What do David Letterman, the Audubon Society, Alan Harvey Theater, feathers, beaks, and tweets all have in common? Piedmont High School’s Leonard J. Waxdeck Bird Calling Contest.
Due to the demolition of the Alan Harvey Theater, this year’s Bird Calling Contest will be a lunch-time performance, according to an email sent out to the PHS and MHS communities by assistant principal Irma Muñoz.
“Perhaps it’s not going to be the grandiose show that it’s been in past years, but I’d like to have some activities around bird calling, so that when the theaters open, people haven’t forgotten that this is part of what we do,” Muñoz said.
Muñoz and teacher librarian Kathryn Levenson led two meetings in January to plan this year’s contest, Muñoz said. So far, there are two groups interested in competing.
“We have several kids interested in the production but not the performing,” Muñoz said.
Without the Alan Harvey Theater, the Bird Calling Contest also needs a new venue. The only space that could fit the entire school is the gym, but Muñoz said they are still searching for a location.
“I don’t know that the gym lends itself well to this type of performance,” Muñoz said. “I want this show to still have some integrity and the acoustics in the [gym] aren’t good even for rallies.”
Mathematics teacher Amy Dunn-Ruiz graduated from PHS with the class of ‘91 at a time when the show consistently sold out each year.
“There was a lot of hubbub around it with big party afterward with champagne and strawberries at a beautiful big house,” Dunn-Ruiz said. “It was something that people always looked forward to and was hard to get a ticket to.” Levenson said she hopes to revive the show once the new theater is finished.
“We can bring it in as a gala reopening and have the bird calling show be bigger and better,” Levenson said
Levenson said the contest is evolving.
“When it was on [The Late Show with David] Letterman, people just wore dresses and sat on the show,” Levenson said. “[Recently], it’s been trending more towards being performance art [with] more and more wild costumes and props.”
Levenson said it is ultimately up to the students to continue the show in the future.
“Some things die out over time, and there are probably reasons for that. There are probably reasons why there aren’t the social clubs that used to be here,” Levenson said. “But [the contest] is a really fun, quirky tradition, so I personally would like to see it keep going.”
Both Levenson and Muñoz heard about the Bird Calling Contest before they began working at PHS.
“It was one of the few things I knew about Piedmont High School,” Levenson said. “I think all schools have some kind of quirky tradition associated with them, and that in itself is something cool to celebrate and try to keep going.”
Muñoz said the contest is representative of the Piedmont community.
“Even this year, we were one of the top schools from U.S. Newsweek, and the editor from U.S. Newsweek emailed me asking about the show,” Muñoz said.
The contest is part of what makes Piedmont unique, Muñoz said.
“I believe strongly in tradition, and I believe strongly in identity,” Muñoz said. “I think this is a piece of that.”
