Portland Center Stage
Encyclopedia
Portland Center Stage is a theater company
based in Portland
, Oregon, United States. Theater productions are presented at the Gerding Theater at the Armory in Portland's Pearl District. PCS was founded in 1988 as the northern sibling of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
in Ashland, Oregon
. It became an independent theater in 1993 and in 1994 Elizabeth Huddle became producing artistic director. Chris Coleman took over in 2000 as the company's fourth artistic director
, and hired design firm Sandstrom Design to help refocus the marketing strategy of PCS. He also increased the variety of productions, and brought in talented actors.
The company began a capital campaign in 2004, and in 2006 moved in to its current location at the Portland Armory, which includes two theaters, production facilities and office space. PCS puts on between seven and ten productions annually between September and June, and productions include classical, contemporary and premiere pieces. PCS has received positive commentary in regional guidebooks including Best Places Northwest, Best Places Portland, and Moon Handbooks Oregon.
(OSF) in Ashland, Oregon
, and continued as a branch of OSF until 1994. The company was originally known as "Oregon Shakespeare Festival Portland". Its first production was Heartbreak House
. Dennis Bigelow was PCS's first artistic director and was let go by the OSF in 1992. A two year transitional process began in 1993, during which the OSF maintained a supervisory role over PCS. The Oregonian
reported that the OSF's artistic director Henry Woronicz "couldn't figure out how to integrate the two closely enough for his liking, and he was unwilling to have Portland go its own way without supervision".
The advisory board for Oregon Shakespeare Festival Portland was reformulated as the board of directors
of the PCS, and Elizabeth Huddle was hired in May 1994 as the producing artistic director. Huddle had previously served on the PCS's search committee for a new artistic director, but decided to put her name in for consideration. In 1994 the PCS had a budget of US$2.2 million, and over 11,000 subscribers.
In May 1995 the company's financial numbers for its transitional 1994–1995 period with its new artistic director were reported to be a deficit of $240,000. The company experienced what The Oregonian described as a "jarring divorce" from the OSF. Huddle had been on the 1991 search committee for the OSF's artistic director Henry Woronicz, but he suddenly announced his resignation in June 1995 effective the following October citing "personal reasons". Huddle and the rest of the theater community were surprised by Woronicz's resignation. In 2000 PCS board president Julie Vigeland commented to The Seattle Times
that after separating from OSF "it was a real challenge to form our own identity", but that Huddle "did a wonderful job helping us do that for the last six years".
Chris Coleman took over in May 2000, and recruited experienced actors to the company. Coleman had previously co-founded Actor's Express in Atlanta, Georgia
, and was the artistic director there. Coleman initially signed on for a three-year contract. Before Coleman began as artistic director with PCS, the company was already the largest live theater production company in Portland. However, the organization was facing sporadic attendance at performances as well as financial difficulties, with a deficit at the end of 1999 of $700,000. In 2000 PCS had a deficit of $880,000 and a base of 10,000 subscribers. The financial position of the company later stabilized, and Coleman had a 2000 budget of $3.2 million to work with when he came on. A 2003 consultant's report, however, found that PCS relied more heavily on gifts and grants to fund its operations than its peers around the company.
Coleman hired the Portland company Sandstrom Design to help with marketing. Sandstrom helped to improve the promotional materials of the organization, while Portland Center Stage modified the nature and style of its performances. Sandstrom Design produced a 56-page flyer that showed the performance schedule for the 2003–2004 season which was mailed to subscribers, potential customers, handed out at performances and placed around town. The promotional campaign stressed the unique qualities of a live theater performance as entertainment over television and film. PCS's productions were presented in the Winningstad and Newmark theatres in Portland through the 2005-2006 season. Portland Center Stage moved to the new Gerding Theater at the Armory beginning with the 2006-2007 season.
Portland Center Stage began a $32.9 million capital campaign in 2004, with the goal of building a new theater complex in the Portland Armory, a historic building in Portland. The company began usage of the Portland Armory space in September 2006. PCS received $150,000 from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
in September 2006 for "renovations and upgrades to its facility", and an additional $500,000 as part of the "Portland Center Stage Armory Theater Energy Conservation Project".
