The new building wasn't even finished and it was already blocking out the daylight; Ferndale's postmaster Erickson declared that he could "...no longer do Uncle Sam's business at his present location." And 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 of the new theatre being born. About Ferndale Repertory Theatre
The First World War was over and the soldiers had come home from France; the worldwide influenza epidemic of 1918 was beginning to fade and the Hart Theatre was being built by the heirs of the Hart estate on the former site of Alford's Drug Store on Main Street.
It was one of the first theatres ever built specifically for the showing of motion pictures in the Eel River Valley of Northwestern California; 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: a quarter for adults, and 15 cents for children.
Two first night audiences totalling 850 praised the new theatre as 'ideal'. There were five theatres in Ferndale, dating back to the 1870's; the Hart is the last of them still in use, and despite a serious fire, many renovations, new owners and several financial breakdowns over the years, it still stands intact today, now firmly planted in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Hart Theatre was the place for movies and touring vaudeville companies for almost forty years. Many Ferndale families started with a first date at the Hart. Closing as a movie house in 1956, the theatre was reborn sixteen years later, spurred by the village's economic rebirth as a center for the arts in California's spectacular redwood country. Although it stopped showing movies, the building was never converted to other uses: it has remained a theatre for nearly a century.
Making its home at the Hart, Ferndale Repertory Theatre is the oldest and largest of the North Coast's resident theatres and it is uniquely a part of the community.
Most theatre groups start with a core group of actors and directors looking for a place to perform; sometimes that means a storefront, or a church basement. At Ferndale, the theatre building came first, supported by the community who in turn invited the actors.
By the early 1970s a group of Ferndale residents became excited by the possibility of renovating the old theatre building as a play house. The new energy drew many elements of the commuity together, from business people to merchants to artists. Navy personnel came, and so did local farmers and ranchers.
Among the first angels were Mrs. Harris Connick who led the effort, and Tom Dimmick, owner of the Hart Theatre who not only helped fund the work, but eventually sold the building to the non-profit group at a figure far below market value, then dismissed any remaining debt owed on his passing in 1998.
One of the leading causes of closure among smaller theatres is rising rents or loss of suitable space: few theatres can say they own their own building outright. Tom Dimmick is truly Ferndale Rep's first and everlasting angel.
Ferndale Little Theatre (the 'Little' became Repertory in 1980) opened its doors with the old-style melodrama "Ten Nights in a Bar Room", on April 28, 1972. It had its first big hit two years later when artistic director David Herman invested $1,300 donated by the county Board of Supervisors into a memorable production of GODSPELL drawing visitors from as far away as the Bay Area. Other grants were received from the Lytel Foundation, the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the large lumber companies.
With a deliberately popular format including comedies, musicals, mysteries, holiday spectacles, fine dramas, and the occasional classic, Ferndale Repertory Theatre has produced many wonderful successes including famous performances like:
- NUNSENSE
- EVITA
- MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
- PUSS IN BOOTS
- ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST
- WIND IN THE WILLOWS
- STEEL MAGNOLIAS
The Ferndale Repertory Theatre has produced nearly 200 plays in 29 years.
Following a natural course, Ferndale Repertory Theatre periodically gives birth; this happens in many ways. Sometimes groups are excited by what happens on the Ferndale stage and break away to form their own theatre. Both local and more distant places have used FRT as a model for success.
In 1983 Ferndale Rep gave birth to another of Humboldt County's theatres. The late Charlie Morrison, who as director, had done much to assure FRT's early successes, had a dream of opening a second theatre twenty five miles away in Eureka with a different season. After an impassioned debate, a group of artists and board members left to found North Coast Repertory theatre in Eureka, further enriching the local theatre scene.
Actors come and go, personalities rise and fade, and careers are ignited at Ferndale Rep, but the old Hart Theatre remains: always ready for the next generation. Although there are always popular leaders, Ferndale Rep belongs to no single individual or group, but to its membership. Its doors are open and its here for everybody.
Under the direction of David Herman in 1983-85, FRT established a summer theatre festival in cooperation with College of the Redwoods. When director Peter Buckley took the reigns in 1985, he created a tradition of brilliant and beautiful holiday spectacles with sets designed by the gifted scenic artist Tom Roscoe, attracting notice from all over the world.
And world audiences have visited Ferndale Repertory Theatre: aside from celebrities who have enjoyed an evening of live theatre such as James Whitmore, Raymond Burr, Robert Foxworth, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dustin Horffman, Davide Odgen Stiers, and Rene Auberjonois, the building itself has been seen in a number of Hollywood productions filmed on location in picturesque Ferndale. "A Death in Canaan", "Salem's Lot" by Stephen King and the network sitcom "Hyperion Bay" have all had some exteriors shot here along with many commercials. The multimillion dollar epic "Outbreak" with Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo was filmed in Ferndale in 1994; the theatre made its screen debut playing the role of the State Theatre of Cedar Creek, the point of first public contact with the killer virus in the story. Warner Brothers generously donated a completely rebuilt Victorian style marquee for the front of the theatre, a welcome note of renewal after many years of peeling paint. Most recently, the theatre played a down and out sporting goods store in the movie, "The Majestic".
Ferndale Repertory Theatre is a non-profit educational community organization governed by a Board of Directors elected annually by its members. It has a full time professional staff of three who serve the community from the heart; At the HART of Ferndale for eighty years.
Ferndale Repertory Theatre
Post Office Box 892 • 447 Main Street • Ferndale, CA 95536-0096Tickets: (707) 786-5483 • Fax: (707) 786-5480 • Email: info@ferndale-rep.org
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