Our History
The Highlander Auditorium on the campus of Upland High School was built in 1964; the Auditorium was designed by the architectural firm of Harnish - Morgan and Causey. Several other auditoriums in the local area were also designed and built by Harnish - Morgan and Causey; all of similar size and style. The auditorium is today a 1,073 seat proscenium arch venue. An adjacent music/performing arts wing was later added in 1968.
In the middle to late 1960's the Auditorium was home to Upland High School activities; as a facility under the control of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District. By the late 1980's the Auditorium fell into disrepair and the stage house was used primarily as a storage facility for the Chaffey School District, with the apron area in front of the proscenium arch and the seating area left available for school activities.
In 1987 Upland Unified School District was newly formed under the direction of then Superintendent Dr. Loren E. Sanchez. At that time Dr. Sanchez an avid performing arts supporter saw great potential in the Auditorium. His own daughter, an Upland High School graduate, made a career in television production. Seeing how Upland is located in southern California and only thirty miles from the heart of the entertainment industry, he felt that the Auditorium could prove to be an excellent training ground for performing arts and vocational education. To develop the Auditorium into an active performing arts facility would be a unique challenge. The School Board and Dr. Sanchez's vision would lead to the development of a facility that ranks today among the finest in the State of California for vocational training and apprentice professional development.
In the summer of 1988 Upland Unified placed an advertisement in the Los Angeles Times and began the search for a manager who would head the renovation of the facility and develop the vocational training program. What made this situation particularly unique, is that the Auditorium would be developed as a district wide Auditorium facility, even though it was sited at Upland High School. The Auditorium would be developed into a performing arts venue that all grade levels could access and use for a variety of events and activities. It would also be developed as a training ground for young technicians and artisans wanting to enter the entertainment industry and serve as a full functioning performing arts center available to the community at large.
At the time the Highlander Auditorium's current and only manager is Bill J. Cox, who prior to being employed by the Upland Unified School District was working for Centre Theatre Group at the Los Angeles County Music Centre in the production department. A colleague of his found the advertisement and suggested he apply. He eventually went through a series of interviews and finally Upland Unified School District decided he was definitely the candidate who could transform the Auditorium into what the School Board and Dr. Sanchez had dreamed it could be.
In 1995 the Auditorium was given the name Highlander
in honor of the Upland Highlanders
and the high school campus in which the facility lives. For the past 19 years Bill has led project after project to bring the auditorium up to industry par. As the facility functionality improved it began to receive the attention of commercial ventures and community organizations. According to Mr. Cox: The Highlander Auditorium will be developed into a performing arts venue that will provide excellent support for educational programming, and would eventually be made available to the general public as a commercially rental-able facility, when its infra-structure could support such ventures.
By 2002 the Highlander Auditorium's booking calendar of professional and educational programs had grown too great for one person to manage on a 40 hour weekly clock. The Auditorium operationally had become so popular that it was requiring supervision on an average of 12 hours per day, six and sometimes 7 days a week, so the School District agreed to hire additional support to help share the load. Bill brought on former student Nick Robinson, a freelance designer and professional event planner, to be the auditorium's first production manager.
In order to keep the level of state-of the art stage technology up, Bill also appointed a number of permanent part-time stagehands to work as department production heads for the facility. This was to assist the Highlander Auditorium in maintaining both competitive and cutting edge in vocational training.
Today, under the direction of the Highlander Auditorium's manager Bill J. Cox, and its staff of professionals and students support over 150 various types of theatrical and special events annually.
Visit our Staff Page for information about our current resident staff.
The Highlander Auditorium · 909.985.9462 · 909.982.2320 FAX Mailing: 390 N. Euclid Ave. Upland CA, 91786
Stage Door: 850 N. San Antonio Ave. Upland CA, 91786