For the first time for any of these students, the historic Cook Auditorium lights shone as they performed center stage.
Thousands upon thousands of Anaheim Union High School District alumni have experienced performing for audiences in the theater, but for today’s students, it has been a work zone their entire high school career. Until now.
Parents and students line up to enter the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026, for the reopening ceremony of the historic building, which has been closed since 2019. The newly reopened stage debuts state-of-the-art theatrical systems, including advanced lighting, audio, and video, as well as a fully motorized rigging system. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Walker Junior High School Legacy performs “Japanese Snow Song” during the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Members of the Cypress High School High Voltage, Hailey Martinez, 16, left, and Farah Aqmal, 17, rehearse in the balcony before the start of the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Kennedy High School Executive Order performs “Live-Love-Dream: A Cinderella Prologue” during the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Oxford Academy Show Choir performs to the song, “Good Morning,” during the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Josephine Beltran, 17, with the Cypress High School High Voltage checks her makeup before the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
U.S. Representative Lou Correa and Jessica Guerrero, Board President of the Anaheim Union High School District, center, celebrate with members of the AUHSD, city council members, and others after cutting the ribbon to launch the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Oxford Academy JV Show Choir performs “SOS” during the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Hope School Singers perform “Time After Time” during the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator for the Anaheim Union High School District Brian Belski, on stage, speaks during the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Cypress High School High Voltage performs to the song, “Dissonance,” during the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Dale Junior High School Lancer Choir performs during the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The combined AUHSD Choirs gather on and around the stage to perform the Grand Finale song, “Thank You for the Music,” to close the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Kaitlyn Givens sings “StandUp” with the Western High School Pioneer Choir during the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A parent in the auditorium records the Walker Junior High School Legacy performing during the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Hope School Singers sign the word, forever, after performing “Time After Time” during the reopening ceremony for the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Parents and students line up to enter the historic William A. Cook Auditorium at Anaheim High School in Anaheim on Friday, January 23, 2026, for the reopening ceremony of the historic building, which has been closed since 2019. The newly reopened stage debuts state-of-the-art theatrical systems, including advanced lighting, audio, and video, as well as a fully motorized rigging system. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The school district completed a $7 million renovation to the 90-year-old performance center at Anaheim High just in time for the annual all-school choral showcase. So, on Friday night, hundreds of students took the stage as the top choir from each campus performed in the districtwide concert. For the finale, more than 700 students sang in unison — a “stress-test” of the new acoustics, said Brian Belski, the district’s director of arts education.
Belski said he is also looking forward to the first theatrical performance in the renovated Cook Auditorium, which is the “premier auditorium in the district.”
“We have not had theatrical performances in a building that is purposely designed for that,” he said of the years since the theater renovations started. “I look forward to students not having to compensate for the building.”
The Cook Auditorium was opened in 1935 — replacing the high school’s original Greek Revival–style auditorium that had been severely damaged in the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake — and closed in 2019 for renovations to address safety concerns with the now decades-old rigging system.
It reopened with technology that can be found on many a Broadway stage, including motorized stage rigging to replace the old manual system, 40 channels of digital LED lighting and 20,000 watts of audio power. Moveable acoustic drapes and sound-absorbing panels will let the theater be calibrated to the best sound for various styles of performances.
