Construction of the Long-Awaited Theater Finishes

Grace Tu|February 22, 2017

Ana Komarlu

The construction for the theater just recently finished and the first concert was held in the newly constructed site.

The construction of the theater at Portola High School has been finished, and the theater has finally showed itself to the public after staying in the shadows for a long time due to construction. The theater was first opened to the public on February 1, 2017 at the first ever Portola concert.

The construction of the theater happened both during and after school. The area was fenced up and students were not allowed to enter the construction site. A high visibility vest, hard hat, closed toe shoes and pants were required to be worn to enter the construction site, according to drama teacher Megan Pyle.

The theater has a proscenium stage, a black box theater, a dance studio, areas for set construction and storage, dressing rooms, control rooms and more. It seats around 700, according to Pyle.

“There’s touch screens backstage as well as in the theater manager’s box that allow a lot of one-touch controls to move from one setting to another really easily and really quickly. Eventually it would be set up so iPads can do it, so you could control the theater from the gym,” instrumental music teacher Desmond Stevens said.

According to Stevens, the sophisticated shell and the new technologies, such as the touch screens and one-touch controls, that the theater offers are exclusive to Portola.

A number of classes will be using the theater. Drama, dance, and stage tech will be in the auditorium during class time, while all instrumental classes will use the theater mainly for performances.

Having a designated space in the theater will greatly improve the quality of instruction and benefit the dancers as well.

“[We did not] have barres or mirrors, so the girls [could not] see their positioning and synchronicity,” Pyle said.

According to Pyle, the students will benefit from being able to work in a professional’s space with the right equipment.

A concert was held on Wednesday, February 1st, 2017 to celebrate the opening of the theater. Students and parents gathered in the completed theater to enjoy some beautiful music played by Portola’s performers.