The current theater facilities at the Portland Armory include "a 599-seat main stage theater, a smaller, 200-seat black box theater, administrative offices, a rehearsal hall and production facilities". The main theater in the Portland Armory is called the Gerding Theater. Seven productions are performed annually, from September through May. The company's productions include contemporary, classical pieces and modern premieres, in addition to a summer playwrights festival, JAW (previously known as Just Add Water/West). PCS has approximately 8,000 subscribers and an annual audience of over 90,000.
, instead of the previously scheduled play Jean Anouilh
's translation of Sophocles
' Antigone
. Portland Center Stage was nominated for "Best Production" in the 1994–95 Drammy Awards which recognize excellence in Portland theater, for Arms and the Man.
Huddle was artistic director for the world premiere of the play Comfort and Joy: A Play in Two Acts, which premiered at PCS on December 2, 1995. Huddle had commissioned playwright Jack Heifner to write Comfort and Joy, which was the first time that Portland Center Stage had ever produced a new play. Huddle ended her time with the Portland Center Stage company in January 2000. One of Huddle's final productions with PCS was a A Christmas Carol
, and her final production with the company was Bus Stop
.
Chris Coleman's first production after signing on with PCS in 2000 was the play The Devils by Elizabeth Egloff, based on the novel of the same name by Fyodor Dostoevsky
. Theater critic Misha Berson of The Seattle Times
described Coleman's choice as "an especially audacious departure for Portland Center Stage", though reviews in Portland media were mixed, it received a positive review in The Oregonian
and from audience feedback. Other productions in the 2000–2001 season included Martin McDonagh
's Irish comedy, The Cripple of Inishmaan, A Christmas Carol, Patrick Marber
's Closer, and adaptation of Antigone, and the Northwest premiere of A New Brain by William Finn
.
Coleman opened the 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons at PCS with musicals. He opened the 2006 season with West Side Story
, and the 2007 season with Cabaret. Other productions in the 2007–2008 season included Doubt, a Parable, Twelfth Night, and Sometimes a Great Notion
. PCS received a total of 12 awards at the 29th annual Drammy Awards in June 2008, including "Outstanding Production" for Twelfth Night. Coleman opened the 2008–2009 season with Guys and Dolls, which The Oregonian
and Willamette Week
described as a timely choice in light of the Economic crisis of 2008.
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
based in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon, United States. Theater productions are presented at the Gerding Theater at the Armory in Portland's Pearl District. PCS was founded in 1988 as the northern sibling of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States. The festival annually produces eleven plays on three stages during a season that lasts from February to October...
in Ashland, Oregon
Ashland, Oregon
Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States, near Interstate 5 and the California border, and located in the south end of the Rogue Valley. It was named after Ashland County, Ohio, point of origin of Abel Helman and other founders, and secondarily for Ashland, Kentucky, where other...
. It became an independent theater in 1993 and in 1994 Elizabeth Huddle became producing artistic director. Chris Coleman took over in 2000 as the company's fourth artistic director
Artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
, and hired design firm Sandstrom Design to help refocus the marketing strategy of PCS. He also increased the variety of productions, and brought in talented actors.
The company began a capital campaign in 2004, and in 2006 moved in to its current location at the Portland Armory, which includes two theaters, production facilities and office space. PCS puts on between seven and ten productions annually between September and June, and productions include classical, contemporary and premiere pieces. PCS has received positive commentary in regional guidebooks including Best Places Northwest, Best Places Portland, and Moon Handbooks Oregon.
1988 – 2000
Portland Center Stage was founded in 1988, and was the "northern sibling" of the Oregon Shakespeare FestivalOregon Shakespeare Festival
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States. The festival annually produces eleven plays on three stages during a season that lasts from February to October...
(OSF) in Ashland, Oregon
Ashland, Oregon
Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States, near Interstate 5 and the California border, and located in the south end of the Rogue Valley. It was named after Ashland County, Ohio, point of origin of Abel Helman and other founders, and secondarily for Ashland, Kentucky, where other...
