About Us

History of the Ferndale Repertory Theatre

The Ferndale Repertory Theatre is the oldest and largest of the North Coast's resident community theatres. It is located in the small Victorian Village of Ferndale, in the historic Hart Theatre building, built in 1920.

Most theatre companies start with a core group of actors and directors looking for a place to perform... sometimes that means a storefront, a church basement or a school auditorium. In Ferndale, the theatre building came first, supported by a community that, in turn, invited in actors, directors and other artists.

By the early 1970s, the Hart Theatre building had been vacant for nearly 15 years. The community of Ferndale was experiencing an artistic boom, with scores of artists living and working in the town. When a group of Ferndale residents became excited by the possibility of renovating the old movie theatre as a play house, a remarkable and energentic community came together including businesspeople, merchants, artists, Navy personnel, farmers, ranchers. 

Among the early believers were Mrs Harris Connick, who led the effort, and Tom Dimmick, owner of the Hart Theatre building. Mr. Dimmick not only helped to fund the renovation work, but eventually sold the building to the non-profit group at a figure far below market value, finally gifting the building to the theatre group upon his death in 1998. Mr. Dimmick's generosity provided the company with a stable home, thus helping to ensure its continued success.

The Hart Theatre Building

The First World War was over, the soldiers were home, and the worldwide influenza epidemic of 1918 was beginning to fade, when heirs of the Hart estate determined to build a fine new theatre especially for the showing of motion pictures.

Located on the former site of Alford's Drug Store on Ferndale's Main Street, the new building wasn't even finished when Ferndale’s Postmaster Erickson declared that it blocked out the daylight so that he could "no longer do Uncle Sam's business at his present location." A few months after his complaint, which was front page news in the Ferndale Enterprise in the Fall of 1920, postal inspectors agreed and the post office was moved out of the shadow to a new location.

The audiences, however, praised the new theatre as ideal. It was one of the first theatres in northern California built specifically for the showing of motion pictures. Leased by the P&B Motion Picture Circuit, The Hart Theatre opened on December 8, 1920, with a showing of "The Mollycoddle", a lavish silent adventure comedy with Douglas Fairbanks, accompanied by a pianist hired from the Minor Theatre in Arcata. There was also a live show with "The Musical Thoms" (musical novelties galore) consisting of violin imitations and popular music played on ordinary bottles and soup bones. Admission was a quarter for adults and fifteen cents for children.

The Hart Theatre was in continual use for almost forty years, hosting touring vaudeville companies, as well as showing movies. Many Ferndale couples fondly recall their first date at the Hart. The movie house closed in 1956, and the building was vacant until 1972, when it was reborn as a community theatre during an era of particularly rich artistic growth.

The small community of Ferndale boasted as many as five theatres dating back to the 1870s. The Hart is the only one still in use. Despite a serious fire, many renovations, countless owners and several financial breakdowns over the years, it still stands today. And although it stopped showing movies, the building was never converted to other uses. It has remained a theatre for nearly a century.

Staff

Ginger Gene - Executive Producing Director

Ginger comes to us from Washington, D.C. where she completed her Master of Arts in Arts Management degree at George Mason University. While in D.C., she worked for the Washington Stage Guild, a professional theatre company specializing in neglected classics, new works of merit and the plays of George Bernard Shaw. She served as the Executive Director of the Tallahassee Little Theatre for two years, never quite adapting to the constant humidity, Humboldt County is her kind of paradise! She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Directing and Performance from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and she attended the Goodman School of Drama's Professional Actor Training Program. While a visiting professor of directing at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, Ginger served as Artistic Director of the Children's Theatre Series and collaborated on the original productions of Waiting for the Termite Man by Lowery Marshall and Tuxedo Junction with Mercedes Ellington, Karma Ibsen and the Erskin Hawkins Band. Having taught theatre and directed 73 plays and musicals in 8 states, Ginger is happy to be making her home in beautiful Humboldt County.


Marilyn McCormick - Education Coordinator, Past Executive Director

Marilyn, born in Johnstown, PA. in 1945, has been doing theatre all her life. Her brother and sister (who, by the way, are both in show business) organized BackYard Productions when they were children, performing for the neighborhood. Throughout her schooling she was involved with drama clubs, debate clubs, glee clubs, church choirs and entertainment fundraisers.  She went onto the prestigious Drama School at Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University.

Marilyn has worked at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., The American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut, the Sharon Playhouse in Sharon, Connecticut and the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA.

At the Ferndale Repertory Theatre, she has directed, stage managed, acted since 1982, and was a member of the Board of Directors, becoming its President until hired as Artistic Director in 1996.

