With the start of the new school year comes a series of renovations around the building; from repainting doors to waxing floors, the campus was a hub of activity for weeks leading up to the first day of school. One of the largest changes in this wave of construction was remodeling the auditorium, and the area is now more inclusive than ever as the theater department prepares to take the stage in the upcoming months.
The auditorium’s updates were focused on keeping up with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations, according to the school’s Business Administrator Arlin De La Rosa. “[The renovations] included building ramps, adding lifts and also providing more wheelchair-accessible seating in the auditorium,” De La Rosa said.
To provide this wheelchair-accessible seating, chairs had to be removed from the audience seating area, and more were removed along both sides of the stage in order to build ramps. In addition to a change in the layout of the seats, the auditorium also received new carpet and a fresh coat of paint to match the rest of the repainted school.
Though the process of remodeling the auditorium started over the summer, the auditorium remains closed to students even weeks after the start of the school year. “We’re just waiting on the final clearance from the fire marshall and the City of Rockville who gave us permits, and they just need to come and review the work and [the auditorium] will be open,” De La Rosa said.
While the school waited for approval, the only work being done in the auditorium was finishing touches. “We have been allowed to do our school pictures in the auditorium because we had everything blocked off that wasn’t approved when the inspectors came. The steps were cleared to use, and now we’re just trying to make sure that the bathrooms are available before we open up the space for full use, which is the final section of the building that we’re waiting for,” De La Rosa said.
Even though theater classes haven’t been able to meet in the auditorium, theater director Dr. Julian Lazarus has been preparing for a completely new schedule this upcoming November: two shows, rather than one, in two weekends. “Over the last four years since Covid, the theater department’s been working really hard to make better and better shows. Now that we have really great shows that we’re putting on, I wanted to make sure that we have a show for every part of the community, as well as spaces that everybody wants to be involved in,” Lazarus said.
The first of the two shows is titled “Elephant and Piggie” and is geared toward a younger audience, as it is based on a children’s book series written by Mo Willems. “I guarantee you every little elementary school kid is going to come flock. And plus it’s the cutest show, it’s so much fun. Like even as high school kids, to go and be in it, it’s such a fun show to do,” Lazarus said.
The second show is titled “Game of Tiaras” and is PG-13 and up, with the show being based on the popular television series “Game of Thrones.” “‘Game of Tiaras’ is one of the funniest shows I’ve read and seen in a really long time. In the first five minutes, Snow White gets her head chopped off. It’s hysterically funny,” Lazarus said.
With both shows being targeted toward different audiences, the theater department hopes to showcase the fruits of their labor to as many people as possible. “I want students to be excited to come and see the shows, and ultimately, I really want people to see the hard work that the theater kids and tech kids and music kids all put together and what high-quality that really is. They’ve really worked hard to up their game and really put some excellent stuff on stage, and I feel like people are missing it. That’s one of the reasons why we’re doing two weekends,” Lazarus said.
This new performance schedule is more difficult than last year’s, but theater students are looking forward to this new experience. “I’m excited to have everyone back together because it’s a good group, and I’m looking forward to seeing how we manage running two shows at once and if this is something we’re comfortable with for the future when I’m not here, or if they’re going to go back to one like last year if this is too much to chew,” senior theater student Liam Sloan said.
The theater department will be performing their two shows from Nov. 8 through 10 and Nov. 15 through the 17, and auditions for show cast are underway. However, there is much more to being part of a theater show than having a lead role, and Lazarus encourages all students to consider participating. “We have lots of room for lots of people to be engaged, and so students will say, ‘Well, I don’t have time in my schedule.’ But the reality is you can be a part of things without having to be there every single day. You can do more than one thing because there’s lots of different levels of engagement. If you’re like, ‘I just want to work backstage and come one day a week and on tech days for rehearsals and build in the shop,’ you can do that. If you want to live in the theater and this is your sport and this is your activity, you can do that too,” Lazarus said.
