|
We are a
not-for-profit, self-supported community theater and do not
receive funds or financial aid from the City of
Huntington Beach or other public agencies. Since its inception, HBPH
has been guided by an active, working Board of Directors
comprised of individuals who believe in the joy of theater and
the value it brings to a community. |
|
HOW IT ALL BEGAN |
|
It
all started in 1962-63, when a Citizen's
Advisory Committee was organized to assist the mayor with
planning for growth in
Huntington Beach, which then was known as the "fastest growing
city in Orange County." A cultural committee was organized and
community theater was discussed as something for the future,
after other more urgent problems were
solved. But one of the committee members, Helen Susman, was anxious to get going and she invited
anyone
interested in forming a community theater group to meet at her
home on February 28, 1963. Nine people
showed up and on that evening Huntington Beach
Playhouse received its name, its officers, its projects, and
its tomorrows. The first General Membership Meeting was
held on March 11, 1963 at which time the group grew to 24
members. It was decided that the first play to be performed
would be the Mary Chase comedy, "Harvey". To raise funds for
royalties and facility rental, Francis Merriman,
the Treasurer, hosted a benefit luncheon and
fashion show at the country club. With the profits from the
luncheon and loans from several board members, "Harvey" was
produced and performed on June 27, 28 & 29, 1963 in the
Music Room of the Huntington Beach High School. |
|
The next play was George
Kelly's famous character study, "The Show Off", performed
during September/October 1963 in the Music Room of the
Huntington Marina High School. Following that was "Roman
Candle" which was performed on January 10, 11, 17 & 18,
1964 at still another location, the Memorial Hall in downtown
Huntington Beach. A great success followed in April/May
1964 with the Ayn Rand courtroom play, "Night Of January 16th."
The appropriate location was the Municipal Court and the play
ran 4 weekends. It soon became apparent that a real home was
needed for the Huntington Beach Playhouse. The various school
and community officials had been gracious, but only one
rehearsal could be permitted, and all sets had to be struck
following the Saturday night performance and returned the
following weekend for the next performance. |
|
ON THE MOVE |
|
It
wasn't long before the General Manager of the Huntington Beach
Company, Mr. Edmund Hartsook, offered HBPH the use of "the
barn" on Main Street, with lots of parking
space and great potential. A community
landmark, it was just what the name implied: an old barn
complete with a white owl and families of pigeons perched in
the rafters gazing down on the humans huddling in
blankets for board meetings and rehearsals. "Stalag 17" was
the first
production and every playhouse member worked to convert
the barn into a thrust stage theater with risers on three sides. By
opening night, July 24, 1964, the essentials were there;
seats, painted walls, dressing areas and primitive
lighting. The barn's interior ruggedness offered a good atmosphere for
the show's prison camp setting. There was one necessity
that was really primitive; a portable chemical "Johnny"
was set up down the hill. But, the public came, saw,
and was completely conquered; community theater had
"arrived" in Huntington Beach! Performances continued in the
barn until 1976 when it was lost to redevelopment and the jaws of
a bulldozer. Between 1976-78, HBPH performed dinner theater shows at the
Hyatt Hotel on Pacific Coast Highway in Seal Beach. That presented quite a challenge as we
again faced the problem of having to strike the sets after every Saturday evening
performance, as well as getting audiences to come out to this new
location. |
|
In 1978, we relocated to the Seacliff Shopping
Center, across the street from where the old barn had stood, and we
renovated a storefront building. HBPH opened its doors again with a cute little
comedy/farce, "Boeing, Boeing", directed by Phil de
Barros. This location, too, had its interesting moments, such
as leaking pipes directly over the stage area during
performance. Shared restroom facilities were a few hundred yards down the mall from the theater,
but in spite of the inconveniences, audiences seemed to enjoy themselves. As
progress would have, in 1986 we had to vacate the Seacliff
location and look for another home.
With the help of many dedicated volunteers, Board
members and friends, we were able to secure the then vacant Gisler School,
which we maintained until 1993. Due to spiraling maintenance
needs and vandalism in the vacant school, it was soon
apparent that another
location was needed again.
|
|
A HOME AT LAST? PERHAPS... |
|
In the early '90s,
after many meetings and lots of negotiation, we were able to
persuade the City of Huntington Beach to include a theater in
the new Huntington Beach Central
Library. And we worked out a long-term agreement (20 years) with
the City to rent that location for our theatrical performances. In 1994, we opened our season with Neil
Simon's, "Rumors" in the new Central Library Theater. The show was
an instant success and was voted the Patron's Choice for 1994! Since
that time, we have continued to use the Central
Park Library Theater for our main stage productions, and for
many years used the outdoor Central Park amphitheater
for Shakespeare in the Park
productions. |
|
The past few years have been
especially challenging ones. Every dollar raised
has gone to support our regular season performances and we
have had to suspend
our "Shakespeare in the Park" series, "Bobbi" Awards, and Theatre Arts
Scholarships to reduce expenses. As has happened throughout our
history, we again find ourselves in search of a suitable and affordable location
to call our home. Although we have been located at the Central
Library Theatre since it opened in 1994 (in fact, we played an important role in
getting the theatre designed and built), the cost to rent this facility from the
City has risen annually. |
|
In February
2007, the Huntington Beach City Council voted unanimously to
accept a proposal from HBPH for reduced payment. This means that
HBPH will be allowed to continue performing at the Huntington
Beach Central Library Theatre for at least the next three years.
Payments from HBPH to the City will continue to be quite
substantial - around $60,000 per year - however this is a huge
improvement over the nearly $100,000 we paid in 2006. |
|
