By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
The new West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South theater opened to a full house Monday night during grand opening celebrations.
The construction of the new theater is part of a nearly $19 million renovation project for arts and athletic facilities at the high school, built in 1973.
The artistic talents of the school’s students took center stage for the opening. Theater, instrumental and vocal performances were held in the new theater, while culinary students provided after-performance treats for the audience.
The visual arts were not slighted — the hallway outside the theater was decorated with paintings and crafts by student artists.
Principal Charles Rudnick thanked students and teachers for “enduring construction noise and dust” since ground was broken on the project 13 months ago.
In addition to the theater, the project included five new closed classrooms, renovations to music and performing-arts classrooms, a gymnasium, an outdoor pool enclosure, renovations to locker rooms and coaches’ offices, and expansion and renovation of parking lots. Handicap accessibility features were also modernized.
Completion of the arts suite and the gymnasium isn’t expected for another month, Mr. Rudnick said.
By the time ceremonies on Monday began with a performance by the marching band, it was standing room only for an audience of school administrators, past and present school board members, local officials, and proud parents.
Mr. Rudnick thanked the community for passing the referendum that approved the financing for the construction. The project was a part of a $27.5 million referendum for facilities renovations and upgrades approved by voters in early 2006.
”An excellent theater, such as this, does not just appear,” he said. “It takes a great deal of foresight, hard work, planning, and commitment by many individuals to make dreams such as this a reality.”
School Board President Hamant Marathe called the theater a “beautiful place.”
”A lot of people put in a lot of hours and years to make this possible,” he said.
As part of the event, the combined concert bands performed a new orchestral piece, composed by math teacher Charlie Ashton, to honor the new theater.
The piece was marked by a resounding shout of its title, “Here Come the Pirates,” from both the musicians and the audience.
The audience was also treated to a scene from the fall student drama, “Don’t Drink the Water,” by Woody Allen, which will be performed tonight and tomorrow night.
The Marimba Quartet played two Bach numbers, and the combined choir and orchestras performed “America the Beautiful” and another song by Mr. Ashton to wrap up the evening.

