RUN IT FROM THE TOP

Lydia Wilde and Myiah Wagner rehearse a scene from “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon!” in Southland’s auditorium, which was part of the school’s recent expansion.

Photos by Eric johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com

“The community really has supported drama. Yes, we put on great productions, but the people came. They will come and through the years when they started catching on to one-act performances, we could easily have 100 people coming.”

Madlain Vander

Southland drama director Madlain Vander talks to her one-act play group before a rehearsal.

Southland drama department gets boost with new auditorium

By Eric Johnson

It’s a little after 5:30 p.m. on a weekday night in January and it’s crunch time for the Southland one-act play crew.

Not only are they nearing the Sub-Section 1A one-act play competition, but they were also trying to prepare for two home shows for parents, classmates and friends.

On top of that, the COVID-19 pandemic is prodding them the entire way. A new mask policy was instituted by the Southland Public School system and they were dealing with coronavirus exposure within their own ranks. On this night they are missing a few key players as they hope to lock down the final areas that need work.

Director Madlain Vander is going through notes that include not only play mechanics they want to work on, but other details outside of the play itself.

However, there is a sense of joy underpinning the rehearsals that take place in the Southland Auditorium, not only with the play and drama productions, but band and choir as well, and that’s due to the auditorium’s new look, part of the massive Southland remodel and addition that was wrapped up in 2020.

Among the many things the remodel and addition did was completely revamp the auditorium to produce an authentic performance space for drama, band and choir. In particular it’s been at the center of a drama renaissance at the school.

It’s come a long way from those early days when Vander took over, and she remembers one particular night when her daughter came to watch a rehearsal.

“I remember her sitting there and she said, ‘Mom, what is this?’” Vander said. “The stage lights were so dim you felt like you were in a fog.”

The way the lighting was originally set up, the audience really couldn’t see a lot of what had been going on. The electrical set-up in place at the time couldn’t support too many lights on at any one time. If they did leave them on, the crew would find themselves replacing fuses.

“Throughout production we figured out how many we can use at a time,” Vander said. “If you dimmed them enough, you wouldn’t have to run and reset the fuse.”

It got to a point where Vander and the crew brought in garage lights and taped them to the edge of the balcony with duct tape.

During any one production, extension cords could be found winding throughout the auditorium. Even the sound system was fatigued by the current electrical.

Aside from the technical challenges, there were scheduling challenges. A number of groups made use of the space including drama, choir, band, wrestling and dance.

It was clear that the space needed an upgrade, but that wouldn’t come until addition and remodel work in 2019 and into 2020. Even then it required the help of the community. But it was a hand many were more than willing to extend.

Initially, when the referendum for the work was passed, voters gave the okay to much of the proposed work, but in the end the auditorium was one of the things that needed to be taken out.

However, United Farmers State Bank stepped up and donated additional funds to finalize some of the items, and that included the auditorium.

The bank donated $100,000. To that was added another $150,000 gift.

“This would provide nice renovations to the auditorium,” superintendent Jeff Sampson said in May of 2019. “Right now, the district has the initial $100,000 grant, plus some additional dollars that have been donated. We will be accepting donations through Dec. 1 of this year when design work will take place for the renovation of that area. I feel really great about the bank’s donation. What wonderful support for the district.”

The total estimate came out to be $630,000. Together with the bank’s donations and a community fund drive, the district was able to add the auditorium project back to the wish list.

“The community really has supported drama,” Vander said. “Yes, we put on great productions, but the people came. They will come and through the years when they started catching on to one-act performances, we could easily have a 100 people coming.” During work, focus turned to what needed to be improved. Lighting and sound, along with electrical, came to the forefront and those behind the scenes knew what they needed.

“I put in a long, two-page thing of what they should go to,” said Tom Flaherty, long-time resident of Adams and a player himself, having acted in a number of local productions as well as doing theater with the United States Army when he was enlisted. “Basically I said, we can go with incandescents, but you are going to have to put in new wiring. They did put in some new wiring but in the long run, they put in LEDs. They’re more expensive, but they don’t use as much power.”

It was also a chance to give the students a sense of ownership.

“One, something that was their own pretty much,” Flaherty said. “Because this was a gym floor. We had no lighting to speak of.” However, the drama club would have to wait a bit to use the new and improved space, because it’s here we have to bring the COVID-19 pandemic into the story. Work was finished in 2020, but there wouldn’t be a play performed there until September of 2021, because the school, along with other schools, had gone to distance learning toward the end of 2020. “It was very anticlimactic,” Vander said when remembering back to when the space was done. But when that first play was performed it was a game-changer. “I loved it,” Flaherty said. “‘Matilda was the first show we were able to show off the lightThe stage allows for more room and better lighting for drama productions. ing and I went overboard.” Southland drama has now seen some results of the department’s growth. In January it captured the Sub-Section 1A one-act play championship when they presented the incredibly witty production of “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon!” It’s been able to reach into the community and it’s paid dividends for the players. “I’m hoping next year we can take over our conference,” Vander said. “Let’s do it here. We become leaders in the section. We are raising the performance level of our kids and I’m seeing that.” P