Estancia drama students host final off-site production before new theater opening

The Estancia High School spring musical “Little Shop of Horrors,” the final production of the 2024-25 season, is gracing the stage of Costa Mesa High School in a three-day run that ends with a matinee Sunday.

And if all goes according to plan, the performance will be the last time the EHS drama department will have to perform on a substitute stage, as the long-held vision of a new performing arts complex on the Costa Mesa campus is finally coming into crystalline focus.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District officials confirmed this week the $42-million building project is humming along and anticipated to complete by the time classes return in the fall.

NMUSD officials anticipate construction on a $42-million performing arts complex at Costa Mesa’s Estancia High could be done this fall.

(Newport-Mesa Unified School District)

The opening will fulfill a 20-year promise to the Eagles community and create parity between Estancia and other NMUSD schools, like Mesa, that got new theaters years ago.

Amber Reyes, who heads the school’s theater program, said students are excited at the prospect of the upcoming move after years of hosting shows in the much smaller on-campus Barbara Van Holt Theater and traveling off site to perform.

“Next year, we won’t have to bring the whole set, bring all the costumes in our cars to get everything situated; we’ll actually have a scene shop,” Reyes said. “It’s going to make life easier and make our program better.”

The reality of having a new, 18,270-square-foot complex, complete with a 350-seat main theater and a black box theater along with classrooms, a dressing room and staging areas is beginning to sink in for junior Keila Mendez, who will get to perform there next year.

“It feels so surreal. I’m just, like, ‘Wow, it’s actually happening.’ I thought it would take forever to build,” says the 17-year-old Costa Mesa resident, who plays Audrey in this year’s musical. “I love drama and being a part of Estancia history — I’m so excited to perform in it.”

Estancia High students rehearse for “Little Shop of Horrors,” the final play of the 2024-25 season.

(Justin Marroquin)

Senior Asher Dennee, who plays the lead male character, Seymour, plans to continue acting at Orange Coast College after graduation but will miss out on staging productions in the new building. Still, he’s glad for his colleagues and proud of what they’ve accomplished so far.

“It definitely is a bummer,” Dennee, 17, said Tuesday. “I’m a little sorry I’m going to miss the grand opening [of the new complex], but I’m happy my friends here are going to get to experience it. And I’m obviously going to come back and attend their shows, so I’ll still get to experience it in a way.”

With emotions running high, this particular production of “Little Shop” is sure to round out the season with a bang.

Reyes said she selected the play based on the particular talents and attributes of this year’s advanced production drama students, after seeing South Coast Repertory’s version during a class trip.

“Some schools pick the season one year in advance, but I always make sense of who I have and then pick a show for them,” she said. “My kids are really strong actors, and “Little Shop” is an acting-heavy show. It’s really grounded in the characters’ journeys, and I felt all the characters really fit our kids.”

That level of consideration is one more hallmark of a rich tradition begun by drama department founder Barbara Van Holt, the Estancia teacher who built the program in the 1960s and for whom the campus’ original theater is named. The beloved instructor died in 2022.

A wooden sign above Estancia High School’s theater honors its namesake, former instructor Barbara Van Holt, who built the program in the 1960s.

(Amber Reyes)

Now that the program’s classes and productions are scheduled to transition next school year into the new performing arts complex, an effort is afoot to continue honoring Van Holt’s legacy by naming the new building after her.

The campaign further seeks to name the main theater in the complex after Estancia teacher Pauline Maranian, an alumna of the drama department who took over its leadership from Van Holt in 1996 and oversaw its theatrical endeavors for 26 years, before passing the mantle to Reyes, another Estancia grad.

Memorializing the contributions of the two instructors is a possibility but would require the blessing of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees, who are inviting community members to submit their recommendations, according to district spokeswoman Annette Franco.

Pauline Maranian, left, the former drama teacher at Estancia High School, poses with Amber Reyes in the school’s Barbara Van Holt Theater in 2022.

(File Photo)

Officials in a post Wednesday on NMUSD’s website said board policy allows for the memorialization of individuals, living or deceased, who have contributed to the betterment of society or the local community, as well as places with geographical significance or those whose standout accomplishments in a particular field make them a role model for students.

Reyes said that, in her mind, honoring the legacy of Van Holt and Maranian just makes sense.

“They are legends,” she said. “The whole community is rallying behind it.”

Estancia High School’s “Little Shop of Horrors” opened Thursday and runs through Saturday at 7 p.m., with a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee, at Costa Mesa High School’s performing arts complex, 2650 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. General admission is $15, student admission is $10. To purchase tickets, visit estanciadrama.com or pay cash at the door.

Students of Estancia High’s Drama Department held performances in the school’s modest Barbara Van Holt Theater for years. But a new performing arts complex will soon open on the Costa Mesa campus.

(Justin Marroquin)