, and continued as a branch of OSF until 1994. The company was originally known as "Oregon Shakespeare Festival Portland". Its first production was Heartbreak House
Heartbreak House
Heartbreak House is a play written by George Bernard Shaw, first published in 1919 and first played at the Garrick Theatre in 1920. According to A. C. Ward, the work argues that "cultured, leisured Europe" was drifting toward destruction, and that "Those in a position to guide Europe to safety...
. Dennis Bigelow was PCS's first artistic director and was let go by the OSF in 1992. A two year transitional process began in 1993, during which the OSF maintained a supervisory role over PCS. The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
reported that the OSF's artistic director Henry Woronicz "couldn't figure out how to integrate the two closely enough for his liking, and he was unwilling to have Portland go its own way without supervision".
The advisory board for Oregon Shakespeare Festival Portland was reformulated as the board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of the PCS, and Elizabeth Huddle was hired in May 1994 as the producing artistic director. Huddle had previously served on the PCS's search committee for a new artistic director, but decided to put her name in for consideration. In 1994 the PCS had a budget of US$2.2 million, and over 11,000 subscribers.
In May 1995 the company's financial numbers for its transitional 1994–1995 period with its new artistic director were reported to be a deficit of $240,000. The company experienced what The Oregonian described as a "jarring divorce" from the OSF. Huddle had been on the 1991 search committee for the OSF's artistic director Henry Woronicz, but he suddenly announced his resignation in June 1995 effective the following October citing "personal reasons". Huddle and the rest of the theater community were surprised by Woronicz's resignation. In 2000 PCS board president Julie Vigeland commented to The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
that after separating from OSF "it was a real challenge to form our own identity", but that Huddle "did a wonderful job helping us do that for the last six years".
2000 – present
Its current and fourth artistic directorArtistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
Chris Coleman took over in May 2000, and recruited experienced actors to the company. Coleman had previously co-founded Actor's Express in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, and was the artistic director there. Coleman initially signed on for a three-year contract. Before Coleman began as artistic director with PCS, the company was already the largest live theater production company in Portland. However, the organization was facing sporadic attendance at performances as well as financial difficulties, with a deficit at the end of 1999 of $700,000. In 2000 PCS had a deficit of $880,000 and a base of 10,000 subscribers. The financial position of the company later stabilized, and Coleman had a 2000 budget of $3.2 million to work with when he came on. A 2003 consultant's report, however, found that PCS relied more heavily on gifts and grants to fund its operations than its peers around the company.
Coleman hired the Portland company Sandstrom Design to help with marketing. Sandstrom helped to improve the promotional materials of the organization, while Portland Center Stage modified the nature and style of its performances. Sandstrom Design produced a 56-page flyer that showed the performance schedule for the 2003–2004 season which was mailed to subscribers, potential customers, handed out at performances and placed around town. The promotional campaign stressed the unique qualities of a live theater performance as entertainment over television and film. PCS's productions were presented in the Winningstad and Newmark theatres in Portland through the 2005-2006 season. Portland Center Stage moved to the new Gerding Theater at the Armory beginning with the 2006-2007 season.
Portland Center Stage began a $32.9 million capital campaign in 2004, with the goal of building a new theater complex in the Portland Armory, a historic building in Portland. The company began usage of the Portland Armory space in September 2006. PCS received $150,000 from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government...
in September 2006 for "renovations and upgrades to its facility", and an additional $500,000 as part of the "Portland Center Stage Armory Theater Energy Conservation Project".
The current theater facilities at the Portland Armory include "a 599-seat main stage theater, a smaller, 200-seat black box theater, administrative offices, a rehearsal hall and production facilities". The main theater in the Portland Armory is called the Gerding Theater. Seven productions are performed annually, from September through May. The company's productions include contemporary, classical pieces and modern premieres, in addition to a summer playwrights festival, JAW (previously known as Just Add Water/West). PCS has approximately 8,000 subscribers and an annual audience of over 90,000.
