AUDITORIUM'S UPGRADE ONLY JUST BEGINNING.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

NEWHALL - The letters ``D'' and ``T'' are the only ones still three- dimensional on the front of the building, but shadows of the other letters in the word ``Auditorium'' can be seen by visitors to Newhall Elementary School.

Even though its stage has stood silent for the last 28 years, the building itself is in pretty good shape after more than 60 years service to the community.

The Theatre Arts for Children Foundation is making slow and steady progress in the restoration of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration building. The old auditorium was converted into storage space in 1975, so it couldn't be counted as classroom space at Newhall and thus qualify the Newhall School District for funding to build Valencia Valley Elementary School.

Then after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, a routine safety check proved that the concrete building withstood the 6.7 temblor with little damage. Once inside, a group of parents decided that the Art Deco-style building should return to its roots as a performance space. Founding Theatre Arts for Children and receiving nonprofit status in 1996, the group began work on a master plan to move out the crates and boxes and bring in the dancers and dramatists.

In 2001, the Newhall school board bought a building from Southern California Gas Co. for storage, and the clutter disappeared, freeing the group to start restoration efforts.

On Nov. 17, it will celebrate the completion of Phase 1 of the master plan with ``One Timeless Night,'' an evening of dessert and coffee, music and stories. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. and admission is free.

``What we're doing is a celebration of where we started, where we are now and where we want to go,'' said Sue Neiberger, Theatre Arts for Children president. ``We'll be giving hard-hat tours of the annex and the film vault, showing off the old-time architecture and the blueprints. We're making baby steps in our progress. In the last year, we've completed the seismic retrofitting and put on a new roof and got an occupancy permit.''

The master plan for the complex includes seating for 450 on the ground floor and adding a balcony with about 175 more seats.

The annex, a smaller building just north which was originally built to provide additional storage for the school, is the more active of the two buildings. A large work area at ground level is currently split into two areas: a set design and construction area used by College of the Canyons for its stage classes and a set storage area used by the Santa Clarita Repertory Theatre. A small classroom provides space for improvisation workshops and rehearsals, and a loft above the classroom is the workshop of Jim Sudik and Paco Vela, two actors who adopted the Newhall facility and have donated their skills and talents to build scenery and the group's cultural arts programs.

``We have two goals: to renovate the building and get it back to the community and to offer theater and dramatic opportunities,'' Neiberger said.

Cindy Marcus, who runs the Showdown Stage Company with her husband, Flip Kobler, are producing the entertainment for ``One Timeless Night.'' The couple, along with screenwriter Dennis Poore, have written the script for the trilogy of past, present and future. They have collected stories from Newhall Elementary School alumni, which were woven into the trilogy.

``It will be much like 'Spoon River Anthology' where we tell the story of the building using professional actors,'' she said. ``There will be monologues for past, the present will be vignettes and the future will be a New Works presentation of our musical, 'Wild Dust.'''

Vignettes will feature stories of first love, the efforts of one student to save a tree in front of the building and the various social changes seen by the auditorium's inhabitants through the years.

Tours of the facility will include a peek at the old-fashioned box office, the projection booth and film storage facility allegedly used by silent cowboy star William S. Hart to store his movies. Visitors will be able to see what steps are next in the process of beautifying and making the historic resource functional.

What might be most apparent is the absence of permanent seating, drapery and stage equipment, such as lights and microphones and the boards to run them. The children's theater group will present opportunities for the community to make financial contributions, but board member and city arts coordinator Phil Lantis said that the evening's focus is on entertaining and educating the community.

``Once the community knows more about our project, they will get excited,'' he said. ``Our board is very patient. We know it doesn't have to be a Taj Mahal tomorrow. Everything we've done was done because someone knew somebody else who could help or had a resource. We just want everyone to know where we are and where we're going.''

For further, call Sue Neiberger at [phone].

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Phil Lantis of Theater Arts for Children tours the Newhall Elementary School Auditorium, renovations of which have begun.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer