P R IN T : Arts& Culture
Wednesday.0ct.10,2012
# 5
CCC drama receives reboot, new instructor hired
ChristopherTaylor
Arts & Culture Editor
With CCC being a home to
many traditions and excellent
programs, many o f yoti no doubt
will know the theater department
to go hand in hand with names
like Chris W hitten and David
Smith-English. It’s a name and
reputation well earned.
Now, there’s a new name and
face attached to our beloved
program: James “Jim” Eikrem.
Eikrem comes to us after Smith-
E nglish’s recent retirem ent.
Eikrem’s track record in theater
seems to go back very far.
Eikrem is an Oregon native,
bom in Oregon City. He grad
uated from Rex Putnam High
School, where he received the Dr.
Rex Putnam Award as outstand
ing student in his class.
.. He then went on to Portland
State and finished his undergrad
uate work, earning a bachelor’s
degrees in Theatre Arts, as well
as English. He then attended the
Graduate Acting Program at New
York University’s Tisch School
o f the Arts where he received his
Master o f Fine Arts.
Recently, he completed cer
tification as an associate teacher
o f Fitzmaurice Voicework, which
is a comprehensive approach to
voice training that explores the
dynamics between body, breath,
voice, the imagination, language,
and presence^
It encourages vibrant voices
that communicate intention and
feeling without excess effort, and
brings together physical experi
ence and mental focus.
Soon after, Eikrem returned
to Portland after working as än
actor in New York, regional the
atre, and Japan, fie has also acted
and directed plays at Portland
area theaters including: Artists
R epertory Theatre, Lakewood
Theatre, Portland Center Stage,
Portland Repertory Theatre, and
Sylyia’s Class Act.
H e also taught/directed for
Portland Actors Conservatory,
Portland Com m unity College,
and Portland State as well as
numerous youth programs includ
ing CityArts, M etroArts Kids
Camp, and Oregon ¿Children’s
Theatre.
Impressed yet? I f not, there’s
more, much, much more. For
the last 10 years Eikrem has
been an Assistant Professor at
Central Michigan University in
Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Besides
teaching acting, m ovem ent,
directing, voice and diction class
es, he also appeared in numerous
productions.
He directed and created per
formances for CM U ’s University
Theatre as well as The Riecker
Literary Series, and directed
“Singin’ in the Rain” and “Peter
Pan” for the M idland Center for
the Arts in Michigan.
H e w rote, produced and
directed “Lines o f Reasoning”,
a sexual harassment awareness
video, which is marketed to col
leges and universities nationwide.
Eikrem’s track record is much
more than a mile wide, span
ning several states, and several
years. It’s apparent that he is
well equipped to. handle his new
position as .CCC’s new theater
instructor, hoping to fill the shoes
o f a m an with a ju st as impres
sive reputation for theater excel
lence.
“I ’m very excited to work here
at CCC,” said Eikreim “It’s gonna
be one heck o f a year.” Indeed,
he’s got some work ahead o f him.
With his track record, we can
be sure to expect great things
from him.
-5-
James Eikrem, the new theater teacher at Clackamas, is excited to get start
ed working, and is prepping fo r CCC’s first play o f the year.
Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
‘rounding up the wagons’
The McCoy & Noland Provisioned building is the third and final building
on the interpretive center. This building marks the end o f the tour.
Luke Frank
Associate Arts & Culture
Exciting things are happening
at The End o f The Oregon Trail
Interpretive Center these days. After
many ups, downs, closures, and
partial openings the final plan for
the center is coming to completioii,.
“It’s exciting,” said Jeff Glavor, a
volunteer worker at the museum.
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“To not have it open is an abso
lute shame. Everyone is excited
about moving forward.” The fund
ing for the project comes from
several sources: $81,500 from the
Lennox Foundation, $20,000 from
the Cabana Fund, and $10,000 from
the Juan Young Trust.
The facility itself gets about
12,000 visitors during a year. The
most popular time to visit is dur
ing tihe summer season. One of the
things to see is the heritage garden.
