The cast, crew, staff and volunteers that comprise SPACE – Near and Arnold’s School of Performing Arts and Cultural Education – are about to complete a milestone, the performance of the organization’s first fully-staged musical in the completely renovated theater.
“DreamWorks’ Madagascar: A Musical Adventure Jr.” is directed by Evan Gaustad and choreographed by Tracy Thieriot. Janice Hawthorne Timm is the musical director and Linda Tucker is the costume designer.
Performances take place on Jan. 20 and 27 and feature two distinct casts of 18 performers. Those familiar with the film will recognize the story of four friends, thrust into an international adventure that compels them to think beyond their familiar, safe environment – much like SPACE students, who are also exploring uncharted territory, making new friends and expanding their skills.
The show is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International, one of the world’s leading theatrical licensing agencies, according to SPACE co-founder Paulette Arnold.
Founded in 1952 by composer Frank Loesser and orchestrator Don Walker, MTI works directly with the composers, lyricists and authors to provide official scripts, musical materials and theatrical resources to over 70,000 professional, community and school theaters throughout the U.S. and in over 60 countries, focusing on an educational theater platform. Through its Broadway Junior division, MTI makes available classic musical “special editions” suitable for student performers.
Choreographer Tracy Thieriot is a Ukiah native who connected with Paulette Arnold as a contemporary dancer.
“I was out of Ukiah when the vision for SPACE was taking shape, but I remember wishing it had been here when I was a kid,” says Thieriot. She returned to Mendocino County when she met her husband Ferdinand, who was living in Yorkville.
Initially the couple lived rurally, and then decided to move to Ukiah.
“What brought us to Ukiah was having kids and wanting to be in town. We developed a great community and enjoyed walking and biking with the kids. SPACE is just four blocks away from our house. We have our little hub – the grocery store, library, parks and SPACE. SPACE is their school,” Thieriot smiles. “The arts community is so strong and has grown immensely since I returned here.”
For the Thieriots, the show has become a family affair, with children performing in “Madagascar” and Ferdinand taking on set design.
Ferdinand has been a glassblower for over 30 years. “Glassblowing was my pre-mid-life-crisis life; my pre-taking-care-of-kids life,” he smiles. Currently his work is on display at the Grace Hudson Museum’s “Mastering the Molten” exhibit.
Paulette Arnold attended the museum opening and saw Ferdinand’s work. “Ferd has a really incredible creative mind. We wanted to come up with a dramatic stage design. I wanted to let him loose with the set design and see what would happen,” says Arnold.
“I’d never built a stage set before. It’s one thing to design and imagine what I wanted to see, and another to work around everyone’s needs – lights, video and choreography. This is manifestation of improvisation in its physical form,” says Ferdinand.
“Everything up here, except for the full-sized palm trees, is made from recycled elements. We used leftover materials and paint from past shows to keep the project within a tight budget. We cut apart old stage materials and put everything together in the past couple of weeks.”
The set takes theatergoers from the New York City Zoo to Madagascar, utilizing a novel rainforest canopy that will descend from the theater’s new catwalk.
SPACE’S “Steve of All Trades,” Steve Wilson was instrumental in helping to guide the construction of the theater to incorporate elements that will provide future directors with flexibility, creative possibilities and the latest technological advancements in light and sound. “It’s theater,” became Steve’s mantra during construction.
“With theater, nothing is permanent. You have to stay flexible. Years ago, one of my instructors said, ‘You build a set out so it lasts until the last scene of the last show, and then it falls apart by itself,’” Wilson smiles.
“I asked Steve: ‘Can you put up a full canopy, and how horrible will that be for you in terms of lighting the show?’” smiles Tracy.
“When someone asks, I always try to say yes,” laughs Wilson, who has been working intensively on the construction project since 2010 – consulting on lighting, rigging, curtain hanging, building the catwalk and fabricating many of the welded elements in the new theater.
“Essentially, the seating in the theater is the same, but what we can do now with lighting, projection and sound has really changed. We now have subwoofers in here,” Wilson says.
Wilson’s handiwork can be seen by the audience and behind the scenes. He welded the dual crow’s nests on either side of the theater. He oversaw the upgraded electrical system and created the beautiful arched trusses above the audience seats.
“We wanted something to match the curvature of the ceiling. We were able to design a Native American basket motif into the trusses,” Wilson continues. The lighting trusses move up and down. “We can service them and they contain power and data circuits. It’s pretty amazing.”
This show will be the theater’s first test of all the new design elements, and Wilson is already making minor adjustments.
“As lighting designer, I’m on the lookout for great positions. We designed this space to do a lot of things, but until we had the curtains hung we didn’t know the key lighting positions. The curtains came in just before our holiday show in December, and we realized we have to move them to accommodate the cast. Just yesterday we hung a rear projection screen.”
Wilson lobbied for floor pockets which act as ports for power circuits and data ports. “Lighting has really changed over the years. Now we use LEDs and intelligent lights, with a console that tells the lights what to do,” says Wilson, who designed and built light bars for the catwalk, where one-ton-rated I-beams with trolleys enables him to fly objects and people across the stage.
“We flew in a cast member during our holiday show. We didn’t waste any time getting into that,” he laughs.
The staff are still awestruck that after two decades, their long-held dream is finally coming to fruition.
“My parents were married in this church,” says Tracy. “Working here with Laurel and Paulette feels like we are still doing work in this building that represents community, growth and transformation, on a holistic and inclusive level.”
“A few weeks ago, I sat the kids down and asked them, how many programs like SPACE do you think exist? Where? Here? In the nation? Willits has a wonderful children’s theater, but where can you find an entire entity where performances are created with children, for children? There may be three in the entire country. What we have in SPACE is a rare, rare thing,” says Tracy.
“I’ve been so impressed with Laurel and Paulette over the years. First, everything that they’ve done with kids. Then, reaching out to embrace our larger cultural community. Then, getting this facility and renovating it while keeping the programs alive – building and managing a theater, simultaneously. This is a monumental project: glass, flooring, ADA requirements, HVAC, fundraising, meetings. SPACE started out just focusing on children’s theater. Now we’re truly a community cultural hub,” says Wilson.
“Back in a previous life, I was the first manager of the Ukiah Players Theatre. We were an itinerant company that managed to build our own building. What a new, different ballgame that was. We went through a lot of growth and change during that process, but the scale of this project kind of snuck up on me,” Arnold says.
SPACE will be developing plans to make the theater available for rental in the near future.
“This campus is our biggest resource. We intend to use it as much as possible to help generate support for what goes on here. We’d love to have compatible uses: performances, music, dance, movies, teleconferences, lectures, business use. We’re just getting to the point where we’re talking about marketing,” Arnold notes.
“The Ukiah High cafetorium is the largest performance venue in our area, but as Phil Gary once said, ‘First and foremost, we’re a high school, so those programs come first.’ That same issue exists at Mendocino College. Here at SPACE, the moment this show closes down, and until we have recitals in May, the theater can be made available for other activities,” says Wilson.
“I can’t even describe what I’m feeling,” Arnold chuckles. “Children’s shows are our flagship. I hope the community will come and see this incredibly beautiful show in our incredible new theater. This is our celebration of children performing for children in our community,” Arnold concludes.
Shows will begin at 3 and 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the Mendocino Book Company, SPACE office and online. For more information, visit www.spaceperformingarts.org or phone (707) 462-9370.