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, and dismissed the remaining debt 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
Marilyn McCormick - 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.
Gary Franklin - Technical Director
California born and raised, Gary's life was changed forever when he took that high school Drama class in 1967. This was followed by a degree in Theatre, with an emphasis on acting, from San Diego State University, which led Gary on to many interesting paths. Also an experienced technician, Gary did grip work on a feature film after graduation, which led to lighting work and set construction for television and film, which in turn led to a year on the road as Road/Stage Manager with a grand illusion magic show playing Las Vegas, Reno, Lake Tahoe and beyond. Gary next worked for six years as an actor, splitting his time between The Diamond Circle Theatre in Durango, Colorado in the summers, and The Gaslight Theatre in Tucson, Arizona, during the winter months.
Locally Gary is best known for his 9 year career as afternoon DJ on KHUM radio. After leaving KHUM he was General Manager of the Broadway Cinema in Eureka. Now, as Technical Director here at the Rep, Gary says he has the best of all worlds... living in Humboldt county and working in theatre at the same time.
Norma Lynch - Box Office Manager
Born in Los Angeles and raised in the beach cities of Venice and Santa Monica, Norma graduated from Venice High School. She moved to Humboldt County some 35 years ago, having worked in the newspaper industry for 10 years, the Candy Stick Art Gallery for 5 years, and volunteering for the Rep. She have lived in Ferndale for about 10 years.
Board of Directors
Current Board of Directors
Carolyn Jones (2001-present) - Chairman
James Berry (2007-present)
Isobel Berry (2007-present)
Kay Cohn (2005-present)
Marilyn Davin (2007-present)
Renee Grinnell (2004-present)
Bruce Keller (2003-present)
Patricia Stanley (2006-present)
Dorothy Swendeman (2007-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)
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)
Harris Connick (1973-1975)
Marti Connick (1973-1977)
Tom Cooke (1990-1992)
Annette Cooper (1996-1998)
Ruth Crane (1971-1973)
Dean Cunningham (1998-2000)
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)
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)
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)