altered what was now possible for theater in the area.

It was there that all the physical set pieces for the show were built.

“That facility just makes us technically better – we couldn’t have done this without that space,” Markham said.

Already the Village Theatre is at the very forefront of theater technology.

Show Boat utilizes five “Creative Connors,” computer automated winch systems that enable one person, the lead stage hand, to move set machinery which would previously have taken 12 to 15 people.

“This is Broadway caliber stuff,” Markham said. “Technically speaking, we like to stay ahead of the game.”

He added that in technical director Brad Bixler, scenic artist Julia Franz, and costume experts Karen Ledger and Cynthia Savage, the Village Theatre has some of the best in the business.

Though the Issaquah run of Show has only just begun, Markham is already moving on to the next Village production. For him, opening night represents a culmination of months of hard work and the interaction of dozens of creative minds.

“On opening night, it’s always nice to have a few drinks and sit back and have a look at what we have built,” he said. “There is definitely a sense of pride in what we done.”

Show Boat is playing in Issaquah until July 3.

For tickets and more information go to www.villagetheatre.org.