Historic Huntington Beach Auditorium Turns 100 with ‘A Century of Stars and Stories’

Lauren Harvey
Apr 15
4 min read

The school district’s theater on the Huntington Beach High School campus has played a foundational role for young performers in Orange County.

The entrance to the HBUHSD Auditorium in 1969. Image courtesy of Tara Choat/HBUHSD

Taylor Korb saw her first musical, Orange County Children’s Theatre’s “Annie Get Your Gun,” at 6 years old at the historic auditorium at Huntington Beach High School. It was then that she decided, "That's what I’m doing for my life,” she told Culture OC.

The theater continued to play an important role in her formative years. She participated in OCCT’s productions of “Seussical” and “The Wizard of Oz,” trained at the Academy for the Performing Arts (APA) and even heard the spooky stories about George, the ghost said to haunt the building.

“I learned how to do makeup in the dressing room for my first show (with OCCT). The teenage lead girls sat us all down and gave us a makeup lesson, and I still do my mascara the way they taught me,” Korb said. “And just being on that stage. It feels so, especially as a young teen, so professional. And you just feel so good.”

Now, Korb finds herself in a full-circle moment. Not only was she part of the team that brought back OCCT from the pandemic, but she’s directing the company’s portion of “A Century of Stars and Stories,” the auditorium’s 100th anniversary show taking place Saturday, April 18.

PHOTO 1: The inside of the HBUHSD Auditorium in 1927, a year after it opened. PHOTO 2: The inside of the HBUHSD auditorium today. Images courtesy of Tara Choat/HBUHSD

The Huntington Beach Union High School District auditorium first opened in 1926 and continues to serve as a performance and gathering space for the whole district. Notably, it is the home of APA, showcasing everything from theater productions to dance to pop music. Twice a year, OCCT also performs on the stage, with “Footloose” planned for this August. “A Century of Stars and Stories” will not only celebrate the history of this space, but it will serve as a fundraiser to refresh the green room – the backstage area where performers gather and wait for their cues.

The anniversary performance, directed by APA costume supervisor Tara Choat, is divided into different decades in the history of the theater. OCCT is tasked with representing the ‘30s with a medley of songs from the children’s theater classic “Annie,” which takes place during the Great Depression. The production includes current OCCT performers and alumni, ranging from 6 to about 30 years old.

Other acts include a 1950s “Grease” medley from the Musical Theater Department, a ‘70s dedication from Westminster’s Thien An Performing Arts Group and a 2010s performance from the Surf City Singers.

Longtime technical theater director Joe Batte. Photo courtesy of APA

But the person most knowledgeable about the auditorium’s history, longtime technician and director of the APA Technical Theater department Joe Batte, will not be in attendance. He unexpectedly passed away last September after retiring in 2021. He worked in the theater for more than 27 years, according to APA’s Facebook page.

Korb recalls growing up in the theater with Batte and said he was always rooting for her, even when she didn’t know it. When she made her OCCT mainstage directorial debut with “Beauty and the Beast” in 2021, Batte showed up at the stage door to let her in.

“He was like, ‘I couldn’t miss your first move-in as a director.’ I hadn’t talked to him. He just saw it on Facebook, and he was so supportive,” Korb said. “I loved that about the theater. Joe really made it a home. If you grew up in the theater, he was just such a staple and made you feel like family.”

Before intermission, APA will dedicate a plaque to Batte, and the Music, Media, Entertainment and Technology, or MMET, department will perform one of his favorite songs. According to Choat, one of Batte’s greatest creations may also make an appearance: a large-scale, flying helicopter made for the Musical Theater department’s 2015 production of “Miss Saigon.”

To capture the past 100 years of the theater’s history, Choat searched through yearbooks to archive as many images of the auditorium as she could. MMET director Michael Simmons also worked with a historian to learn more about the history of the building, which he compiled into a video that will be shown throughout the anniversary performance, according to APA public relations director April Sharp.

PHOTO 1: The outside of Huntington Beach High School in 1927. The theater can be see on the far right with the three arches at the entrance. PHOTO 2: A close up of the arches at the entrance to the HBUHSD Auditorium in 1968. Images courtesy of Tara Choat/HBUHSD

Sharp, whose two sons both participated in APA, says her favorite memories are having ‘80s DJ Richard Blade host MMET’s “Totally Radtrofest” in 2018 and having Broadway star Michael Crawford attend the closing matinee of “The Phantom of the Opera” in 2019.

“(Crawford) was blown away by what was happening on that district stage too,” Sharp said. “That was pretty cool.”

Indeed, the historic auditorium has served as a launchpad for young performers in Orange County, from Kyle Selig – the first Aaron Samuels in “Mean Girls” on Broadway – to Elizabeth Romero — who starred in the 2012 documentary “Broadway or Bust” and won the National High School Musical Theatre Award, or Jimmy, for best actress that same year. “A Century of Stars and Stories” recognizes the auditorium’s foundational role in the community.

“Being asked to be a part of this 100th year anniversary celebration was such a meaningful testament to OCCT and what it means in the lives of the community and the kids,” Korb said. “Yes, we’ve performed in other places, but this is our home.”