Photography by Matthew McFarland
Not only did students at Wydown Middle School get a new theater that any professional actor would love, it’s also housed in a new 120,000-square-foot school—and they got a say on the finishes. “The student-government body helped pick the color palette,” says Traci O’Bryan, president of architecture-and-design firm Arcturis, which oversaw the two-year rebuild and expansion. “We split them up in groups, and they all pulled different color palettes together, then we helped them tweak it.”
The theater seats nearly 500 and is equipped with everything needed to simulate a professional theater experience. There’s an elevated tech/sound booth with 3-D video projection capabilities, a 50-foot-high fly loft that allows sets to slide into place vertically, and curved wood acoustic panels on the ceiling to regulate sound. The space is also equipped with lighting booms, and it sits adjacent to the engineering classroom, where sets can be built and easily moved onstage. Behind the stage is the drama classroom, replete with lighted mirrors where the actors can do their makeup. “It acts as the green room,” says O’Bryan. “It emulates the experience of being in a big theater, the backstage areas.”
In the shot above, you can see a student-built set for the first production, a play by New York teacher and playwright Christopher Burruto. The title: Much Ado About Middle School.
6500 Wydown
Clayton
314-854-6400
