Page 18 - Priorities #46 2010-March/April

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choral and instrumental classrooms, not only transformed the look of Priory’s entrance. It may have
changed Priory’s identity as a school.
“There’s a greater buzz now around the performing arts,”
explains Director of Performing Arts/Drama teacher John Sugden. “There are more kids that are interested in showing up at extremely early hours for orchestra and choir. On the theater side, we have more kids coming out for shows than we’ve ever had before. There’s been a very big shift.”
Priory alum Nathaniel Rothrock, class of ‘08, says, “It’s great to see the theater and music departments getting the boost they’ve needed for so long. It seems that Priory is finally starting to be known as a school for performers.”
Before the Performing Arts Center existed, music and drama happened in the former assembly hall, now the library. Though the programs didn’t lack for enthusiasm or rigor, there were some drawbacks. The theater space was small, making elaborate staging impossible. Sets had to be put up and torn down quickly, which meant long nights for students, parents, and staff volunteers. “We’d get done around one o-clock, one-thirty, two o-clock in the morning,” remembers Father Martin. “And, oh, it would get so hot and stuffy. People were just sweating away.”
A lack of soundproofing was also a problem. “The music room and theater room were separated by a thin hollow-core door,” explains John Sugden, “so there was sound-bleed like you would not even imagine.” According to Tom Carter, former Priory Drama teacher, “In the Drama room it sounded something like this: “But soft [crash, squeal, blaaaaaaaaaaat, shrIEEEEk], what light through yonder window breaks?” [thumpathumpathump, PHWOOONK!]. And in the music room, it was: “Amazing grace [“Stella! Bippitybippitybop! It is the East...”], how sweet [WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAA!”]
the sound [“WOOF!WOOF! HISS! GENERAL UPROAR!”].”
Despite these inconveniences, students mounted ambitious productions in the old space, including “Into the Woods” and “Les Miserables”—“I wanted to prove we could do it without a turntable,” John Sugden says proudly—and learned valuable lessons about transporting the audience without fancy staging. “There was a magic up there as to what we could do with spit, duct tape and baling wire,” says Sugden. “There’s a magic down here as to what we can do with
world-class facilities.”
To call the new performing arts facilities world-class is no
exaggeration. The Rothrock Performance Hall features retractable seating, an orchestra pit, state of the art lighting and sound capabilities, and exceptional acoustics. It boasts a beautiful lobby that doubles as a gallery space, dressing rooms and bathrooms for performers. and even a green room with a flat screen TV so those waiting to go on can watch the performance in progress. The Verhalen Black Box theater, which serves as both the Drama classroom and a flexible performance space, has its own high-tech lighting and sound systems. “The design is brilliant!” John Sugden says. “The floor in the Black Box is exactly the same size as the floor of the stage. So we can rehearse and know it will transfer in real time and space.” Unlike the simple tech tools of the past—“a wrench and a chopsaw,” according to Sugden—an all-new set shop has plenty of power tools and roll-up doors that access both performance spaces, allowing a two-story set to easily transfer each way. Keith Drotar, who teaches the Theater Tech class and runs the tech department, enjoys watching Priory students get a hands-on experience with the techniques to create theater. Because of the space and tools they have at their disposal, he says, “they’re actually getting to taste what theater is—as opposed to cardboard sets or video backgrounds. They’re going to walk out of here and eventually they’re going to figure out, ‘Wow, we were doing real theater!’ That’s exciting.”
The two new music classrooms are equally well equipped, with