Vicksburg native Allen Ditto has seen his share of Miss Mississippi productions. For 22 years, Ditto has played a major role in the production of what has become one of Vicksburg’s — and Mississippi’s — biggest events.

The team Ditto leads is the production crew for the pageant, setting up essential components such as the stage, lights and audio equipment.

Ditto, who graduated from Warren Central High School in 1993, said the pageant is something he and his team look forward to helping out with each year, despite the fact it is by no means all glitz and glamor.

“It’s tough, but it’s something I appreciate doing every year,” Ditto said.

But this isn’t the only production they help lead, as Ditto’s crew had to rush to Vicksburg after completing the Miss Tennessee pageant in Jackson, Tenn.

Some of his crew was stuck in Jackson wrapping up the Miss Tennessee pageant and had to travel to Vicksburg just days before they were scheduled to be in Vicksburg last Tuesday. A portion of the crew in Tennessee wrapped up Saturday night when Miss Tennessee ended and shipped down to Vicksburg Sunday morning.

“It was kind of an odd transition for us,” Ditto said. “This was a unique situation because we were building a theater from the ground up. We needed all the help we can get.”

The crew prides themselves on setting up quickly and leaving and cleaning up quickly. Once the pageant ends Saturday, the crew will start taking the stage and equipment down and the Vicksburg Convention Center will return to normal by Sunday morning.

“About 15 minutes after the pageant ends and all of the ladies are done taking pictures, the TC crews will be gone and our process of cleaning up will start to a certain degree,” Ditto said. “Our crew will then come back at 8 a.m. Sunday morning and get done.”

One of the most important aspects for a production crew setting up for a pageant is the lighting has to be near perfect. Andre Huff, the production designer for Limelite Design Services, went through the same challenges as did Ditto and his crew.

“We made very good process, but it’s definitely been a challenge,” Huff said. “Taking a convention center and turning it into a performance-based atmosphere is difficult. It’s been good though.”

Huff is the main designer for the production of the pageant and his crew and Ditto’s crew exchanged design ideas and agreed on a certain look.

“The past couple of years, we’ve done modern-type looks. This is more of a jazz-theater but we’re keeping it modern as much as we can,” Huff said.