WEDNESDAY-10/10
• Event:
CHRYSALIS meet
ing; t2p.m. - 2p.m.;
RR 220
THURSDAY10/11
*■!
The heritage garden is a small
gem and reflects the kinds o f flow
ers, herbs, and vegetables that the
pioneers would have planted for
beauty and self-sufficiency. The
garden is fairly small, has a compost
pile, and is maintained by Oregon
State University Master Gardeners.
The OSU Master Gardners collect
the seeds at the end o f the year to
replant the garden, then sell in the
information center.
The hoops on the museum have
been repainted so that they look new
again after years o f neglect.
While the park has signage
depicting the history and short
blurbs on some o f the most note
worthy o f the emigrants, they are
being repainted and are set to have
QR codes on them for interactivity.
Two more signs might be placed
on the front o f the welcome center
with QR codes about the informa
tion center, museum, Clackamas
County, and the surrounding area.
“Our goal is to make it more
interactive,” said Gail Yazzolino,
administrator o f the site.
Also, one o f the more interest
ing changes is the fact that more
native tribes are being represented,
with their stories and interactions
with the pioneers better told in the
» new makeup of the center.
The three buildings that make
up the museum were built to look
like wagons and the interiors will be
redecorated and reworked to simu
late the beginning o f the Oregon
Trail through the end o f the journey.
Although the plans for the
museum are not yet fully realized,
there is a rough outline o f what
the museum will be like when it’s
done.
“We’re starting with what we
have and making it better,” said
Yazzolino.
The first building will represent
Independence, Mo. You will see
FRIDAY10/12
• Event:'Argo’
comes out in
| j | Theaters; midnight
• Event: The
RiRPIe EffectArt
Auction; 4-9 p.m.,
Mian St, Oregon City
SATURDAY-10/13
stores, places to buy oxen, and other
items o f time-period relevance.
Then, you will walk down a
hallway to the second building.
This building represents the jour
ney along the Oregon Trail. What
will be represented here will be a
very in te ra c tiv e m u ltim e d ia re p re
sentation o f what life was like on the
Oregon Trail.
In the third building, you will
finally reach Oregon City. There,
you will see a Bureau o f Land
Management office where you can
buy property. There are stores where
you can buy supplies to survive
the long winter ahead of you and a
blacksmith as well.
The plans for the museum seem
to be in flux at this time. Yazzolino
has been procuring the funding
that had been badly needed for the
• Event: Concrete
Leaf Casting; Clairmont
117; 9a.m.-11;50 a.m.
m o re s m o o th ly ,” c o m p a re d to p a s t
administrations.
Palzer also added “The old man
agement didn’t want to change any
thing. People in general don’t like
changes.”
As o f now, only the welcome
center is open, the museum por
tion of the facility is still closed.
The museum will not be closed for
long though; it’s set to open July
2013 as they are ramping up for
when the Oregon-California Trails
Association comes to visit Oregon
City for a convention.
F resh M ade D eli San dw iches
Salad s » E sp resso • Sm oothies
P ie s » P a str ie s « Coffee
OPEN
Tuesday-
Friday
O
Saturday
8&m-6pm
Closed Sun
& Mon
19273-C Molalla Ave
Oregon City, OR 97048...,
503.518,0110
w w ju stab itecafB .com
Si **’*t'‘ "s °n
Deal D e liv e r y A v a ila b le
Lunch M eetin g S p ecia ls (fa x your o rders to 503.5 1 8 .0 0 8 2 )
SUNDAY-10/14
. • Event: For all
Those Sleeping/
Upon this Dawning
Concert,; Hawthorne
Theater,Portland, OR;
7p.m.
facility almost single handedly,
according to Yazzolino’s right-hand
woman, Kathryn Palzer.
“Gail got the ball rolling and
the funding back on track,” Palzer
also states that “Things are done
more democratically.” and “Flows
ME
M0NDÂY10/15 ?
TUESBAY-10/16
• Event: PDX Jazz;
Jimmy Mak's; 7p.m.
¿Ss
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