By Alex Graf and Kelsey Reichman
In the wake of a recent inspection, the University Theatre at CSUDH has been closed indefinitely due to safety concerns, according to a campus-wide email distributed early today.
As a result, the theatrical production of “Undocumented,” is canceled for the fall semester with plans to bring it back early in spring 2019, and the theater as a whole will be closed for at least four months, Mitch Avila, the dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, said in today’s email.
In the email, Avila said a “certified and respected” theater inspection company “uncovered significant safety concerns that have the potential to cause serious injury in the event of failure and/or malfunction.”
While that may sound ominous, CSUDH theater professor and “Undocumented” director Bill Deluca said:
“People aren’t going to die. It’s been safe for 45 years. It’s still safe but it needs to be brought to code.”
Deluca said the rigging above the stage and speakers placed over the audience are among the renovations necessary to bring the University Theatre to code.
While Avila estimates the renovations will take a minimum of four months, Deluca thinks the process could take as long as three years and pointed to the theater at Los Angeles Harbor College, which recently took five years to renovate.
“We haven’t had the funding to replace these things,” Deluca said. “I’m happy to see something is going to be done.”
Kieran Flanagan is a theater arts major who had a major role in “Undocumented.” Flanagan said the news came suddenly and that many theater students are disappointed.
“For juniors, we get another year, but seniors are upset because they don’t have their theater for their senior year,” Flanagan said. “‘Undocumented’ will open in the Edison Theatre but it only has room for about 60 people whereas University Theatre has room for up to [444 according to the University Theatre’s website].”
With “Undocumented” postponed to early spring, Flanagan expressed concern that students might have to pay more for parking in order to attend rehearsals during the winter session.
