“Draft:Anchorage Community Theater”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The Alaska Community Theater is a performing arts based community based in Anchorage, Alaska. the group and its theaters began production in 1953.

History

Early History

Prior to the Second World War, there were no organized theater groups in Anchorage. Gertrude Mulcahy, a dance teacher, in addition to dance taught dramatics and elocution to children, and Maurice Sharpe, a chemist with the Alaska railroad, was involved in the production of a few short plays that were not associated with a larger entity. These small efforts did not turn into anything larger than one-off performances, however^[1].

Like many other places in the United States, community theater began to flourish following World War II. A group of like-minded theater enthusiasts met at the local branch of the United Services Organization to discuss the possibility of forming a dramatics group. Lloyd Cleaves of the U.S.O gathered others to assist in the production of a full-length play, to be fully sponsored by the U.S.O. This sponsorship mitigated the financial risk and fostered the creation of the Anchorage Little Theatre^[1]. The Anchorage Little Theatre was not only the first organized theatre in Anchorage, but in all of Alaska^[2].

Anchorage Little Theatre

Army Sergeant Bruce Marcus, a former actor with no directing experience, directed rehearsals for the Little Theatre’s first production: Ladies in Retirement. Marcus would often discuss the project with Charlton Heston, who worked at the Armed Forces Radio Station at the time, and was already beginning his film career, and Frank Brink, the Program Director at the radio station KFQD^[1].

Early in the production of Ladies in Retirement, Glen Dean Burgess, one of the lead actors for the show in the role of Albert, dropped out. Bruce Marcus began to fill in for the role during rehearsals while they searched for another actor. However, none was forthcoming. Heston declined the role because, according to Frank Brink, his work schedule prevented him from performing in the play. Bruce Marcus insisted that the production continue, since they had already advertised it in prominent local papers. As a result, Brink offered to take over the role of director so that Marcus could continue in the role of Albert. Four productions were offered from April 25-28, 1947, all directed by Brink with Marcus acting^[1].

Brink’s leadership was instrumental in the play’s success. He convinced members of the cast to take time off of work to rehearse during the day, in addition to evening rehearsals. The resulting performance was met with appreciative full-capacity crowds at the U.S.O.

The success of Ladies in Retirement gave the Little Theatre’s members confidence to continue without the support of the U.S.O. J. Earl Cooper, a prominent attorney in Anchorage, was impressed by the first show and joined the Anchorage Little Theatre as their Community Representative; among other things, he helped them to incorporate as a non-profit organization with the Territory of Alaska.

By the time of the Little Theatre’s second show, Our Town, the board of directors consisted of^[1]:

Also by this time, the membership in the production group had grown from 17 members to 58. The Anchorage Little Theatre provided a source of entertainment that was in high demand, and Our Town turned a profit of nearly $490.00, according to Anchorage Little Theatre’s audit of May 1948^[1].

Frank Brink was the creative leader of this new organization. He had graduated from Mayville College in Tennessee with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech and Drama^[3], and worked in theatre in New York. He also began a fellowship in the Drama Department at the University of North Carolina. Brink moved to Anchorage after serving in the Navy when he answered an advertisement to become the Program Director at KFQD.

Though Brink was important to the early success of the Little Theatre, once he took a new job at KENI, a new radio station in Anchorage, he did not have enough time to continue to be so heavily involved with the Little Theatre without being paid. Though the theatre was turning enough of a profit from their shows to maintain the theatre itself, it could not afford to pay a full time director position. Thus, Brink’s involvement with the Anchorage Little Theatre lessened for a few years^[1].

In 1947, the Anchorage Little Theatre became the producer of the first major chorus production in Alaska with a production of Messiah. In February 1948, the Little Theatre began producing melodramas and olio variety acts for the Fur Rendezvous Festival with several different directors. Later in the year, the theatre established the Anchorage Little Symphony, and later, the Concert Association and Community Chorus. The Little Theatre did not have proper direction to continue to maintain these music programs, so they eventually broke off as their own organizations. It is possible that had the Little Theatre been able to afford a paid manager, these programs would have been retained^[1].

Theater Groups

Population Expansion

Community theater groups in Anchorage had the opportunity to evolve throughout the decade of 1950-1960 because theater group development hit a “bang” when the population (the baby boomer generation - Baby Boomers) in Anch., AK experienced a 158% rise; starting from around 30,000 people to over 82,700. Because of the transition of living standards after World War II, and because the government was the main funding source for Alaska during its early community development, there was little entertainment for residents to enjoy, thus, the first main theater of Anchorage emerged, and was ran by the military. Further development of community theater allowed the community to become more involved, while also increasing funding.

Early Years

During the early years of community theater in Anchorage, AK, there was only one main theater: Anchorage Little Theater (A.L.T.), and eventually, throughout this decade (1950-1960), took place an evolution for community theater. A total of six different theater groups existed throughout the decade, which included A.L.T. The Alaska Community Theater (A.C.T.) was the second group to follow A.L.T., which was developed by Frank Brink, who was looking forward to developing the A.C.T. and community theater as a whole. The A.C.T. was supposed to act as a blanket program to multiple art and community theater groups throughout the community. Brink worked with other community arts and theater enthusiasts like Judge J.L. MacCarey, Lorene Harrison, and Mary Hale to try and expand this culture through this program. The idea of this program was to be that of a school for arts and theater; a foundation to help arts and theater flourish like music was able to do in A.L.T. during the prior decade. Brink was to become the coordinator/director of the Theater group and Drama School, while Hale was to obtain the role of music coordinator for the programs music sector, as well as the secretary. The team began to look for funding, but the A.C.T. did not succeed, however, and this was unfortunately partly due to the lack of funding they faced.

