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By Aaron Halls
Upon entering the performing arts center at Lisbon High School, your mind may experience a slight feeling of disorientation. Although now used for artistic purposes, there is a sense of conflict within the space, as many elements harken back to its days as a shared athletic gymnasium pre-2015.
Out past the big red curtains of the stage, at the audience’s feet, are the remains of a former basketball court.
Its tan surface is marked and weathered after decades of foot stomping from student games, dances and activities. At the center’s sides sit clusters of previously used gym mementos, including an old scoreboard. Toward its back stands, an ever-present wall of filing cabinets as well as multicolored school chairs are transported onto the court for performances in lieu of more permanent seating.
On a September evening this is where the Lisbon Performing Arts Center Initiative conducts its scheduled monthly meeting. According to president Angela Shambarger, the Lisbon PACI first met this past June with an assemblage of parents, teachers, the facilities director from the district, and community members; here they discussed the future of the performing arts center.
“[We were] just coming together to talk about a shared desire to make that space better,” Shambarger said. “It desperately needs an update to be more conducive for performances, music, and drama. We have a huge community of both child and adults dancers who would love to be able to use that space as well.”
Shambarger sees part of the goal as twofold. The first is to help provide performing arts center-related planning feedback to Scott Simons Architects firm — designers of the current Lisbon High School gymnasium — as well as to the school district. The second is to try to come up with funding for the performing arts center so the town doesn’t have to rely on the taxpayers and a bond, if avoidable.
As far as possible sources of funding, Shambarger said these could include grants and benefit experiences such as concerts or performances, where fees would go towards the cost of the space.
“Part of what we’re waiting for is a development plan from the architects so we can show what it could look like and what our goal is,” Shambarger said. “It’s easier to tell your story and sell a product to either a philanthropy group or private donors.”
Jonathan Carsley is the vice president of Lisbon PACI; he serves as music director at Lisbon High School and teaches 4-5 grade music at Lisbon Community School while serving as its band director. He currently uses the performing arts center for the high school’s winter concert, but for all the other concerts, he uses the gymnasium facilities.
“When we do a district night for music there’s so many kids that we can’t fit in the performing arts center and, of course, the audience, too,” Carsley said. “The limitation right now is the size of the stage. To accommodate three different bands, four different string ensembles and three different choirs we would be doing set changes constantly.”
To avoid this limitation of the stage, Carsley said they take advantage of the length of the gymnasium and set up all the music ensembles in a row; here there are no set changes, and one group can play after another. In going about this process, however, the students and their performances are put at an unfortunate disadvantage because the space does not having quality acoustics.
Jennifer Fox teaches art and is the drama coach at Lisbon High School; though not officially a part of the Lisbon PACI, she has attended meetings to provide feedback. Fox said having an updated performing arts center would make a huge difference in the lives of her students; it would allow her theater arts class to learn what a real theater is like.
“I’m teaching them about the parts of the theater, and they are parts of the theater we don’t have: the tech booth, the seating, the box office,” Fox said. “They’re learning that from pictures in a book, and they don’t have one in their school.”
Fox also believes having an updated performing arts center would help elevate the school’s perception of what the drama club does.
“The students in this club work so hard — they’re award winning every single year. They were state champions and yet the perception in the school is not equivalent to the level of work that they are producing,” Fox said. “I think that’s due to the space that they’re producing the work in.”
Kierra Bouchard is a junior at Lisbon High School and vice president of the drama club. As a student, she believes the drama club faces multiple disadvantages because of the current performing arts center facility.
“A lot of people, especially when they’re in the back, can’t see the actors on stage because everything’s all level, so they’re just looking at the back of other people’s heads,” Bouchard said.
According to Bouchard, the club also faces disadvantages in terms of sound difficulties and the amount of storage space provided. Lighting also presents challenges because of placement.
Fox said she thinks an updated performing arts center would be not only helpful to the school but also to the Lisbon community as a whole.
“There could be community theater productions. There could be workshops for adults and for children in the summertime, children’s productions in the summer,” Fox said. “Right now, if people want to be involved in that, they’ve got to go to Lewiston, they’ve got to go to Auburn, they’ve got to go to Brunswick. They’ve got to go somewhere else for that to happen and for some people, they can’t work out that transportation.”
Shambarger believes working toward an updated performing arts center is an exciting thing to be a part of because of the community energy and desire for it. She said she thinks this is another part of the community development of Lisbon.
“This could be the next step bringing not only the social capital aspect for our community but also the economic development, because it’s going to bring more people to town as well,” she said. “I think it’s a win-win solution for us and another thing we can be proud of.”
PHOTO: From left, Linda Cummings, Angela Shambarger and Heather Cronin, representing Lisbon PACI, sellraffle tickets at the “Nobody To Blame” Concert in the Park tribute to Chris Stapleton. (Submitted photo)
