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At first glance, it looks like a room attacked by graffiti artists. It's dimly lit and hard to access. But a closer look reveals a "rite of passage" and more than 20 years of history and special meaning to the hundreds of Los Gatos High School theater students who have graduated from the school. The fly space—a room located high above the stage in the Prentiss Brown Auditorium—bears the performance names and signatures of the novice actors and actresses, stage managers, musicians and crew behind the spring musicals and many fall plays performed at the school.
"That area up there is really special to us," said senior Brandon Silberstein, who is off to Stanford University in the fall. "It's always been a tradition for the students to go up after the last night of a show and leave your mark. It's actually kind of beautiful. It may look like graffiti, but it is part of the theater."
Rituals like this are embedded in the school's theater program, Brandon said. The students play music by Queen and Green Day before and after shows. They love throwing around Frisbees, dining at familiar joints in Los Gatos and taking part in the "Boxer Rebellion," where on the opening night of a musical the guys run down to a local pizza place and do the cancan dance in their boxers.
"You have to be in the theater to know," Brandon said.
On the closing night of a show, the young thespians sneak up into the fly space to write their name, a message and the play in which they took part. Their names are sprayed, painted and dramatically scrawled in permanent markers in all shapes, sizes, colors and fonts, adding to the names that have come before them.
Many of those students have gone on to study, work and perform in the world of theater. For example, Los Gatos High graduate Remy Timbrook attends Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Ore., known for its theater department, and alumnus Josh Rauh was nominated for a Tony award in the short subject category. Even Saratoga High School students, who have used the Los Gatos High stage over the years, have contributed to the custom with their own corner of signatures.
"This is a cherished, insider secret," said Diana Pleasant, Los Gatos High performing arts department chairwoman and choral director. "The kids could have come up here and graffitied obscenities, but they wanted to leave their history."
The annual activity is not something the students are allowed to do, according to Pleasant, because of the height and danger involved in climbing the narrow, metal-rung ladder into the fly space. Pleasant said she's aware of the closing-night tradition, but has simply turned her back. She can't admit or condone the behavior because it would mean she'd have to stop it from occurring.
"We have a wonderful tech crew that provides ample distractions," Brandon said. "Somehow we manage to get up there without [Pleasant] noticing, or maybe she's nice enough not to notice."
In the 1960s, Pleasant said a false ceiling was put up—covering the fly space. Now, the large and noisy room is home to a heating and air conditioning system. In a full fly space, Pleasant explained there should be as much room above the stage as below it, so that sets, scenery and technical effects can be completely concealed. She said it gives a cast many options when producing a play.
"It wasn't taken into consideration that the fly system is an integral part of the theater," Pleasant said.
And that's why in what has become known as the Theatre Improvement Project, or TIP, the fly space will return to the theater. But with a new fly space, the old one will be destroyed. Pleasant is seeking ideas to help preserve the signatures in the fly space as well as to achieve the financial assistance necessary to finish the TIP.
Phase one of the renovation effort, which has finally been funded thanks to many generous donations from individuals, families, alumni, local businesses and organizations, includes the new fly space, main drape, sunken orchestra pit, seating for 476, counterweight pit area, security, wiring, handicap access, loading dock and new paint job on all interior surfaces.
The TIP's phase two will include new lighting, rigging, a sound system, ticketing system, stage curtains to replace outdated ones that have gaping holes, an orchestra pit cover and a video and intercom system. But Pleasant said they are still $450,000 short of these goals.
When students like graduating senior Laney Chinn learned that the old fly space would be coming down, she came to Pleasant in tears. The students have pleaded with their teacher to find a way to save the graffiti they have come to love. Pleasant said it's not likely they will be able to salvage the wood paneling that makes up the floor of the fly space, but she's hoping professional photographs can be taken of the room and sold as heritage prints. Other suggestions include taking pictures of the room and having them morphed into a mural-like collage that can be used as a backdrop for concerts.
Graduating senior Becky Chappell pegged it accurately with her message in the fly space: "The last year of this theater, but never the end."
For more information about the TIP, to assist in the fly space preservation project or to contribute financially to phase two, Diana Pleasant can be reached at 408.354.2730, ext. 240, or at dpleasant@lghs.net.
A list of some of the past plays' names visible on the walls of the fly space:
1993—Fiddler on the Roof
1994—Guys and Dolls
1995—West Side Story
1996—Funny Girl
1997—Oliver
1998—Fame
1999—Into the Woods
2000—How to Succeed in Business
2001—Candide
2002—Footloose
2003—Carousel
2004—Kiss Me, Kate
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Photograph by George Sakkestad