A show full of ‘mistakes’

If everything goes according to plan, the Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts’ new production this weekend will be a disaster.

Actors will flub their lines, tempers will flare, and the sound technician will have at least one very public meltdown. Even the scenery will look like the work of hapless amateurs, with splotchy brown paint on the walls and a soundboard clearly visible at the back of the stage.

Of course, that’s all part of the show.

The academy’s theater department is putting on its first production of the year with Rick Abbot’s “Play On!,” a comedy about a community theater troupe trying to rehearse and stage a play as everything imaginable goes wrong. Part of the action revolves around the play-within-a-play’s author, a haughty woman who constantly changes the script as opening night approaches.

Earl Byers, who has directed theater at the academy since 2002, has never had a playwright revising his students’ dialogue on the spot, but otherwise, he said, most of the foibles depicted in Abbot’s script are common during rehearsals.

“I think we’ve all, through this process, discovered we’ve made these same mistakes,” he said as his students rehearsed Monday night.

Abbot’s comedy may depict a shoddy theater production, but in terms of the venue, at least, this weekend’s performances will be state-of-the-art. The theater on the Huntington Beach High School campus, known officially as the Huntington Beach Union High School District Historical Auditorium and Bell Tower, underwent a massive renovation the last two years and had a grand reopening Oct. 18.

The 600-seat theater, built in 1926, boasts new seats, sound and lighting systems, ramps and passenger lifts.

The venue’s original archway has been restored, as have the cast-iron chandeliers that hang from the ceiling.

The academy, a magnet campus in the high school district, put on shows at many venues during the construction, from the First Christian Church down the block to the Rose Center Theater in Westminster.

The students got to hone their technical skills for productions, building and designing sets, working the light and sound controls and serving as stage managers.

The technical side of theater, overseen by instructor Joe Batte, is a major component of the academy. In the past, Batte said, his students have gone on to work for Disney, Knott’s Berry Farm and even Broadway shows, sometimes right out of high school.

“I always think they should go on to college,” he said. “But a lot of these kids are getting jobs right out of high school, and they’re making more money than I do.”

The academy, which also boasts three dance studios and a commercial recording program, provides students with plenty of technical know-how.

A fast-paced comedy like “Play On!” ultimately comes down to one component that can’t be programmed: timing.

Byers said during rehearsals, he often claps his hands together to encourage the cast to pick up the tempo.

It may be a challenge, but the end result is worth it, 11th-grader Maddy Holstein said.

“With comedy, you always have to have the perfect timing,” said Maddy, 16. “It’s easy to do a drama and make someone sad, but it’s really hard to make someone laugh.

“There can be no mistakes, and we’re doing a show about making mistakes. So it’s kind of funny.”

If You Go

What: “Play On!”

Where: Huntington Beach High School, 1905 Main St.

When: 7:30 tonight, Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday

Tickets: $15; $12 for seniors and students

Contact: (714) 536-2514, ext. 4025