by Clarence Hein Summer stock. It is one of the theater's most romantic images, with a plucky troupe of performers and technicians in a rural setting, living and breathing theater with communal intensity for three months. It can be a testing point and a turning point for the young artist who may be sweeping the theater in the morning and playing the lead at nighl. But summer stock also can be expensive and filled with staffing and staging nightmares. Jack Featheringil!. director of Portland State's summer program at the Coaster TheatN in Cannon Beach for the past I 6 seasons, has seen both aspects. Now, the physical, emotional and fiscal tolls exacted by more than 60 productions have tipped the scales. After a year of contemplation, Featheringi!! came to a difficult decision: to move the summer stock program from the Oregon coast to lincoln Hall on the PSU campus. There is no denying the excitement and special character of the Coaster program, Featheringill says. "But there were physical limits there. We had no shop or rehearsal space and we had to do everything with a minimal staff. And, simply finding housing for company members during the tourist season was a constant problem." Besides solving many of the logistical problems, the prospect of summer stock in the city gives Featheringill much to be excited about. Four main stage and studio productions already are planned for the first season of the new PSU Summer Festival Theater Company, a non-equily, professional company in residence at Portland State. E.. . entually, he hopes to include music, danceJ experimental theater and childrens' programs. SUmmer line-up Featheringill will begin the Summer Festival season with a reunion of three of his alumnae on the lincoln Hall main stage - linda Williams Janke, Victoria Parker, and Kelly Brooks, all prominent Portland actresses - in the recent New York hit, "Agnes of God." Featheringill will direct this show, newly released for regional theater companies, which will run from June 21 to July 13, Thursday through Sunday. 8 The second main stage show, "A Flea in Her Ear," directed by Twig Webster and featuring guest artists, runs July 18 to August 10. Tennessee Williams' "Night of the Iguana," directed by Featheringill, will be the third mainstage production, running from August 1 5 through September 7. A fourth production, this one in the smaller Studio Theater in lincoln Hall, will be "Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean," directed by Susan LeClerc. It will run June 27 through July 27. Previews for all summer shows will be on the Thursday evening before opening. The ...ariety of presentations and the use of guest artists are practices Featheringill began at lhe Coaster Theater. To round out his casts, he has called on professionals he has worked with during his own career on Broadway or actors he has trained at Portland State and at the Coaster. Curtain comes down o rises for Summer Festiv With the company now in Portland, the number of guest artists can be increased, and their function expanded to include some teaching. Remembering Coaster Along with the many pluses associated with the move to Portland, there will be a large nostalgia factor. The special feeling that evolved among the Coaster troupe, and many good memories from 16 summer seasons, will live on. Chief among them will be the 1975 season, a lime when "it all came together" in the minds of Featheringill and many alumni from that year. "It was a very strong company," the director says, "a highly talented group and a very special season." Members of that company are in New York, Hollywood and Portland, immersed in theater and television careers. Pam Roylance, who has been a regular on television's "Uttle House on the Prairie" and two soap operas, remembers, " It was a highlight of my life. We learned a lot from each other. " Terry Davis (now Terence Knox, a regular on "St. Elsewhere" for three seasons) said, "Jack Featheringill took me under his wing. He took a lot of time and ch<"lnces Featheringill left Jack Featheringill has called on three PSU alumnae and prominent Portland actresses It. appear in the Summer Festival Theater's first production, "Agnes of God." Making plans with him are (from lefl) Linda Williams Janke, Victoria Parker and Kelly Brooks. Jack Fcatheri ngi II took on New York some 30 years ago, an aspiring young dancer with his eye on a BroadwilY career. He was fresh from the break·up of a successful dance act: "We had constant bookings and a constant personality conflict." He immediately immersed himself in classes and "making the rounds," a routine that soon paid dividends. "I arri ... ed in March and in August I landed my first job," a member of the chorus for the first Broadway revival of "On Your Toes," with choreographer George Bal/anchine. There followed a series of da nci ng, singing and acting roles eventually leading to assignments as assistant director, casting director, and finally the opportunity to direct and teach while working principally as a production stage manager. " I worked with some incredible people - some of the most prominent people in our theater - during that time," he says. "Julie Harris, Jerry Herman, Frank loesser, Ethel Merman, Abe Burrows... people who have become legendary." A partial lisl of productions Featheringill worked on includes
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