Kristine Iverson feels at home on the stage, which she’ll soon be seeing a lot more. She’ll be performing a scene from a serious script, singing a difficult opera song and dancing a choreographed piece along with her fellow Riverland Community College students this Wednesday.

Iverson is one of many student artists demonstrating their skills at Riverland’s upcoming Fine Arts Showcase.

“We get together and show what we’ve been working on all semester,” Iverson said.

Aside from her final dance routine for her “Movement of Dance” class, she will be performing a short scene from “Mary of Scotland,” where Iverson will play an antagonistic Elizabeth to her partner Kaylin Wolf’s Mary. It’s a scene both have struggled with, Iverson said.

“For both of us, it’s been a challenge,” Iverson said. “Because it’s something we haven’t done, the seriousness.”

Iverson will also perform Brahm’s “Wie Melodien,” a German operatic piece which is much more difficult than it appears, according to Scott Blankenbaker, a musical instructor at Riverland.

“Though it sounds gentle and relatively simple to the hearer, it actually takes a very skilled singer to be able to sing it well,” Blankenbaker said. “It’s much more demanding than it sounds.”

It won’t phase Iverson, however, as she’s been on a stage for most of her life. She started performing since she was eight years old, having started when her mother played instruments for some of the area musicals. Since then, she’s been on stages throughout Austin, performing and helping out with Matchbox Children’s Theater performances and graduating to Riverland’s Theatre Program.

She’s also sung with the Austin Big Band on occasion and performed the national anthem at various sports games. She’s performed or helped out with almost every recent Riverland Theatre performance, from the Summerfest plays to musicals like “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” as well as performing with Riverland’s choir.

“It’s like my right arm, I can’t imagine my life without (theater),” Iverson said. “I’ll be sitting at home, and if I’m not at a show, it’s like, ‘What am I doing with myself?’”

Iverson plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse next year, where she will major in Technical Theater. Ideally, she wants to work in a theatrical booth, working with lights and sounds to make performances shine. Her passion lies behind the curtain, as it takes more than just actors to put on a show.

“A lot of people don’t realize that you can’t have a show without lighting the person’s face that you’re watching,” Iverson said.

For now, she’s content to perform at the Fine Arts Showcase, which hosts many different artists, whether it’s performers or a live-art demonstration. Riverland’s Fine Arts Showcase is Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Riverland’s Frank W. Bridges Theatre.

“I like seeing a lot of variety and seeing students showing things that you don’t expect they are able to do,” Iverson said. “You’d be surprised who comes in and shows off their talents.”