Final curtain falls on school theater

More than 30 students in grades three through five took to the stage of the Park Street Auditorium on Thursday for a dramatic interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes", and when they took their bows, they bid farewell the building's long history of involvement in the performing arts.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100329/NEWS02/3290365/1003/              # # # # Final curtain falls on school theater  •  Rutland Herald  •  By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: March 29, 2010  •  SPRINGFIELD — It was the final curtain call for theater at Park Street School.  •  More than 30 students in grades three through five took to the stage of the Park Street Auditorium on Thursday for a dramatic interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes", and when they took their bows, they bid farewell the building's long history of involvement in the performing arts.  •  "Theater has always been a huge part of Park Street School history," said director and fourth-grade teacher Alyson Bull, who, since January, has mobilized a small army of third-, fourth- and fifth-graders to learn their lines and design backdrops for the stage.  •  Park Street School will close at the end of this school year, after a vote in 2008 to consolidate the town's elementary schools and when walking around backstage before the performance, it's clear the auditorium has housed countless crowds through the year.  •  In a tradition dating back to before anyone can remember, casts have written or painted the names and years of past productions, such as "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" from 1982, "Winnie the Pooh" from 1976 and "Cinderella" from 1975. Also scrawled on the wall is evidence from the time Park Street was a high school, "The Miracle Worker" from 1967.  •  Bull's class is working on an oral history of Park Street and has interviewed about 40 people, many of whom recounted attending performances in the auditorium.  •  "So many people remember coming here for shows, and not just school productions, but the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and traveling dance shows," Bull said.  • Fifth-grade teacher Dennis Hagen, who has taught at Park Street School since it reopened in 1969 as an elementary school and is retiring at the end of the year, said music and drama have been at the core of the school.  •  "We've always tried to keep a performing arts program through the years and, with the Okemo grants, we've been able to keep the kids active in the arts," Hagen said. "Also, our band program starts in the fifth grade so they're involved by the time they get to the middle school. It's been a really strong motivator for kids in this town."  •  While the curtain has fallen on theater at Park Street, teachers hope to keep the arts alive as students move to Elm Hill and Union Street schools.  •  "We hope to keep drama alive as we move to the new schools, because it's really important for these kids," Bull said.  •