29/Dec/2009
Northwestern Middle’s Theater Redo
Is Subject of School’s New Production
By Sean Griffin
If the
walls of the theater at
Northwestern
Middle School could talk,
they would probably speak volumes. In fact, that was the topic of a play held at
the school recently that commemorated the history and renovation of Zachary’s only
public middle school.
The Northwestern Middle School Theater has been around since the school opened
in 1950. The theater used to do double duty both as an auditorium and gymnasium.
But even in its early years the gym floors would sweat and make them too
slippery to use.
The play, called “If These Walls Could Talk,” was written by the school’s drama teacher Paula Swilley. It was performed at a ribbon cutting ceremony held October 1 after a year-long remodeling effort.
The theater, an A. Hayes Towne design, was the
original auditorium and gymnasium for the
Zachary
Junior
Colored
School
that opened in 1950.
Before its
renovation, the theater had not been updated since its construction.
Swilley herself had stopped holding productions
in the theater because it was in very poor condition. “It was condemned
eventually, but before then ceiling tiles would fall from time to time. Whole
sections of the stairs were roped off because if someone walked on them they
might collapse.”
School Play
The play Swilley wrote and produced recounts the
history of the theater and the school’s past. Several of the school’s students dressed
in black and seated on bleachers near the front of the stage are the voice of
the theater telling its history.
They retrace
the theater’s role from its start as an all-black school to what it is today.
It was Vivian Anderson who came to Northwestern
Middle in 1970 as part of a crossover program to bring white teachers into
mostly black schools. She taught speech and in 1972 held the school’s first
play “Paint the Town Pink.”
In Swilley’s play, she showed that after a
little more than 20 years the theater showed signs of aging. Anderson and her
students built new flats for a play because the walls leaked during a rainy
weekend and the flats were ruined.
The newly renovated theater took three years to finish. Before then the walls
leaked, ceiling tiles would fall and portions of the upper section were at risk
to collapse under too much weight.Another former drama teacher Janelle Newman was leading a class out of the theater one day when an entire section of ceiling tiles fell. She would never hold another production in the theater. As the play progresses all of these stories are told.
Former Teacher
David Horton
taught at
Zachary
Junior
Colored
School when it opened and
saw its students through 1978. During his more than 25 years at the school
Horton taught language art, civics, history, science and French.
“I
actually had been teaching night classes but took a pay cut to start teaching
at the new school,” Horton said. “When I started I made $240 a month for ten
months out of the year. That’s $2,400 a year.”
He
remembers that when he taught there the theater already had problems. When the
weather was damp the floors became wet and slippery. “The basketball team
couldn’t play on the floor because of that.”
Horton was
present at the time of the schools integration in 1970. “When we integrated
many thought it wouldn’t work but there were little to no interruptions for us.
I gained a lot of respect for the white parents and students during that time.
We got along well.”
One Band Concert
Carla
Murray came to the school to teach band and choir in the late ‘90s. For one
concert she roped off an entire section that she feared would collapse if
people stood on it. As she came out to direct the band she saw that there was
standing room only and the entire upper section was full of people.
As
Swilley’s play goes,
Murray
was so worried about the section collapsing that it was “the fastest concert
she ever conducted.” She also wouldn’t return to the theater for several years.
When Swilley came to Northwestern Middle she worked to renovate the drama room next to the theater. She used this for performances for several years. She and others campaigned for a full renovation of the theater. Meanwhile, larger performances for the school were held in the school’s gymnasium.
Eventually
the school put up some of the money in its budget to remove asbestos, the
remaining ceiling tiles, new seats on the lower level were bought and a few
other changes were made which allowed Swilley to perform a play in 2006.
Zachary
Schools soon decided a major renovation
was needed and after three years of construction the art annex was complete.
“East
Baton Rouge Schools wouldn’t give us the funding to renovate the theater
unfortunately,” Swilley said. “When Zachary formed its own school system,
Zachary
Schools helped us get the money needed for
a full renovation.”
The newly
renovated theater includes a new lobby in the front, a full renovation to the
structure of the building, a remodel of the back scene shop, the art room was
enlarged, classrooms were added and the choral room had orchestral shells
installed.
The
theater has been around since before there was a Northwestern Middle, and while
it wasn’t always in working order, the school has seen many graduates and
school plays grace its stage.
And a dedicated teacher saw fit to give voice to
the old theater when the citizens of Zachary returned following its remodeling
and updating.
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