Collapse

A final contribution to the collapse of the A.C.T. was the establishment, and opening, of the new Alaskan Community College (A.C.C.) in January of 1954. Not only did the opening of the college pull from funding, but it also lowered the demand for small-community arts businesses. Now, although the rise of the Community College caused the theater and arts culture a setback, it also, however, allowed many opportunities for growth within the community theater and arts culture. These growth benefits became more evident as time prevailed, as the college built a large theater and Brink was eventually offered a job at the Community College as a faculty member. Brink was hired by the director at the time, Dr. Leroy Good, who also gave Brink the opportunity to set a foundation with funding for the theater. With this job came proud responsibility; Brink was given a chance to contribute to the construction of the history of community theater in Anchorage, and in his late life was given the title of the “Founding Father of Anchorage Theater”^[4]. In assistance to the honor of this title, was the event that Brink and Dr. Good came to an agreement which led to the development of the third Anchorage Alaskan Community Theater: The Anchorage Community College Theater Workshop (A.C.C.T.W). Per the agreement, the A.C.C.T.W became registered as a non-profit, educational organization in 1956. This agreement also allowed Brink to have the most control over the theater, and therefore the directions of the theater.

The fourth community theater group, the Anchorage Drama Lab (A.D.L.), was created in 1955 by Jack Wandell (a local radio announcer). Wandell was a member of the A.C.C.T.W., who wanted more freedom with his creativity. Finally, during the late summer of 1955, the last group to enter the scene of this decade was a nonprofessional theater group which went by the name of Elmendorf Theater Guild. This group was funded by the army-base (like the first theater group in 1950, A.L.T.), and turned over their profits to the base as well.

Theater Transition

Financial Troubles

It wouldn't take long for the theater to transform and embed itself into the culture of Alaska. In a fifteen year span between 1945 and 1960, there were changes that reflected upon the rise of the community theater. As the times changed, so did the theater groups. By the early 1960’s, the Elmendorf Theater Guild and the Anchorage Drama club no longer existed.^[1]

By 1960, the ACT had separated itself from the Community college. Their first goal was to establish a more permanent home. They seeked out Raymond W. Marshall, the former Alaska Airlines President to donate land southwest of Anchorage. This goal was achieved in 1960. Going forward, the ACT would make a series of financial and managerial missteps that would cause them great struggle over the years. One of their earliest failures, was to manage their own finances and fundraising. Without proper fund raising, the board was forced to take out a loan of $20,000 to build the foundation and shell of the theater. The goal was that by providing something physical for potential donors to look at, it would help spur donations to the ACT.^[1]

Through 1966 the theater remained a shell. With the advent of Alaska's 100th anniversary, Federal funding became available for cultural projects based in Alaska. The ACT was able to qualify for the grant and received about $66,000 to finish the building.^[1]

In 1964, the Anchorage Little Theater Had become the Carnival Civic Theater. Since 1959, the Teater had been suffering losses and was looking into selling the land occupied by the theater in 1960, just to pay their debts. Thankfully Jo Downs, changed the name of the group, in hopes of finding new audiences, however she did no re incorporate. She was able to get Stage group reactivate, that had seen intermittent success between 1957 and 1964.^[1]

Children's Performance Programs

One of the hardest communities to develop in Anchorage art community, was the children’s performing programs. For ten years of its existence, the Carnival civic Theater intermittently sponsored non accredited classes for the youth, with a focus on acting and music. The best known program for children, was sponsored by The Theater of Sight and Sound or TOSS. Even between 1967 and 1970, the theater was strictly a children’s performing arts theater.^[1]

Professional vs. Amateur Theater

It is difficult to determine the impact between both the professional and amateur theater programs in Anchorage. It is important to note, that these types of programs coexist within the theater community and do not compete on an artistic level, but rather for space. Space in both the physical realm (facilities) and the digital space, Media and audience support.^[1]

This balance between both professional and amateur has caused great concern among those involved in the non professional theater in Anchorage. ^[1]

References

1. ^¹²³⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²¹³¹⁴ Pond, Robert, "The history of community theatre in Anchorage, Alaska, 1946-1976" (1980). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 2977. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3985&context=open_access_etds/
2. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.washington.edu/drama/nwtl/alaska|title=Alaska Theatres|website=washington.edu|publisher=University of Washington Libraries|accessdate=11 November 2018}}
3. ^{{cite news|url=https://www.adn.com/arts/article/early-anchorage-theater-figure-dies/2009/09/22/|title=Early Anchorage theater figure dies|last1=Dunham|first1=Mike|date=21 September 2009|accessdate=11 November 2018|publisher=Arc Publishing|agency=Anchorage Daily News}}
4. ^{{cite web |title=Frank Brink |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/anchorage/article/Founding-Father-of-Anchorage-Theater-Frank-Brink-Dies-at-93-20091002}}