Arts Academy’s Transformation Wasn’t All Play

One year after a name change and a major staff overhaul, Huntington Beach High School’s Academy for the Performing Arts is making parents and students happy again.

The 4-year-old magnet school, formerly the School for the Performing Arts, got a new staff last summer and established a partnership with the high school after its success was threatened by declines in parent support and student involvement.

“It’s been a year of transition,” said Robert Rotenberry, director of acting. “We’re very happy with the way things are set up now. We’re working on getting things off the ground and doing them well.”

The academy offers acting, dance, orchestra, vocal and technical theater classes for students in the Huntington Beach Union High School District. Students, who audition to get into the academy, attend their high schools in the morning and the academy in the afternoon.

To mark the end of a successful year, the academy through next weekend is performing “Crazy for You,” its largest musical production to date. The cast of about 40 students has been rehearsing the Broadway choreography and Ira and George Gershwin tunes since February.

This year, parents created the nonprofit Academy for the Performing Arts Foundation to raise about $3 million needed to refurbish the Huntington Beach High School auditorium. The academy is hiring three new teachers and beefing up next fall’s class offerings to accommodate increasing enrollment.

“It’s like night and day, a complete change,” said foundation President Barbara Arrigale of Fountain Valley. “There’s a lot of parent involvement and a lot of enthusiasm by the kids.”

Students said that while the changes have meant more work, the sections of the academy work together now.

“This show has brought the people in dance into the musicals, which has never happened,” said Gina Mendes, 17. “And even if you’re not cast in a show, they get everyone to help.”

Mathew Moore, 18, said the changes have improved student morale.

“The whole mood is a lot brighter,” he said.

Remaining performances of “Crazy for You” are Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The Huntington Beach High School auditorium is at 1905 Main St., Huntington Beach. Tickets are $8. Information: (714) 536-2514.