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Gala event planned in Boardman
BOARDMAN
It’s been more than 40 years since Mark Huberman last took the stage as Nathan Detroit in “Guys and Dolls” in a Boardman production.
On Saturday, he’ll reprise his role and join 53 other Boardman alumni and students who are performing more than 32 songs at Celebrate the Arts. The gala event begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and proceeds will help pay for a new sound system.
“The only auditorium I used was the one at Center Middle School,” said Huberman, who also served on the Boardman school board for more than 20 years.
When the high school was built in 1970, plans called for an auditorium, but there was no funding for it.
Huberman led fundraising efforts for the Performing Arts Center, which opened in 2000 and seats more than 1,600. The $4.6 million center was funded by $1.6 million in private donations and a bond issue approved by voters.
“Probably one area where we short-changed ourselves was on the sound board. ... It’s an analog system, and we’re in the digital world now,” he said.
The new sound system will cost between $40,000 and $44,000, and $34,000 has already been raised through private contributions and underwriters, Huberman said.
The event isn’t just to raise money, it’s also to bring alumni back to Boardman, said Mollie Hartup, a 1998 alumna and gala organizer.
“People will get together who haven’t seen each other in years. ...Boardman’s done different productions more than once. Your predecessor who played whichever role you played later will be there,” she said.
Celebrate the Arts will be divided into two acts with veteran performers in the first act and more recent alumni in the second act, Hartup said.
An alumni art show also will be on display from Saturday until May 20 in the Performing Arts Center Lobby.