WAUWATOSA, Wis. — Faculty are speaking about the recovery effort for the Wauwatosa West High School theater more than a week after it was hit by historic floods.
The humming of fans, mud stained on the stage, and carpet scraped off the house floor show the state of the Wauwatosa West theater after floodwater came through the loading door, drenching the stage and filling the orchestra pit.
“I mean, the devastation is everywhere,” said theater director Adam Steffan.
Steffan has been the director of Wauwatosa West’s theater program for about 14 years. As a Wauwatosa native who always wanted to be a theater educator, he has spent much of his life on stage.
Watch: Faculty rally to bring Wauwatosa West theater back after floods
“To see it [the stage] in distress and under flood and water and mud. It's tough,” said Steffan.
He’s still soaking in the damage, along with his colleague and the theater program’s makeup artist, Annaliese Thaney.
“This is like my second home twice a year. So it was hard to see those photos. Then walking in and seeing everything, I got a little teary,” said Thaney.
For Steffan and Thaney, this space is usually full of color. The theater program has done productions like Legally Blonde and Frozen.
“The students here are just, like, so passionate about music and the arts and theater and telling stories,” said Thaney.
Coming up this fall, they plan to be the first high school in the nation to put on the musical Dear Evan Hansen—the high school version.
“I think everybody's, like, so excited for that. That's, like, you know what? We're gonna rally around and keep that momentum going and realize, like, okay, so this is a whole new chapter for West. We're doing this new, amazing show,” said Thaney.
There are still many unknowns, but Adam said he’s working with the school and district to come up with a recovery plan for the theater.
“I’m very confident that we can get this place back in shape and ready for the show,” said Steffan.
Even after a major flood, both he and Thaney share the sentiment—the show must go on.
“My mind turns to the students and the families and the people who pour their hearts and their love into this space. We value it. People fight for it and want it back better than before,” said Steffan.
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