Menlo-Atherton’s new theater opens in October

Mark your calendars! Menlo-Atherton High School’s performing arts center is making its debut this October.

Performing arts enthusiasts and residents of Menlo-Atherton community now have something new to be proud of and look forward to as Menlo-Atherton High School’s performing arts center is a few short months away from its debut.

Standing proudly at the corner of Ravenswood Avenue &  Middlefield Road, the 490-seater theater is slated for opening in the second week of October. Landscaping has begun and furniture will be fitted inside soon after. The Center already has three events lined up to celebrate the theater’s debut, including a public concert by the local chamber music ensemble Music@Menlo on October 11.

Not only is the school excited for the opening of the $32 million-theater. The Menlo-Atherton community is enthusiastic it as well!  Finally, local artists and performers will have a home to turn to. With the opening of the new arts center, we are expecting an outpour of artistic outputs that will hopefully place Menlo-Atherton in the art map.

What makes the unveiling even more exciting is the theater’s top-of-the-line acoustics, whose mastermind is the top acoustical design professional Paul Scarbrough, head designer of Cleveland Orchestra’s Severance Hall, Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall and Broadway’s New Amsterdam and New Victory theatres among many others.

Aside from 490-seater space, the new performing arts center has a multi-purpose hall that can sit up to 250 persons, rehearsal rooms and storage area for musical instruments.

Experts say that cultural development serves as a catalyst in community development, and Menlo-Atherton is no exception. Equipped with advanced lighting and audio equipment, the new performing arts center can now host the community’s and possibly the state’s biggest events — may it be drama, music and dance performances, meetings, conventions or social affairs — which will later help boost economy in Menlo-Atherton. It won’t be far until Menlo-Atherton experiences a surge in the arts and business as more people pour in to participate in conventions and attend performance, thus making Menlo-Atherton an even more ideal community to live in.

So mark your calendars, because this October, Menlo-Atherton High School’s new performing arts center will open and don’t you miss it.

Here are some pre-construction renderings as well as an up to date photo of the actually construction status.