As they enter school, students see tree stumps surrounded by a sea of wood chips. When they walk to the 40s building, a mound of tattered furniture enters their view—chairs protruding from all angles, a colorful mosaic-covered table peeking out behind the tangle of wood. The tree stumps and the mound of furniture serve as a reminder, a reminder that the student body must say farewell to the Alan Harvey Theater (AHT).
AHT will close on March 12 and begin demolition on April 13. The District expects to open the new theater during the 2020-21 school year, according to PUSD’s Feb. 13 press release.
This past weekend, the Acting 3-4 classes performed “Fuddy Meers” and “Spacegirl,” the last plays before AHT will be demolished. Senior Gracie Ellis starred in “Spacegirl” as Arugula Suarez, a teenage alien struggling to fit in during a visit to Earth.
“It really just hit me recently that this is my last show, not just in the theater, but at Piedmont altogether,” Ellis said. “It’s been an emotional experience, to say the least.”
Home to the plays, musical, bird calling contest, dance shows, acapella show, and orchestra concerts, AHT holds memories for many students, alumni, and teachers, theater teacher Kim Taylor said.
“It’s really the history of so many people who’ve been here,” Taylor said.
Some memories of AHT remain intangible, others are documented backstage in a small, high-ceilinged room. Written over the span of decades, students’ names and quotes stretch up to the ceiling in dozens of scrawls and colors. Next to the door, in light blue ink, one student wrote, ‘This theater is a home for our souls.’
Taylor said that her students often go behind the wings between classes to breathe and collect themselves.
“This place has so many little nooks and crannies that you can go in and breathe,” Taylor said.
For many students, the name Alan Harvey is just an engraving on a sign, but for dance and musical teacher Amy Moorhead, he was a teacher and inspiration.
“I spoke at Alan Harvey’s memorial,” Moorhead said. “And it was special to be able to stand up there and just talk about how much he meant to me, and how he shaped the path of my life.”
Orchestra, band and theater teacher, Harvey taught while Moorhead was a student. He also gave her private flute lessons.
“He was very patient, very soft spoken, and very funny,” Moorhead said.
While students might be sad to part with the iconic lipstick wall, blue curtains, and orange fabric chairs, Taylor said that the new theater will have important new features—namely access for the handicapped.
“The theater is a home for the theater families that are within it,” Taylor said. “A new theater can become just as great of a holding space for people’s souls as this one did.”
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