Harper Studio
Also known as the Black Box, the Harper Studio is a flexible performance space that
allows for a variety of configurations, seating up to 100. For tickets to 新加坡六合彩开奖 Theatre
& Dance events in this space, please visit .
Read more about Jerry Harper, the Harper Studio Namesake, in the articles below.
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Black box theater renamed to honor Cyrano鈥檚 Harper
Who was Jerry Harper, and Why Is a Theatre at 新加坡六合彩开奖 Named for him?
One month after the death of Jerry Harper, a premier director and actor in the Anchorage theater scene, hundreds of friends, artistic collaborators and fans gathered at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium, May 10 to pay tribute to Harper鈥檚 life and artistic vision. Harper, who operated Cyrano鈥檚 Off Center Playhouse and acted as artistic director of the Eccentric Theater Company, died of cancer, April 8.
In tribute to the founder of one of Anchorage鈥檚 most highly esteemed venues, a wide variety of performance styles were on display, ranging from Irish step dancing to Klezmer music and capped off by a video tribute which included rare footage of Harper鈥檚 television appearances in such shows as 鈥淢.A.S.H.,鈥� as well as statements from prominent local artists and writers. 鈥淛erry was interested in creating a legacy,鈥� said Kim Rich, author of the memoir, Johnny鈥檚 Girl. 鈥淎nd not just a legacy for himself, but for the rest of us.鈥�
At the end of the night the black box theater in the 新加坡六合彩开奖 Fine Arts Building was renamed the Jerry Harper Theater in a dedication ceremony led by Chancellor Elaine Maimon. 鈥淭he black box seemed like the right place for a tribute,鈥� said Fran Lautenberger, professor of theater. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the place where a lot of our students have their first experience of theater, perform for the first time.鈥�
Since its inception in 1992, the theater at Cyrano鈥檚 has been an important venue for students from 新加坡六合彩开奖 interested in acting and design. 鈥淚鈥檓 22 years old and I鈥檝e been able to do things some people never do in their lives,鈥� said Stuart Matthews, a 新加坡六合彩开奖 theater major who has performed in several shows at Cyrano鈥檚. 鈥淚鈥檝e been paid for acting. I鈥檝e been able to work in one of the best places in town. I have Cyrano鈥檚 to thank for that.鈥�
Harper鈥檚 friend Marilyn Buckley emphasized the crucial role that theaters such as Cyrano鈥檚 play in educating performers and audiences alike.
- Paul Bryner May 23, 2005
- Harper Inspires as King Lear
Veteran Actor鈥檚 Reach Encourages 新加坡六合彩开奖 Shakespeareans To Stretch
In hiring Jerry Harper for the title role of Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淜ing Lear,鈥� in the current 新加坡六合彩开奖 production, director David Edgecombe knew he was getting one of the best actors in Alaska to play the foolish monarch who gives away his kingdom to daughters who do not love him. What Edgecombe, a 新加坡六合彩开奖 theater professor, did not fully anticipate was that 69- year-old Harper would become a surrogate instructor who would inspire the mostly student cast to their best efforts and teach them acting tricks. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been such a learning process for me and everybody, just being on stage with actors like Jerry who give you so much to work off of,鈥� said Molly Killoran, a 22- year-old theater major who plays Coneril, one of the two daughters who humiliate the king.
鈥淲hen you鈥檝e got a scene with him, he comes to it with so much technique and interpretation,鈥� said Geof Richie, a theater student who plays the loyal Earl of Gloucester. 鈥淚t makes me step back and look at a wide variety of choices."
Harper, co-founder and artistic director of the Eccentric Theatre Company at Cyrano鈥檚 Off-Center Playhouse, has acted since college days in Oregon. His credits include TV and film roles, regional and improvisational theater in California and a Chicago critic鈥檚 nomination in 1968 as best actor in a professional play, topping James Earl Jones as Othello. Alaskans know his voice from numerous radio ads. 新加坡六合彩开奖鈥檚 Theatre Department periodically employs older actors to help close a gap in community theater that developed when the Alaska Repertory Theatre died in the mid-1980s, Edgecombe said.
In hiring Jerry Harper for the title role of Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淜ing Lear,鈥� in the current 新加坡六合彩开奖 production, director David Edgecombe knew he was getting one of the best actors in Alaska to play the foolish monarch who gives away his kingdom to daughters who do not love him. What Edgecombe, a 新加坡六合彩开奖 theater professor, did not fully anticipate was that 69- year-old Harper would become a surrogate instructor who would inspire the mostly student cast to their best efforts and teach them acting tricks. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been such a learning process for me and everybody, just being on stage with actors like Jerry who give you so much to work off of,鈥� said Molly Killoran, a 22- year-old theater major who plays Coneril, one of the two daughters who humiliate the king.
