As we look to the future on how the spring 2021 semester looks, we are excited and hopeful that all of our favorite extracurricular activities will return in full force. For sports, we can see the return of our now one-year-old remodeled stadium in use, which after more than 15 months of development (with the exclusion of the bathrooms and snack bar) was completed. The new stadium symbolized a bright and strong future for Bella Vista sports, and will be for years to come. But as we move on from the stadium project, some students on campus may wonder:
What’s next?
I present to you, the arts program at Bella Vista High School. High Schools in the San Juan Unified School District aren’t specifically known for their arts and theatre programs, with arguably the exception, of Bella Vista High School. Bella Vista is home to dozens of talented performers, singers, technicians, and more. Just recently, Bella Vista Theatre’s Fall 2019 production of The Diary of Anne Frank earned a total of 6 nominations at the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance (SARTA) 2020 Elly Awards, including Best Overall Production for an Education Play Production. While award nominations don't determine whether or not a group deserves funds, it certainly doesn’t hurt. Bella Vista Theatre also has attended the San Juan Theatre Arts Festival in the past, and has received many awards for BV students’ performances. It’s no secret that there’s serious talent enrolled at our school, so is now the time where Bella Vista’s arts receive more funding?
Well, yes.
With the future of sports at BV looking very bright, I think it’s time we take multiple efforts to bring funding and more connections into Bella Vista Theatre. I think that BV’s arts programs and BV as a whole could benefit greatly from a new, bright presence for the Sacramento education theatre community.
Earlier this year in February, I was a freshman at Bella Vista working in the tech crew for our Spring 2020 production of Mamma Mia. One Saturday, during a work day rehearsal, a professional electrician came to examine our technology and wires. My friend Jack and I were curious about what kind of tools were at our disposal, both coming from backgrounds of working in professional theatre. We followed the electrician around, along with our lighting operator and sound operator, and talked about the things we can do with our lights. What followed was a series of light, but still very important, technical do-nots and possible hazards brought to our attention. It can be described as a moment where you laugh something off for a second, you stop laughing, your eyes widen and you realize the issue.
It’s times like those, along with slight envy with other local High School theatres, that I wonder how we could improve Bella Vista Theatre. I personally have a few ideas, but I don’t want to necessarily speak for the entire BV Theatre community. I want to speak as the voice of the future of BV Theatre, and as an optimist for our community's future. Before covering the topic of funding, I think a great start is getting more involved with the local theatre community. One of the biggest High School theatre festivals in the area is the Lenaea High School Theatre Festival, an educational event where students come from all over the region to participate in theatre workshops, and perform pieces with feedback from professionals. I think that BV Theatre would be a wonderful and well-deserved addition to the schools that have participated in the past. Now, when it comes to BV budgeting, I’m not an expert about high school budgeting, and what it takes to transfer funds. However, I think another step is to increase funding for BV Theatre. I think that being able to confidently purchase things for theatre productions will boost a lot of projects to make them even higher quality. These technical upgrades can also benefit other groups and activities at BV, like when Bella Vista’s band performs onstage, or being able to use some sound equipment at large events like rallies. This new funding could also be used for resource budgeting all around, giving access to more costume materials, set piece materials, and more. Thinking on a very bigger scale, and I mean much bigger, I think that eventually, Bella Vista should construct a brand new performing arts center. This would be a giant project, and obviously would undergo a lengthy development, but I think that this would be one of the best additions to Bella Vista’s campus, and would provide so many opportunities for so many communities at BV. This is definitely just a dream in this state, and it probably wouldn’t happen any time soon. However, I think that if any new additions are made to our campus, it’d be a performing arts center for all of Bella Vista to use.
The next question would be to ask, should we defund sports to promote the arts at BV in the 2021 semester? While I’m obviously not against BV Athletics or anything close to that, with the rushed schedule of some of these sports seasons, and with the possibility of new unused funds, those funds should be directed to any new projects BV Theatre decides to start. Considering that BV’s spring production of Mamma Mia was canceled right before beginning its final rehearsals, I wouldn’t be surprised if given the right health conditions, they’d want to begin a new production as soon as they can. I hope that with the amount of resources BV Sports have been able to receive over the years, as well as the remodeled track and field can give BV sports their boost for the future. But for now, BV Theatre and the BV Arts should be shown the attention and funding they deserve.
Bella Vista High School has such a large diversity when it comes to extracurriculars, and the way to get the most out of all those extracurriculars is being able to make sure the students have access to the best resources so they can succeed. With a fresh start nearby with the 2021 semester, it would be a perfect opportunity to finally give BV Theatre its well-deserved spotlight.