The (^dcamas Print Pg. 3
Feature
Wednesday, January 12,1994
Drama students experience success after college
-by Andrea Smith
Staff Writer
The Theater Depart
ment at Clackamas Community
College has had its share of
former student success stories.
Some have pursued acting, oth
ers set design, directing, and
theater administration.
Among the many ac
complished former theater ma
jors, three people have made an
outstanding contribution to the
arts.
Patrick Sterling left
Clackamas in 1986 to attend
Southern Utah University on a
full scholarship for his work in
theater. While at Utah, he re
ceived awards for “Best Actor of
the Year” in both 1986and 1987.
After graduation, he
worked in Las Vegas at the
Excalibur Resort Hotel. There
he performed stage shows, pup
pet shows, juggling and did
crowd warm-up for the
Excalibur’s trademark “King
Arthur Review."
Sterling’s longtime
friends Diana Bauer and Neil
Hass went to Las Vegas to see
the show. “Pat did this imper
sonation of Phil Hartman doing
Ed McMahon,” Bauer said. “It
was really funny. It’s hard to
impersonate someone imperson
ating someone else.”
After a successful stay in
Vegas, Sterling was asked to work
for a resort in Sun City, Botswana
in Africa. He has remained in
South Africa as an entertainer at
the Sun City Theater. There he is
acast member for the variety show
"Viva Sun City."
Although he is enjoying
his work, Bauer said he “is home
sick. He has a lot of good friends
here.”
Sterling came back to
Clackamas in 1990 to portray the
part of Reverend T. Laurence
Shannon in the college’s produc-
her degree in business. She was
eligible for a woik-study job, and
because she didn’t want to be a
secretary, she asked Jack Shields
for work in the theater depart
ment.
“Jack gave me a big bear
hug and said he wanted me to be in
charge of costumes. I told him I
didn’t know anything about cos
tuming. I didn’t even know how
to sew! But, Jack had confidence
in me. He is so incredibly support
ive,” Lewis said.
Lewis continued her edu
cation at Portland State Univer
children all over Oregon and
Southwest Washington,” Lewis
said.
“I get to use my theater
experience and my business back
ground in this job. I help artists
figure out the best way to present
their work to kids, I’m involved
with sales and marketing and I’m
an administrator.
“I couldn’t have done it
without Clackamas’ theater de
partment,” Lewis continued.
“My experience there
gave me the confidence I needed.
In theater arts, you learn how to
H--------------------------------
I was a fragmented artist trying to find myself... I had no idea
going to a community college was going to make that much of a
difference in my
life.
n ,
•*
- Dennis Poore
Former CCC drama student
------------------ --------------H
tion of Tennessee Williams’ "The
Night of the Iguana."
“Pat has a lot of respect
for Jack Shields (Chairman of
Communication and Theater
Arts). They became really close
friends. That’s one reason Pat
came back to do ‘Night’,” Bauer
said.
Lynn Myers Lewis
graduated from Clackamas in
1984. She had been a secretary
before returning to school to earn
sity. Though she remained abusi-
ness major, she wanted to be in
volved- with theater and eventu
ally decided to pursue a double
major.
That decision was a good
one, as she is now thé program
directorfor "Young Audiences," a
non-profit organization to promote
the arts to children.
“‘Young Audiences’
hires professional artists to bring
a variety of art forms to school
think, how to be creative, and to
work with others,” she said.
-
Dennis Poore, a 1988
graduate, is a free-lance designer
and special effects expert for the
ater and movie projects in the
Portland area. He has been the set
design artist for 106 plays in local
theaters including the Storefront,
New Rose, Winningstad,andPort-
land Repertory Theater.
In the last three years,
Poore has held various titles while
working on the sets of 24 films.
He has been the Head Scenic
Artist, Prop Master or Special
Effects Artist for movies like
“Body of Evidence”, “The
Temp”, and the soon-to-be-re
leased “Imaginary Crimes.”
“I hardly ever see the
movies I work on,” Poore said.
In the years before his
design work, Poore was an actor.
He had roles in “East of Eden”
starring James Dean, Alfred
Hitchcock’s “The Birds”, “Paint
Your Wagon” with Clint
Eastwood, and 19 other films.
He was also in six epi
sodes of the television series“The
Streets of San Francisco.”
“I’m not an actor any
more,” Poore said.
“I was never a very serious
actor. I lived next door to the set
for ‘East of Eden’, that’s how I
got a part. My friends and I used
to follow James Dean around.
“I came to Clackamas
Community College on the ad-
viceofafriend,”Pooreexplained.
“I was a fragmented art
ist trying to find myself. Jack
Shields said I should be a techni
cal director. I listened to him so
long I became one.
"I had no idea going to
a community college was going
to make that much difference in
my life,” Poore concluded.
S hort O f D ispensing
D iplomas , T hey C ouldn ’ t M ake
C ollege M ore A ffordable .
[ no U bank ATM F ees ]
Ah, college. That unforgettable
machines. Never used an ATM?
period of learning through academic
Don’t worry, we’ll teach you. And
instruction and real life experiences.
almost anything you can’t do at an
Of course the first lesson many students
ATM, you can do by calling U.S.
learn is that “real life” is expensive. Food
Customer Service at 1 800 US
costs money. Laundry costs money.
BANKS. Maybe best of all. this
And if you use the wrong bank’s
UBANK account comes with no
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monthly maintenance charges or
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With that in mind, we’d like
See there, college doesn’t have to be
to invite you to open a UBANK®
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tough. Just stop by a U.S. Bank branch before October 30th and
or check your balance at over 1,000 UBANK ATMs
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at your nearest branch tor no extra tee at all.
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