At ARHS, performance arts take a bow

By Mary Carey
Staff Writer

Published on October 10, 2008

"Critical mass" is the phrase theater teacher and performing arts department chairman John Bechtold finds himself using to describe the state of the arts at Amherst Regional High School.

Bechtold and student volunteers recently put the finishing touches on a new black box theater across from the auditorium and down the hall from the new dance studio. The entire corridor now consists of rehearsal and performance spaces, leading Principal Mark Jackson to dub it "the performing arts wing."

ARHS is not primarily a performing arts school, of course, but Bechtold and company aspire to offer electives that compete with the kinds of offerings available to students at the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School in South Hadley.

"That we can do it under the umbrella of an academic force like Amherst Regional High School is the icing on the cake," Bechtold said. "It makes a really strong case to kids to stay in the district."

More students are signing up for dance, theater and music classes, and more are being offered. "As a department, we feel very energized. We feel we have the capacity to do a lot now," Bechtold said.

To mark the moment, the department will host a performing arts gala Friday, Oct. 10, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. "We've just hit this peak, and the gala is a way of symbolically capturing a snapshot of where we are right now," Bechtold said.

Brian Messier, director of bands for grades 7 through 12, sees the department's current strength as a counterweight to the widespread anxiety people are feeling in economically troubling times. Among Messier's ambitious plans is the commissioning of a composer to write a suite of original pieces based on Emily Dickinson poems. The wind ensemble is selling calendars featuring student performing groups to raise money for the project. "It's a shining high in the performing arts department now," Messier said. "We're hoping to embrace it ourselves and give others the opportunity to flock around it as a kind of beacon of what the schools are and can continue to be."

Friday's event, which is free and open to the public, begins with a casual meet-and-greet, followed by a formal introduction by Jackson in the auditorium. Following will be a series of 15-minute theater, dance, vocal and instrumental performances.

The performances take place concurrently in the auditorium, black box theater and instrumental room, allowing audience members to sample several of them. Student paintings and other artwork will hang on the walls. David Ranen, former chairman of the performing arts department, will present a history of the program in another room.

Students enthusiastic

Students say the Amherst schools have a reputation for being arts-oriented.

Sophomore Darius Peyton, for one, has been acting in school plays since fourth grade. "At Crocker Farm it was almost like a requirement," he said. "You wanted to do it because all your friends were doing it."

Then he took "World of Dancing" with Tracy Vernon in high school and "dancing really kind of took over."

Bechtold named several students who have graduated in recent years who have gone to conservatories or fine arts colleges. In the coming weeks he plans to go to Philadelphia to see Libby Woodbridge, one of them, in her professional debut in the play "Rock 'n' Roll," by Tom Stoppard.

Katie Spurgin, a sophomore, sings and plays the piano and guitar, and last year she had one line in "Aida," the musical extravaganza with a 123-member cast. "I made so many friends, and the older kids were so nice," she said. "It was one of the best experiences ever."

Mary Carey can be reached at mary.carey@att.net.