Vikki Young - Costume Shop Coordinator

 

Board of Directors

Current Board of Directors

Carolyn Jones (2001-present) - Chairman
Wally Cooper (2009 - present)
Patricia Stanley (2006-present)
Steve Sterback (2008-present)
Dorothy Swendeman (2007-present)
Laura Hussey (2009-Present)                                                                                                                                                                          Nanette Voss (Present)                                                                                                                                                                                             Jack Mays (Present)                                                                                                                                                                                                Dianne Zuleger (2009-present)

Past Board of Directors

More than 100 community members have taken leadership roles by serving on our volunteer Board of Directors. All of the directors we have been able to document are listed below (note... our records are not quite complete... please let us know if you can make any corrections or fill in any gaps!). Those indicated in bold have served as Chairman or President of the Board:

Alice Allen (1974-1976)
Beverly Altman (1971-1972)
Lloyd Anderson (1976-1978)
Ray Anderson (1987-1988)
Suzan Anderson (1983-1985)
Judy Anderson (1991-1992)
Sarah Arana (2001-2004)
Philip Aycock (1988-1991)
Michael Bailey (2003-2006)
Isobel Berry (2007-2009)
James C. Berry (2007-2009)
Bonnie Bareilles (1990-1992)
Charles Beck (1973-1975)
Marilyn Benemann (1984-1990)
Robert Benyon (1978-1980)
Henry Bietz (1974-1976)
Bruce Billings (1997-1999)
Art Bravo (1974-1983)
Bonnie Breeze (1985-1988)
Michael Brown (1976-1981)
Linda Bucher (1988-1990)
Dinon Busch (1975-1977)
Von Hawley Butterfield (1991-1992)
Robert Caneday (1980-1983)
Anita Cannam (1978-1981)
Bill Chino (1990-1992)
Kay Cohn (2005-2008)
Harris Connick (1973-1975)
Marti Connick (1973-1977)
Tom Cooke (1990-1992)
Annette Cooper (1996-1998)
Ruth Crane (1971-1973)
Dean Cunningham (1998-2000)
Marilyn Davin (2007 - 2009) Ward DeWitt(1981-1983)
Demetrius DiStefano (2005-2007)
Barbara Farrell (1988-1992)		  Penny Ferry (1983-1987)
Jeannette Ford (1974-1977)
Janet Frost (1989-1992)
Marcia Fulda (1980-1983)
Kay Gilliland (1984-1986)
Gerry Gottschalk (1986-1988)
Renee Grinnell (2004-2009)
William Henning (1978-1980)
David Herman (1975-1976)
Dennis Hider (1985-1988)
Don Huckaby (1971-1974)
Janice Husband (1975-1977)
Dominique Jackson (1991-1992)
Phyllis Jones (1977-1978)
Albert Keller (1988-1989)
Bruce Keller (2003-2008)
Francine Klimchak (1984-1986)
Lori Knowles (2002-2003)
Bob Laizure (1973-1974)
Ron Lajoie (1996-1998)
Marilyn Lang (1977-1978)
Carol Larsen (1989-1991)
Jack Limmer (1973-1974)
Ann Mann (1971-1974)
Les Mann (1974-1976)
Ron Martin (1977-1983)
Carol Martinez (2001-2003)
Jack Mays (2002-2003)
Pamela McClendon (1983-1984)
Marilyn McCormick (1991-1996)
Virginia McDonald (1984-1985)
David McMurray (1971-1974)
Susan McShayne (2001-2003)
Arthur McTigue (1988-1989)
Patricia Medina (1998-2000)
Paul Mellon (1978-1988)
Dan Miller (1971-1972)
Gwynna Morris (1985-1987)
Lew Nash (1987-1991)
Bonnie Neely (1982-1983)
Pat Nilsen (1973-1980)
Joan Norberry (1981-1983)		  Melinda Nyberg (1986-1988)
Jenny Oaks (2001-2007)
Betty Ann Osborne (1987-1992)
Charlotte Ottoway (1971-1973)
Barbara Perra (2001-2004)
Sharon Phillips (1998-2000)
Patrick Porter (1998-2000)
Richard Reimers (1984-1985)
Judy Rich (1988-1991)
Lou Ring (1983-1984)
Don Roberts (1981-1982)
Gwen Roberts (1984-1988)
Richard Rosner (1977-1978)
Terri Russ (1975-1977)
Ron Satlof (1985-1986)
Emily Schmidt (1975-1976)
Julianne Sink (1997-2001)
James Van Ness Smith (1975-1978)
Midge Smith (1976-1980)
Richard Smith (1983-1985)
Jim Stanfield (1996-1998)
Monique Stevenson (1974-1975)
John Stewart (2001-2004)
Skip Stone (1986-1988)
Judy Sundquist (1988-1990)
Curley Tait (1985-1992)
Frank Taubitz (1996-1998)
Bob Thomas (1996-1998)
Jana Thome (1997-2000)
Ken Torbert (1983-1985)
Sarah Olson Turner (2003-2007)
Jarl Victor (1997-1999)
Jinx Victor (1997-1999)
Kurt Visser (1997-1999)
Janet Waddell (2001-2004)
Bill Walters (2003-2004)
Ruth Wayne (1974-1977)
Brett Worley-Smith (2001-2002)
Jan Young (1973-1975)
Vikki Young (2001-2007)