Productions
When Elizabeth Huddle became producing artistic director in 1994, a production schedule had already been set by the OSF's Pat Patton. Huddle made changes to her first season's schedule and decided to direct the first play of the season Arms and the ManArms and the Man
Arms and the Man is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's Aeneid in Latin:"Arma virumque cano" ....
, instead of the previously scheduled play Jean Anouilh
Jean Anouilh
Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1943 play Antigone, an adaptation of Sophocles' Classical drama, that was seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's...
's translation of Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
' Antigone
Antigone (Anouilh play)
Jean Anouilh's play Antigone is a tragedy inspired by Greek mythology and the play of the same name from the fifth century B.C...
. Portland Center Stage was nominated for "Best Production" in the 1994–95 Drammy Awards which recognize excellence in Portland theater, for Arms and the Man.
Huddle was artistic director for the world premiere of the play Comfort and Joy: A Play in Two Acts, which premiered at PCS on December 2, 1995. Huddle had commissioned playwright Jack Heifner to write Comfort and Joy, which was the first time that Portland Center Stage had ever produced a new play. Huddle ended her time with the Portland Center Stage company in January 2000. One of Huddle's final productions with PCS was a A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
, and her final production with the company was Bus Stop
Bus Stop (play)
Bus Stop is a 1955 play by William Inge. The 1956 film is only loosely based upon it.-Characters:Bus Stop is a drama, with romantic and some comedic elements. It is set in a diner in rural Kansas, about 20 miles west of Kansas City, Missouri during a snowstorm from which bus passengers must take...
.
Chris Coleman's first production after signing on with PCS in 2000 was the play The Devils by Elizabeth Egloff, based on the novel of the same name by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
. Theater critic Misha Berson of The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
described Coleman's choice as "an especially audacious departure for Portland Center Stage", though reviews in Portland media were mixed, it received a positive review in The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
and from audience feedback. Other productions in the 2000–2001 season included Martin McDonagh
Martin McDonagh
Martin McDonagh is an Irish-British playwright, filmmaker, and screenwriter. Although he has lived in London his entire life, he is considered one of the most important living Irish playwrights.-Life:...
's Irish comedy, The Cripple of Inishmaan, A Christmas Carol, Patrick Marber
Patrick Marber
Patrick Albert Crispin Marber is an English comedian, playwright, director, puppeteer, actor and screenwriter.-Early life and education:...
's Closer, and adaptation of Antigone, and the Northwest premiere of A New Brain by William Finn
William Finn
William Alan Finn is an American composer and lyricist of musicals. His musical Falsettos received the 1992 Tony Awards for Best Music and Lyrics and for Best Book.-Biography:...
.
Coleman opened the 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons at PCS with musicals. He opened the 2006 season with West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
, and the 2007 season with Cabaret. Other productions in the 2007–2008 season included Doubt, a Parable, Twelfth Night, and Sometimes a Great Notion
Sometimes a Great Notion (novel)
Sometimes a Great Notion is Ken Kesey's second novel, published in 1964. While One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was arguably the more famous of the two novels, many critics consider Sometimes a Great Notion Kesey's magnum opus...
. PCS received a total of 12 awards at the 29th annual Drammy Awards in June 2008, including "Outstanding Production" for Twelfth Night. Coleman opened the 2008–2009 season with Guys and Dolls, which The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
and Willamette Week
Willamette Week
Willamette Week is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Portland, Oregon, United States. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business and culture....
described as a timely choice in light of the Economic crisis of 2008.
Reception
In her 2004 guide Best Places Northwest Giselle Smith wrote that PCS "offers excellent production values, whatever the play". In his 2004 book Best Places Portland, author John Gottberg wrote positively of Portland Center Stage, commenting: "Portland's leading professional theater company is on a par with the country's best regional theaters." The 2007 guidebook Moon Handbooks Oregon notes that the company: "produces innovative and sometimes daring productions".External links
- Portland Center Stage – Inside PCS, Mission, Manifesto, History and more from the official website of Portland Center Stage.
- Portland Center Stage – About the Armory, Video Tour, History and more on the Armory building from the official website of Portland Center Stage.