鈥淲hen you鈥檝e got a scene with him, he comes to it with so much technique and interpretation,鈥� said Geof Richie, a theater student who plays the loyal Earl of Gloucester. 鈥淚t makes me step back and look at a wide variety of choices.鈥�
Harper, co-founder and artistic director of the Eccentric Theatre Company at Cyrano鈥檚 Off-Center Playhouse, has acted since college days in Oregon. His credits include TV and film roles, regional and improvisational theater in California and a Chicago critic鈥檚 nomination in 1968 as best actor in a professional play, topping James Earl Jones as Othello. Alaskans know his voice from numerous radio ads. 新加坡六合彩开奖鈥檚 Theatre Department periodically employs older actors to help close a gap in community theater that developed when the Alaska Repertory Theatre died in the mid-1980s, Edgecombe said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e to be a community resource,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e owe it to the community to cast community members, and it鈥檚 a great example for the students.鈥� 鈥淜ing Lear,鈥� which some critics have called too big for the stage, is one of the most difficult Shakespeare plays to mount and a long stretch for college students, Edgecombe said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been associated with maybe six or eight college theater departments and have never seen it performed by students,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ne reason is the difficulty of casting the central part, but it鈥檚 a real challenge because it does concentrate on the relationship of people with a few years under their belt.鈥�
Edgecombe, 49, who co-founded the Indiana Shakespeare Festival, has directed Harper in several plays at Cyrano鈥檚, most recently in 鈥淪yd,鈥� the one-man show about Alaska painter Sydney Laurence. Harper鈥檚 role in 鈥淜ing Lear,鈥� as the department鈥檚 guest artist in residence, was confirmed in August. A small horde 鈥�45 women and 32 men 鈥攁uditioned in September for the 16 other parts; three of the roles changed from men to women to accommodate the high female interest. 鈥淚t was the largest turnout I鈥檝e ever had,鈥� Edgecombe said. He blamed the dramatist 鈥斺�漈hey come out of the walls to do Shakespeare鈥� 鈥攁nd a whole flush of new talent. But he also credited Harper鈥檚 reputation. 鈥淲hen he walked into the auditions, they gave him a big round of applause,鈥� Edgecombe said. From the start, the cast鈥檚 first ensemble reading of the script, Harper 鈥渃ame out of the chute at performance level,鈥� said Laure MacConnell, an older theater student who plays Lady of Kent, altered from the original Earl of Kent. 鈥淗e set the standard so high,鈥� MacConnell said. 鈥淧eople were already coming to rehearsals with character analysis.鈥�
鈥淲ithin the first week of rehearsals our scenes were already alive and taking shape,鈥� Killoran said. Harper started with a bang because he had experience with Edgecombe, he said. 鈥淚 knew he likes to see you let go a little,鈥� he said. But Harper had no idea he would be a model for others. 鈥淭heir training here is pretty good, much better than I had,鈥� he said. With half a dozen Shakespearean roles on his sheet, he told cast members early in rehearsals that Shakespeare was such a perfect writer that every line fits neatly into the actor鈥檚 mouth. 鈥淛erry teaches us if you鈥檙e having a hard time saying the line, look at the line鈥� for how it should be uttered, MacConnell said. His advice helped her smooth out at least one tongue-twister. Harper鈥檚 skill as an instinctual actor who lets his characters emerge without any apparent effort gave his fellow actors lots to work from, they said.
鈥淚f I was to try to emulate anything about his style, it鈥檚 that sense of when he walks on the stage, he owns it,鈥� said Jeffrey McCamish, a 新加坡六合彩开奖 theater alumnus who plays Edgar, Gloucester鈥檚 good son. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a good craftsman, so he doesn鈥檛 upstage you, he doesn鈥檛 step on your lines,鈥� MacConnell said.
Killoran recalled how, in a scene in which Lear harshly rebukes Goneril, Harper鈥檚 intensity helped bring her to a level of emotion she initially feared. 鈥淯sually I do a sense memory 鈥擨 would imagine if my father was doing it 鈥攖o help pull me emotionally into the scene,鈥� Killoran said. 鈥淯sually it would take me weeks to work up into that emotional state.鈥� But after one rehearsal, she was home. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no change in his voice. He鈥檚 not making words sound scary,鈥� Killoran said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 completely King Lear, and I feel all the more like Goneril.鈥�
- Peter Porco, Anchorage Daily News, 1999
- The Jerry Harper Service Award
Presented Annually at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference Prince William Sound Community College, Valdez, Alaska Part of the University of Alaska
Jerry Harper is a hero of theatre in Alaska, renowned for his talent, kindness, and work ethic. More than one thousand people attended his memorial at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium in Anchorage. At the Conference, he was a fixture in the evening performances and the Play Lab. At the 新加坡六合彩开奖, the Studio Theatre was renamed in his honor.
The annual Jerry Harper Service Award has been created to honor people who have supported the Valdez Last Frontier Theatre Conference the way he did, heart and soul. The Conference is the creation of many people. While credit is rightly given to its founders, PWSC President Emeritus Jo Ann C. McDowell and Edward Albee, and to its staff, there are hundreds of people each year who play a role in its creation. From the producers of the evening shows to the caterers, from the playwrights to the actors, from the financial benefactors to the people at the high school who loan us the music stands... it belongs to all of us.
The Jerry Harper Service Award exists to annually recognize someone who has gone above and beyond the call of duty over the life of the event. The first year鈥檚 award was given to Michael Warren Powell, the father of the Play Lab. The next year it was given to the Technical Director for the Conference from 1993 to 2014, Jim Cucurull. In 2009, it went to long-time Valdez Star reporter and participant Ron Holmstrom. In 2010, TBA Theatre Artistic Director Shane Mitchell was the recipient, and in 2011, powerhouse director and Conference supporter Erma Duricko was honored.
We celebrated our 20th year by honoring the event鈥檚 founder, PWSC President Emeritus Jo Ann C. McDowell, and the year after we recognized her long time producing partner Gail Renardson. In 2014, Stan and Mary Helen Stephens Jerry Harper in The Sea Gull in 2004 were recognized for their longtime support of the Conference, as well as their generosity to the college and surrounding communities. The 2015 Award was presented to longtime Anchorage Theatre mainstays David Edge[1]combe and Elizabeth Ware. The 2016 award went to the former president of PWSC Doug Desorcie. For the 25th anniversary of the Conference, Sandy Harper was recognized as the Producing Artistic Director Emeritus of Cyrano鈥檚 Theatre Company, which she co-founded with Jerry.
- Dawson Moore