CHC Remembers Cliff Cabanilla

Publish Date: Dec. 8, 2022

The Crafton Hills College community recently lost one of its faculty pioneers, Cliff Cabanilla, who initiated Crafton’s dramatic arts program when the College opened in 1972.

At that time, the College had no facilities for performances, so Cabanilla had to find suitable space off campus to develop into a working theatre. An abandoned building in downtown Redlands that had housed an A&P supermarket became the home for the fledgling program. Cabanilla and student volunteers converted the space into a 250-seat theatre with a thrust stage. Cabanilla built up theTheatre Arts program by holding classes and performances off campus until the Performing Arts Center was built in 1978.

During his tenure, Crafton’s Theatre Arts program trained thousands of students in theatre crafts, provided the CHC community with top-notch entertainment, and garnered recognition from theatre arts college academic organizations.

The success of this program is a result of Cabanilla’s charisma, fertile imagination, and hard work. Under Cabanilla’s inspiring leadership,Theatre Arts thrived at Crafton and remains a vibrant legacy of this inspirational and visionary professor.

In addition to his work at Crafton, Cabanilla also founded the Redlands Theatre Festival at Prospect Park in Redlands, which is still in operation and is managed by his two daughters, Shannon and Candice.