The USC School of Dramatic Arts held a grand opening Thursday for its new building featuring speeches by deans, students and alumni.
“It’s a celebration for us. We’re getting a new home,” Lori Ray Fisher, a Vice Dean at the School of Dramatic Arts, said. “I’ve been with the School of Dramatic Arts for over 25 years, so for us to have a new location after so long was so impactful and meaningful.”
Elders from the Chumash and Tongva Native American communities, two of the many Indigenous peoples whose traditional land the university occupies, also spoke at the event.
“The Chumash and Tongva elders is also special to me because it’s true that they don’t get enough recognition when we do ceremonies at USC, so that was really special too,” Jaclyn Kalkhurst, a stage management alum who graduated in 2008, said.
“I appreciate always that SDA is trying to acknowledge Indigenous people,” adjunct lecturer Alison De La Cruz said.
Adam Rosen, who helped plan the event and works for the Cultural Relations and University Events department, said they’ve “been working on this [the grand opening] for about six months,” adding that President Carol Folt “was incredibly instrumental in making it [the new building] happen.”
The building was formerly the University Church and is located near USC Village and Taper Hall on 34th Street where the ceremony was held.
“It’s always challenging on a street, closing this space down and having people kind of go through, but I think it went well,” Rosen said. “When we look at ribbon cutting and wanting people to celebrate the building itself, I always find that it’s nice to be outside, kind of looking at that space, and then be able to go in and experience it. So it’s always our goal, if we can, to do those outside, and this one just happens to be up against the street.”
The building had its soft opening about two weeks ago, with faculty and staff moving into their offices and students already taking classes there.
“We have two theaters that are in the building. We will open our first production in the next couple of weeks,” Fisher said. “It’s going to be a very active space.”
De La Cruz directed the play “Somewhere Someone is Traveling Furiously Towards You,” which was performed at the Scene Dock Theatre on campus this past weekend.
“I’m really excited. The play I just directed for SDA, our costume is on display in the building as a costume made by a student for a production,” De La Cruz said. “It’s the angel costume in the building, so it’s exciting to see the work the students did on our newer production being a part of today’s opening.”
Rosen echoed the excitement.
“I’m just super excited about the building,” Rosen said. “I think it’s a beautiful reuse of an incredible building, and I am excited to see where it is in the next 20 to 30 years.