I.F.C.C. — Blazing
Star of Portland
Theatre
by Jim A n ctil
Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (F C C )
is one o f the m ost exciting places in Port
land Th e place is abuzz with activities and
events; and people who have not heard o f
it cannot really consider themselves well-
inform ed culturally. Yet in som e ways it’s
one o f the best kept secrets in town. Mot
that that is the intent o f the management
— quite the contrary, they want to get the
word o u t They know they have a good
thing going.
But the F C C is relatively new on the
scene. As the word spreads, audiences and
participants are discovering a unique facil
ity for cultural events o f all kinds. Som e of
the best theatre in town has been taking
place there, plus theatre and dance class
es, music and dance festivals and art
exhibitions. Gary O ’Brien, Artistic Director of
1FCC, explained that the aim is the “show
casing o f Portland’s diverse cultural
com m unities through the arts.”
The IFCC, located at 5340 N. Interstate
Avenue, is actually an old firestation that
had been em pty for several years before
the neighborhood and the city got together
in 1980. The building was declared an
historic landmark, and the city with federal
funds took over responsibility for renovation
which was com pleted in late 1982. The
com m unity encouraged its developm ent
as a cultural center and under Charles
Jordan, then Com m issioner o f Parks and
Recreation, the Portland Black Repertory
Theatre and other groups made use o f the
building. The F C C continues to be funded
partly by the city under Com m issioner Dick
B ogle, partly by grants and donations, and
the rest by ticket sales.
With Sue Busby, F C C ’s Executive Director,
the Center has becom e a showcase house
for minority cultures and available for
booking by individual artists and theatre
groups. Th e F C C is also eager to develop
and produce m ore shows on its own with
out depending on outside booked shows.
Sue Busby, who cam e to F C C during
Jordan’s administration, has "a friendly,
outgoing personality which seem s to bring
people together from many walks o f life,”
according to O ’Brien. Busby is committed
to the cultural enrichment o f the comm un
ity. Her background in the corporate world
has helped put the F C C on m ore solid
ground financially. At the sam e time, she
has continued to encourage younger local
talent through the Student Production Com
pany (which grew out o f the earlier Over
look Acting Com pany). SPC is funded by
the Parks Bureau and offers classes in act
ing, tech, m im e, dance and workshop pro
duction to students ages 9-17. This year’s
production Glimpses will be perform ed ¿is
part o f Artquake in September. Terry Nelson
is Student Theatre Director.
Gary O ’Brien has been with the F C C since
1984. Upon com pleting graduate work in
theatre in the Midwest, he m oved to Port
land and becam e Artistic Director and co-
founder o f the New Rose Theatre. O ’Brien
recognized that Portland was the only city
o f its size without a truly professional theatre
company. After helping build the artistic
reputation o f the New Rose for five years,
O ’Brien resigned and joined the IFCC in
O ctober 1984 as assistant director in charge
o f public relations and media. Now as Ar
tistic Director he finds the F C C an aestheti
cally pleasing facility to work in. He enjoys
the stimulation and challenge o f drawing
larger audiences to the theatre and main
taining the professional level of work they
have begun to expect there. Audiences
are also increasingly aware of what it
Juat Out. September, 1985
os vf '©ornatqtyr îu o tea A
m eans to have culturally broad and varied
offerings in a multi-racial/multi-cuJtural soci
ety. In this sense, F C C might be compared
with the Group Theatre in Seattle and the
Mixed Blood Theatre o f Minneapolis.
This sum m er F C C offered its 3rd annual
Ethnic Dance Fest which featured authentic
dances, costum es and music from Spain,
the South Pacific, Sweden, Japan, the Phil
ippines, native American Indians, and
Africa.
In addition to dance, the F C C has an art
gallery which features changing exhibitions
o f ethnic artists. As part o f Japan Awareness
Month, the gallery presents “Issei Artists in
Am erica” through Septem ber 8. The work
o f six Issei (first generation Japanese-Ameri
can) artists covers a wide range o f styles,
subject matter and media, including sculp
ture, painting, drawing, and ceramics. Ad
mission to the gallery is free.
Recent exhibitions in the FC C gallery have
included Hmong pa ndao tapestry work,
costum e designs by Portland Opera’s Carey
W ong, works by local Black artists, and an
exhibition o f Scandinavian arts and crafts
which ran concurrent with O ’Brien’s success
ful production o f Ludwig Holberg’s Jeppe o f
the Hill.
Artists whose works are shown at the FC C
gallery are not charged a rental fee; they
are asked to donate one piece o f their
work instead. Thus, F C C is building a per
manent collection o f works by local artists.
In addition to Jeppe, other successful FC C
productions included Samm-Art Williams'
H om e, Medal o f H onor Rag, and South Afri
can Athol Fugard’s powerful Master Harold
and the Boys. Master Harold starred Rick
Jones, A. Lee Wilson and Dan Hays. For his
perform ance, Jones won a Willie Award.
Last season’s Children o f a Lesser God,
which used both deaf and hearing actors,
was probably F C C ’s most successful produc
tion. Directed by Rolhe Wuiff and Hank Stack,
Children received a grant from the Collins
Foundation for Deaf Theatre. The produc
tion was such an overwhelming success that
it m oved to Sum us Theatre where it sold out
every performance. The success o f the pro
duction is attributable, in part, to its accessi
bility to both hearing and deaf audiences.
(L et m e com m ent here: If the reader has
ever considered how seldom live perform
ances are available to deaf audiences and
how difficult it is for them to share the wide
c h o ic e o f entertainm ent that hearing
people take for granted, then it will be
clear how important this production was.
Please do insist that ¿ill public events be
signed — Gays and lesbians can show the
way to the rest o f the society on this matter.)
During our interview, O'Brien discussed
many aspects o f his own efforts as the Ar
tistic Director o f FC C . The m ost gratifying
part o f his work, he says, is reaching that
point in the production where “you see the
consum m ation o f your work for six weeks
— when the audience and the company
becom e mutually interacting — and the
adrenalin is flowing.” O ’Brien says he strives
to gather actors who can “deal with each
other on an open and honest basis.” He
feels that this encourages their best work
and that the F C C is an environment where
the individualism of the artist is allowed to
develop.
F C C ’s 1985-86 season is an ambitious
undertaking, to say the least Many ethnic
minorities, as well ¿is deaf and disabled
characters will be represented in a varied
schedule o f plays. This is IFCC’s first subscrip
tion season (for information call 243-7930,
voice on T T Y ) and all productions will have
signed performances.
The season opens in early October with
SteveTesich’s Diuision Street. The Resurrec
tion o f Lady Lester b Oyam O opens in
January; David Henry Hwang s Sound and
Beauty in April, and Staring Eiack by Susan
Nussbaum and Lawrence Perkins in June
86. A series of one-acts witn Passin Art in
Novem ber-D ecem ber will also be part of
the current season.
A celebrity fundraising event for F C C is
scheduled for Septem ber 21 at the Hilton
Hotel, with appearances by Mayor Bud
Clark, Darceile. Jonathan Nicholas and Neil
G oldschm idt It is worth supporting a valu
able new cultural facility like F C C
In the October issue of Just O u t I will
elaborate on each production of the F C C
8 5 -8 6 season.
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