Grand Opening of the Goel Center
Soft purple and orange lights streaked the inside of the tent’s canvas. Pearls shimmered from floor to ceiling and white sheets were suspended in the air. The first Nor’easter of the year was raging outside, but inside the tent, an audience was enthralled as one after another speaker gave inspiring speeches and performance groups took the stage. Dance groups and the concert choir dedicated their performances to the Exeter community, and finally the ribbon was cut. A dozen cameras flashed, and the crowd erupted with joy at the conclusion of the Dedication Ceremony of the David E. and Stacey L. Goel Center for Theater and Dance.
“The Academy has done a great job,” Victor Azzi P’10 said. “I think it’s a wonderful building with a wonderful intent to satisfy wonderful needs and clients. That I could be able to attend this ceremony was amazing.”
The Goel Center for Theater and Dance held a grand opening ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 27 to commemorate the replacement of the Fisher Theater and Davis Dance Studio. Fisher Theater had been constructed in 1972, and Davis Dance Studio had been converted from a library into a dance studio in 2009. The new 63,130 square-foot facility accommodates a proscenium mainstage with 350 seats and an orchestra pit, a thrust stage theater with seating for 149 spectators, two dance venues, a rehearsal and meeting area for DRAMAT, Exeter’s student-run theater organization, technical studios, a costume shop, classrooms and lounge areas.
Although the Goel Center for Theater and Dance has been in use since the beginning of the school year, its grand opening did not happen until this past weekend. The ceremony began sharply at 10:30 a.m. in a tent behind the Center. Interim Principal Bill Rawson kicked off the event by welcoming the audience of donors, trustees, parents and other members of the Exeter community. Instructor in Theater and Dance Sarah Ream, Academy Trustee Marc de la Bruyere, Tony Award-winning Actor and Musician Michael Cerveris ‘79 and finally David Goel ‘89 spoke as well throughout the event.
After the speeches, there were performances from Kwabs Dance Company, led by Kwabena Safo-Agyekum ‘02, Exeter’s all-male step team Outkast, Exeter’s hip-hop dance group Imani and the concert choir. The ceremony culminated in a ribbon-cutting by the building’s primary donors David E. Goel and Stacey L. Goel.
The Exeter community expressed their excitement for the new building. “The Academy has done a great job,” Victor Azzi P’10 said. “I think it’s a wonderful building with a wonderful intent to satisfy wonderful needs and clients. That I could be able to attend this ceremony was amazing.”
Susan Scandel used to work in Exeter’s Information Technology Department and recalled “always being in the bowels of Fisher Theater.” “I was always doing computer work, getting lost in there. But this [new building] is just fantastic,” she said. She continued to remark on the building’s beautiful quiet spaces and abundance of natural light.
Math Instructor Emeritus Bill Campbell appreciated the intricacy of the building. “Smaller structures like the costume rooms and makeup rooms are done right to a tee. With all these little spaces around, I think kids will be down here even just to study,” Campbell said. “This and the field house have transformed the whole south campus.
After interacting with various donors, parents and visitors at the Dedication Ceremony, Cerveris realized the building’s implications on the future of performing arts at Exeter. “I think [the new building] will, just by its sheer presence, elevate the visibility of the theater and dance programs here,” Cerveris said.
Safo-Agyekum agreed, observing the evolution of performing arts at the Academy since his graduation in 2002. “It’s really amazing to see the escalation and underscoring of the arts here. To put the theater [on the south side] is huge,” he said. “We’re artists, but when you’re a dancer you’re also an athlete. To house [the Center for Theater and Dance] so close to these other athletic hubs and to interlink athletics and arts in that way…it’s awesome.”
Director of Costumes and Theater Instructor Lauren Josef believed that the building was a physical representation of the school supporting performing arts. “It’s hard because this school is steeped in tradition,” Josef said. “We have an incredible academic program and incredible sports, and it’s really hard to wedge arts in there. But I think that we’ve done it physically with this building. Now we really have a strong presence on this campus and it allows [performing arts] students to know they are supported in this environment.”
Upper and Dance Company member Patricia Fitzgerald agreed, saying that “a whole building dedicated to the performing arts gives [the arts] a presence on campus.”
Exeter parent Gina Sweeney-Leahy attended last Saturday’s Dedication Ceremony and like many others, was enthralled by what she saw. “I want my daughter to step back in time so she can come back and do a play here,” she said. “It is definitely the nicest building on campus and I just want to say thank you to the Goels.”