Step into the Des Moines Playhouse and you enter a world that Roseanne Mead calls “magic.”

Though she’s never taken the stage as an actor, Mead has been involved in nearly every aspect of the Playhouse productions for 15 years, becoming a part of the community theater group’s crucial volunteer element while enjoying a passion for the stage.

“That’s the most important thing to us, that we have a willing volunteer force that gets satisfaction out of what they’re doing and make the productions work,” said John Viars, executive director of the Playhouse.

Mead earned a degree in recreation from the University of Wisconsin — La Crosse, where she became interested in theater. She worked at a YMCA for three years before entering law school.

As an assistant commissioner of the Iowa Insurance Division, Mead and her 20-person staff receive and investigate complaints from consumers regarding insurance products. The staff handles education and enforcement, carrying out administrative prosecutions, when warranted, against insurance agencies.

She joined the Playhouse as a volunteer after moving Des Moines.

Her first show was “42nd Street,” in which she participated as a spotlight operator.

“A lot of the work is backstage, but when you’re running the spotlight you get to see the show every night,” she said.

During her association with the Playhouse, Mead has worked on crews for dozens of shows, done set construction, worked in the box office and ushered theater-goers to their seats. She also spent three years as a part-time, paid volunteer, coordinating the efforts of other volunteers.

“Roseanne is highly efficient and skilled in a number of areas that work well for us,” Viars said. “We probably have many like Roseanne who could be relied on to be Renaissance people at the Playhouse.”

Mead is one of 2,000 volunteers, according to Viars, who give of their time to about 12 shows each season.

“We end up, for our musicals, with over 100 volunteers involved in one way or another and about 80,000 volunteer hours,” he said. “So our staff at the Playhouse is mainly supervisory.”

Mead, who now functions as an assistant director and stage manager, said she puts in at least 20 hours per week during a production’s six weeks of rehearsals and three or four weeks of performances. She said it can add stress to her life.

“But the nice thing about volunteering at the Playhouse is you can work one hour a week or 50,” she said. “If I’m busy at work, I’ll go in on Saturday and paint.”

Because of the extensive time commitment, she serves as an assistant director and stage manager for one or two shows during the year

In this combined position, she assists the show’s director during casting and rehearsals and then takes over the show when performances begin.

“You get to see the entire process,” Mead said. “You start from nothing and you create a show.”

The night of a performance, she will arrive an hour and a half before curtain to check the stage, building, light and sound systems and set and meet with the actors. Then, it’s her job to call places and get the show moving.

“You have to know everybody’s job, but you’re not supposed to have to do it yourself,” she said. “You have to keep track of movement on stage and off stage.”

And at the end of the show, there are more checks to be performed and a report to write, so she is usually the last one to leave. Viars and the Playhouse staff have learned to rely on Mead and others like her to make sure the show goes on every night.

Mead, along with other staff members and volunteers, started rehearsal last week for “Hello, Dolly,” with opening night set for Sept. 10.

“She anticipates needs before they happen,” Viars said. “She’s really a supervisory volunteer. She’s passionate about the Playhouse and making the quality of her work high.”

The Playhouse honors its volunteers annually at a dinner, awarding 30 to 50 people who have given a great deal of time and talent. Mead was among those honored this year. She received a Volunteer of the Year Award for the 1997-1998 Playhouse season, showing her dedication to an organization that she truly loves.

“It’s really kind of magic,” she said, “and the fact that everybody’s welcome at the Playhouse. You can have people from every walk of life, but we all love the theater. That’s what we all have in common, and that’s what makes for a good show.”