The University of Houston-Clear Lake opened its doors in 1974 to a total of 1,069 students and 60 professors. It offered upper-level and graduate classes.
As of fall 2014, UHCL became a four-year university, which puts the university in a time of unparalleled growth not seen since its opening. Today, over 8,600 students attend every semester as UHCL continues to grow. We continue to gain more students, faculty, buildings and programs.
Our university is becoming the university it has always had the potential to be, both with new and exciting additions as well as improving on what is already here. The Bayou Theater is one of the places that may benefit from potential improvements.
Located in the Bayou Building, the theater is the only mid-sized auditorium in the Greater Houston area giving UHCL an array of opportunities and the ability to bring performance art back to our campus. With a seating availability of 500 people, this space can be used for a wide range of events that include lectures, seminars, theater, dance and concerts.
On Nov. 16, UHCL President William Staples sent out an email asking students to participate in a survey regarding what types of performances they would like to see at the Bayou Theater. This survey allows students to choose which performances they would prefer to attend at the theater by giving examples of several different options including plays, concerts, lectures and readings. At the end of the survey, students are given a blank box to recommend any additional entertainment ideas as well as any thoughts on what UHCL can do differently. This option provides a perfect opportunity for students to encourage the reinstatement of student performances by bringing performing art majors back to UHCL. In fact, UHCL offered degrees in theatre and dance from 1974 to 1992 marking a time when student performances filled the theater.
The Bayou Theater is a place that holds significant history for many of our alumni and faculty. In 1976 Robert Everding, who holds a doctorate in Theatre from Stanford University, was brought in to develop a theatre program for UHCL. Determined to bring artistic and academic value to the program, Everding involved everyone he could in the theater’s first production of the 17th playwright Moliere’s “The Miser.” Students participated, community members joined in and the Women’s Association of UHCL helped design and create costumes.
Like most things in the beginning stages, many mistakes were made but many lessons were learned. The theatre program soon went on to house many successful plays including Peter Weiss’ “The Investigation” and Slawomir Mrozek’s “Charlie” in the Bayou Theater.
In 1977, Jan Simonds joined UHCL to develop a dance program that quickly attracted a skilled group of dance students. These students were featured in successful performances every semester in the Bayou Theater bringing a new ambiance to the shows. Simonds had many contacts in the professional dance world and was able to use these contacts to bring great artists to campus to work with students as well as perform with them.
During this time, the theater is dotingly remembered as almost always being full of students, faculty and community members. One of its greatest feats was when UHCL hosted the Shaw Festival in honor of playwright George Bernard Shaw, who continues to be one of the most read playwrights in the world. The Shaw Festival, which was held at our very own Bayou Theater, was only one of three Shaw Festival’s in the world and the only one in the United States. This festival was an enormous success for UHCL and put us on the cultural map. Sadly, the theatre and dance programs were closed in 1992, but now that UHCL is a four-year university, its time to bring performance arts back.
Though the survey is short, students can and should take advantage of that blank box as a way to be involved in these changes and express our opinions. Extracurricular involvement is key in personal development and ensuring students are well-rounded individuals. The theater is a place where artists, writers, musicians and actors can express their passion and allow viewers to be a part of their experiences and feelings. Becoming involved in the arts reminds us of the struggles of other human beings, makes people aware of other points of view and influences the way we think about our own lives. It encourages us to be a better version of ourselves by expanding our minds and hearts.
Bill English of San Francisco’s playhouse said it perfectly in an article titled “How Theater for Young People Could Save the World” when he said theater is like a gym for empathy. It’s where we can go to build up the muscles of compassion, to practice listening and understanding and engage with people who are not just like ourselves. We practice sitting down, paying attention and learning from other people’s actions. We practice caring.
UHCL has formed programs, reunited cross-cultural faculty and created student exchanges in 15 countries. We are a school of abundant culture, and art is a great way of expressing that culture while bringing the university and community together. So do yourself, fellow classmates and future alumni of UHCL a favor, and fill out the survey. It is your right to have a voice in the changes to Bayou Theater, and it is important to exercise that right. Complete the survey, and in addition to voicing your opinion on the styles of cultural art programs you would enjoy attending, use that blank box to encourage and express the need for the return of student performances. Let’s put our own stamp in the new UHCL and bring performance art programs back to UHCL.
MORE CAMPUS PERSPECTIVES
Bayou Theater performances: Survey says…
Written by: Rebeccah Zuazua
As UHCL continues to grow, students are given the opportunity to vote on new buildings and the enhancement of existing spaces within the community. READ MORE
Theatre program, or lack thereof at UHCL
Written by: Amanda Beard
Students and faculty members discuss how having a theatre program at UHCL would affect campus life, culture and opportunities.
I am a graduate of the University of Houston at Clear Lake City, as it was called in those days. I was one of the early students in the theatre program, having joined as a junior in 1979. In costume shop, I made the curtains for the “black box” theatre that still stand today, although the theatre is now part of some other department. I participated in the Master’s project for the very last student to receive a Master’s degree from the Theatre Department. When the program was ended, my degree took on a somewhat lesser status, or so it seemed. I went to the Central Campus for post-Baccalaureate studies and learned that my education had been superior. I had no problem acing classes at U of H after having been generally a B student at UH/CL.
Please bring back the program. By the way, there is also an amphitheater behind the Bayou Building. Theatre can spring spontaneously if the “powers-that-be” simply let it, but funding makes things happen.