Hillsboro Artists' Regional Theatre
Encyclopedia
Hillsboro Artists' Regional Theatre (HART), originally the Hillsboro Actors Repertory Theater, is a community theatre
group in Hillsboro
, Oregon
, United States. Founded in 1994, the non-profit group presents around ten plays each year. Their 99-seat theater is located in downtown Hillsboro next to the Hillsboro Civic Center
along Washington Street.
. Directed by Nicholette Reid, the production debuted in September 1994.
By the end of their second season in 1996, the 70-seat theater had produced 11 plays. Productions in the early years included Romeo and Juliet
, Barefoot in the Park
, and Show Boat
among others. In February 1996, the Sandstroms began looking at selling the company to a non-profit group. They sold it that year to the Friends of HART in order to focus on raising their family, though Kim remained involved as artistic director for a year. Kim Sandstrom took a hiatus from performing in 2001 after developing health problems, but returned in 2003 to start in Shirley Valentine
, a one-person play by Willy Russell. Actor Bret Harrison
got his first acting role at HART in a production of Our Town
in these early years of HART. By 2004, Michael Hibbard had become the artistic director at HART and in June the company had to move out of its original home that held 83 seats after rent doubled at the space. The group had also changed its name to Hillsboro Artists' Regional Theatre. Productions were then held and a variety of venues, including the Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center
.
In February 2005, the theater company began negotiating with the city of Hillsboro to lease a building next to the new Hillsboro Civic Center
. HART needed to raise more than $350,000 before late October to remodel the location along southeast Washington Street that previously housed a Pizza Schmizza
restaurant and an office of Portland General Electric
. Later the city gave an extension on the time HART had to raise the $600,000 needed to remodel the building. In December 2005, the theater received a $60,000 grant from the state of Oregon.
Major contributors to the fundraising campaign included Spirit Mountain Foundation, the Collins Foundation, and the Meyer Memorial Trust who had the largest donation with $100,000. By December 2006, the group had raised enough funds to sign a ten-year lease on the city-owned building at Second and Washington. The new theater opened in April 2007 with Marc Camoletti’s Don't Dress for Dinner
. More recent productions have included Oklahoma!
in 2008, and Nunsensations in 2009. In September 2009, the theater added a $15,000 marquee to the building.
Community theatre
Community theatre refers to theatrical performance made in relation to particular communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community...
group in Hillsboro
Hillsboro, Oregon
Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, United States. Founded in 1994, the non-profit group presents around ten plays each year. Their 99-seat theater is located in downtown Hillsboro next to the Hillsboro Civic Center
Hillsboro Civic Center
The Hillsboro Civic Center is a government-built, mixed-use development in downtown Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. The development includes the city hall for the county seat of Washington County, located west of Portland, Oregon. Covering , the Civic Center has a total of over in the complex...
along Washington Street.
History
The Hillsboro Actors Repertory Theater was founded in 1994 by John and Kim Sandstrom as an extension of their dinner-theater company SandStorm Productions. The married couple opened the theater in the former J. C. Penny store in downtown Hillsboro using their own money, grants, and donated time a materials. Kim Sandstrom also started the Hillsboro Actors Training studio at the same time. HART’s debut production was the comedy Light Up the Sky written by playwright Moss HartMoss Hart
Moss Hart was an American playwright and theatre director, best known for his interpretations of musical theater on Broadway.-Early years:...
. Directed by Nicholette Reid, the production debuted in September 1994.
By the end of their second season in 1996, the 70-seat theater had produced 11 plays. Productions in the early years included Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, Barefoot in the Park
Barefoot in the Park
This article is about the Broadway production. For the film adaptation see Barefoot in the Park .Barefoot in the Park is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The original Broadway production, directed by Mike Nichols, opened October 23, 1963, with the four lead roles taken by actors Elizabeth Ashley ,...
, and Show Boat
Show Boat
Show Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
among others. In February 1996, the Sandstroms began looking at selling the company to a non-profit group. They sold it that year to the Friends of HART in order to focus on raising their family, though Kim remained involved as artistic director for a year. Kim Sandstrom took a hiatus from performing in 2001 after developing health problems, but returned in 2003 to start in Shirley Valentine
Shirley Valentine
Shirley Valentine is a one-character play by Willy Russell. Taking the form of a monologue by a middle-aged, working class Liverpool housewife, it focuses on her life before and after a transforming holiday abroad.-Plot:...
, a one-person play by Willy Russell. Actor Bret Harrison
Bret Harrison
Bret Michael Harrison is an American actor and singer known predominantly for his work on comedies such as The Loop, Grounded for Life, Reaper and Breaking In.-Early life:Harrison was born in Tualatin, Oregon...
got his first acting role at HART in a production of Our Town
Our Town
Our Town is a three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder. It is a character story about an average town's citizens in the early twentieth century as depicted through their everyday lives...
in these early years of HART. By 2004, Michael Hibbard had become the artistic director at HART and in June the company had to move out of its original home that held 83 seats after rent doubled at the space. The group had also changed its name to Hillsboro Artists' Regional Theatre. Productions were then held and a variety of venues, including the Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center
Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center
The Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center is a multi-use arts and performance venue in downtown Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Opened in 2004, it is housed in a red-colored stone building completed in 1949 as a Lutheran church...
.
In February 2005, the theater company began negotiating with the city of Hillsboro to lease a building next to the new Hillsboro Civic Center
Hillsboro Civic Center
The Hillsboro Civic Center is a government-built, mixed-use development in downtown Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. The development includes the city hall for the county seat of Washington County, located west of Portland, Oregon. Covering , the Civic Center has a total of over in the complex...
. HART needed to raise more than $350,000 before late October to remodel the location along southeast Washington Street that previously housed a Pizza Schmizza
Pizza Schmizza
Pizza Schmizza is an American pizza chain with 26 locations throughout the Portland, Oregon area. Pizza Schmizza, primarily selling thin crust pizza by-the-slice, is owned and operated by Salem, Oregon, based company Figaro's Pizza.-History:...
restaurant and an office of Portland General Electric
Portland General Electric
Portland General Electric is an electrical utility based in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It distributes electricity to customers in parts of Multnomah, Clackamas, Marion, Yamhill, Washington, and Polk counties - half of the inhabitants of Oregon...
. Later the city gave an extension on the time HART had to raise the $600,000 needed to remodel the building. In December 2005, the theater received a $60,000 grant from the state of Oregon.
Major contributors to the fundraising campaign included Spirit Mountain Foundation, the Collins Foundation, and the Meyer Memorial Trust who had the largest donation with $100,000. By December 2006, the group had raised enough funds to sign a ten-year lease on the city-owned building at Second and Washington. The new theater opened in April 2007 with Marc Camoletti’s Don't Dress for Dinner
Don't Dress for Dinner
Don't Dress for Dinner is a two-act play by French playwright Marc Camoletti. It's a sequel to Camoletti's other play Boeing Boeing. The play ran in Paris for a little more than two years under the name Pyjamas Pour Six, and also ran in London starring Simon Cadell and Su Pollard.- Characters...
. More recent productions have included Oklahoma!
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
in 2008, and Nunsensations in 2009. In September 2009, the theater added a $15,000 marquee to the building.