Horizon West Theater Company seeks permanent home

Horizon West Theater Company cast members have run lines in a parking lot of a school. 

A cast performed a cabaret at Maple Street Biscuit Company, pushing tables to the side after the restaurant closed for the day. 

When it comes to performing, Raja Jalernpan, president of Horizon West Theater Company, said the cast only has ever needed a place with a couple of walls and air conditioning, so they’ve performed in various places, including school auditoriums, churches and restaurants.

But with the cost of renting spaces out to perform increasing, Horizon West Theater Company is looking for its own permanent facility. 

“We have realized it’s kind of time for us to actually have a building and have a permanent home in the Winter Garden, Horizon West area that we can call ours, that we can keep doing programming in,” Jalernpan said. 

Horizon West Theater Company is in negotiations for a facility in Winter Garden that cannot yet be disclosed, because a lease for the facility has not yet been signed, Jalernpan said. 

He said the location is not in Horizon West proper because the cost per square foot is less in Winter Garden. The location also allows the nonprofit to expand its reach with community members in both Winter Garden and Horizon West. 

To secure the facility and prepare it for opening, Horizon West Theater Company needs to raise about $150,000. Jalernpan said the nonprofit hopes to open for limited programming by the end of the year. 

He said any donation, no matter the amount, can make a big difference in helping Horizon West Theater Company provide a community art hub for everyone. 

Courtesy photo

All about location

On average, Horizon West Theater Company produces between three and five performances per year, depending on availability of performance spaces. 

But the first question whenever the nonprofit wants to perform or provide a camp or other service is, “Where will it be held?”

Jalernpan said the cost to rent an auditorium from Orange County Public Schools for a week can range between $10,000 and $20,000. The rental would be for about four to five hours per day that week and includes time for loading equipment, rehearsal, tech rehearsals, performances, closing the show and removing equipment. 

The rental costs don’t include the cost of props, costumes and more. 

“You’re already starting with such a high number to try to meet financially, and even if we sold out the entire theater for three shows, we still would have barely made enough to cover the cost of just the rental,” Jalernpan said. 

As a result, Jalernpan said the nonprofit has been creative in finding spaces to meet, rehearse and perform.

“We’ve been as creative as working in restaurants when they’ve closed at the end of the day,” he said. “We’ve been in parking lots, in fields — any place that has a couple walls and air conditioning. It has kind of always been a joke that we can produce art anywhere, and that’s the beauty of art, but (location is) always at the forefront, and that’s the first wall we hit whenever we want to do something. … Space has been such a hurdle for us. We make it work because we’re theater people, and that’s what we do.”

Not having a constant location to go to hinders the nonprofit’s ability to continue momentum and provide everything the nonprofit wants and the community needs, Jalernpan said. 

With a permanent facility, Horizon West Theater Company will be able to expand its offerings. Jalernpan said the nonprofit can perform more shows for longer periods of time, expand its summer camp offerings, increase its rising stars program and more. The longest running show for the nonprofit was five performances in one weekend due to space restrictions.

Jalernpan said the new home will be a hub for creativity for artists, teachers, students, families and others to gather and collaborate. 

Facility for all

Jalernpan said the facility the company currently is under negotiations for in Winter Garden could serve as not only a space for Horizon West Theater Company but also anyone in the area who needs it. 

“Right now, there is not a dedicated, affordable community center art space in Winter Garden or Horizon West,” he said. “While Horizon West Theater Company wants to shepherd the space as the nonprofit, our goal is not to have us use it exclusively. We want to be the umbrella that lots of other groups, organizations and individuals can come and sort of help us create this environment. … We really want to come in and finally be that model that is able to help the greater good and turn back and give because our community is what has allowed us to survive these last six years.”

The facility that is under negotiations is a warehouse and office flex space. The warehouse is expected to become a blackbox theater with lighting and seating, while the office flex space will become dance studios, workshop rooms, possibly a room for voice lessons or music in general, general meeting space and open space. 

He said although the warehouse primarily will serve as a blackbox theater, the nonprofit wants the space to be flexible enough to host other events as well. 

Jalernpan said the facility will be able to be used as a general community space as well for those who might want to host a book club, have a meeting, host a dance class or anything else.

“There’s such a power that comes with when people get together and collaborate,” he said. “You truly never know what type of art you can make. … Our community is at the forefront of everything we do and will continue to be everything we do because that matters these days.”