NORFOLK, Neb. — The Johnny Carson Theater lies dormant but over the next few days, schools from across the state gather to compete in the state one act competition.

Schools from towns as large as Omaha to Arnold will congregate here at Johnny Carson theatre.

With the influx of students, schools, and parents, the three day championships can cause stress.

NSAA assistant director Taryn Retzlaff said the volunteers make it easier.

“Some of those people are here from 7:15 in the morning until 8 o’clock at night," Retzlaff said. "They lay out their three days and we couldn’t host this without them."

As the theatre prepares for its 11th time hosting the championships, Norfolk Area Sports Council activities development director Stephanie Bates said the amount of traffic requires the volunteers.

“We anticipate about 4,000 spectators from all around the state, possibly surrounding states coming to watch their kids and their grandkids," Bates said. "Production itself has about 3,000 between the casts and crew."

Retzlaff said some volunteers have been helping with the set-up since the first time Johnny Carson hosted the championships.

“There are volunteers who have signed up for the last 11 years but they also do a great job pulling in new people too,” Retzlaff said.

As teams begin performing on Wednesday, Retzlaff is excited to see the excitement for theatre in Norfolk for the next three days.

“It’s just such an electric environment,” Retzlaff said. "It’s so fun. It’s like theatre takes over northeast Nebraska for three days."

Over the next three days, all classes will compete with Class D1 and D2 starting things off on Wednesday.

You can watch the state one acts online on News Channel Nebraska’s website for all results from Wednesday through Friday.