Portsmouth High auditorium upgrades: Still very much on

Sample chairs, new website and sponsorship levels revealed

By Jim McGaw
Posted 9/27/18

PORTSMOUTH — Margie Brennan wants everyone to know the Kate Grana Music and Arts Association (KGMAA) is wide awake and still working hard to transform the Portsmouth High School auditorium …

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Portsmouth High auditorium upgrades: Still very much on

Sample chairs, new website and sponsorship levels revealed

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — Margie Brennan wants everyone to know the Kate Grana Music and Arts Association (KGMAA) is wide awake and still working hard to transform the Portsmouth High School auditorium into a state-of-the-art community hub for drama and music.

“We’ve been quiet for quite a while and as a parent I walk by and hear a lot of kids go, ‘Wow, that was nice when they tried to raise money for the auditorium. Whatever happened to that?’ They have no idea that we’re still trying,” said Ms. Brennan.

That’s why she was in the lobby of PHS last week during open house, letting students and parents know that it’s full steam ahead for the nonprofit. The group is fund-raising for a modern lighting and sound system for the auditorium, as well as new cushioned seats to replace the wooden chairs that have been in use for more than 50 years.

She even had a visual: A handsome, red cushioned sample chair in which visitors were invited to sit. “This was a way for people to see that this is still happening,” Ms. Brennan said. “We have bids out for the chairs.”

Part of the fund-raising efforts is a sponsorship program in which members of the public can put personalized messages on plaques to be affixed to the new chairs. The levels of sponsorship range from $250 to $4,500, depending on the seat’s location in the auditorium.

Sponsors with deeper pockets can also put their names on plaques — $25,000 for gold, $10,000 for silver and $5,000 for bronze — to be permanently displayed in a prominent place near the auditorium’s entrance.

Over the summer, different sound, lighting and seating companies came in to tour the space. KGMAA is now formulating “a needs and wish list” for the room, Ms. Brennan said. KGMAA also met with the van Beuren Charitable Foundation and expects to hear whether any grants are forthcoming within the next month, she said. 

We met with them this summer and talked about how this is a community hub. They don’t do anything for just the arts, so we talked about all the other programs that use the auditorium,” Ms. Brennan said.

Ms. Brennan also wants the public to know about the organization’s revamped website (www.kgmaa.org), which explains the renovation project and how people can get involved or donate.

As for the project’s timeline, Ms. Brennan said if the van Beuren grant comes through, the new lighting and sound system should be installed before summer 2019, with the chairs to follow.

One of the most exciting things about the renovation project, Ms. Brennan said, is how energized students are — even those who will graduate before the upgrades are completed.

One of them is Charlie Amand, a PHS senior who put together a comedy show over the summer that raised a little over $200 for KGMAA. He’s a tech worker at the Firehouse Theater in Newport, the home of the Bit Players.

“I got whoever I could — friends, various people — to perform stand-up comedy,” said Charlie, who hosted the event for his National Honor Society Leadership Project.

Upcoming events

Another PHS student, Annabelle Gibson, is organizing a “Night at the Improv” fund-raiser for her senior project. 

The show, in which local student actors will join the Bit Players for some comedy improvisation, will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 14, in the auditorium. Tickets are $10 for students and senior citizens, $15 for adults. 

Here are two other upcoming fund-raisers:

• The Sweetback Sisters’ Country Christmas Sing-Along Spectacular is at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8, at PHS. This is a Common Fence Music event, but $3 on every ticket sold will go back to KGMAA. Tickets are $25 in advance, $28 at the door and $23 for Common Fence Music members. For more information, visit www.CommonFenceMusic.org.  

• “Christmas in Song” at St. Barnabas Church, 1697 East Main Road, from 7:30-9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 14. The show will feature the Newport Navy Choristers with the Hathaway Elementary School Chorus, and under the direction of Laurie McDowell. Tickets are $10 for students and senior citizens, $15 for adults, and may be purchased at the door, at Eventbrite.com or by calling 401/924-2158.

PHS auditorium, Portsmouth High School, Kate Grana Music and Arts Association

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