James F. Miller Theatre Complex
- $9.4 million renovation and expansion
- $1.5 million lead gift from the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation
- More than 150 individual donors
- New experimental, black box arena: the Hope Theatre
- More space, technology improvements
A majestic spiral staircase doesn’t make a house a home—but memories of laughing children sliding down the bannister do. The same holds true for the buildings on our campus, many of which were constructed—or upgraded—thanks to private gifts.
Whether they are ancient and ornate with wainscoting and marble floors or brand-new with all the high-tech trappings, what matters most is what happens inside—the teaching, the learning, the “aha” moments that occur.
Ten years ago, the university broke ground on the $9.4 million James F. Miller Theatre Complex, made possible through a $1.5 million gift from the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation and matching funds from institutional and public sources as well as private gifts from more than 150 individual donors, including Gwen Lillis, who provided a $150,000 gift to the costume shop. The project included the new, state-of-the art Hope Theatre, upgrades to the attached Robinson Theatre, and more space.
At the well-attended groundbreaking ceremony held in May 2007, the excitement was palpable. The late Dave Frohnmayer, then UO president, said, “Performing arts is one of the cornerstones of the university. It is a carrier of the cultural traditions of a people, and it addresses the great, enduring questions about individuals and society.”
One of the oldest ongoing theater programs in the country, the first full production at the UO debuted in 1901 with the proceeds of the play donated to fund the fledgling football team. In 1915, the first “purpose-built” playhouse, the 200-seat Guild Hall Theater, was added to Johnson Hall when it was being built. In 1949, Horace Robinson, then assistant professor of speech and drama, advocated for a renovation of Villard Hall that would include the 400-seat Robinson Theater. But after 58 years and more than 1,000 performances, the facility was in dire need of an upgrade. Donors stepped up, and today the benefits of the most recent remodel are apparent every day—especially for faculty members who were here before and after the renovation.
The new Hope Theatre, an experimental black box arena with flexible staging, opened the door to endless possibility. “It changed how we think about what we want to do in a big way,” says John Schmor, associate professor. “We’ve changed the configuration for just about every play we’ve done, and that has been incredibly valuable as an experimental lab, not just for designers but for directors too, because the whole atmosphere changes with each show.” For example, in 2010, Burning Vision was the first production in the Hope that used the entire space in the round, including positioning actors up on the tension grid and in the space behind the pipes.
Stadium seating installed in the Robinson Theatre vastly improved the sight lines, offering patrons a clear view of the stage floor from every seat in the house, which made innovative, award-winning productions such as Metamorphoses possible. For the play, stage designer and former UO adjunct professor Brad Steinmetz filled the stage with three inches of water to create the illusion of the actors and scenery floating unmoored in a dark sea. A three-foot-deep trough beneath the surface allowed performers to swim under the scenery, entering or exiting unseen—an innovative approach that wouldn’t have worked before the renovation.
“I was amazed how the new shape of the auditorium affected the stage composition,” said Steinmetz. “It felt like we were working in a much more intimate environment where the audience truly sees eye-to-eye with the production, and everyone in the space, performers and patrons, feel that they are all together in the same room.”
The design garnered a Meritorious Achievement Award in Scene Design from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, and was selected for inclusion in the international exhibition World Stage Design 2013. Behind the scenes, enhancements came in the form of new costume and scene shops and expanded classrooms and storage space, as well as Americans with Disabilities Act–required accessibility.
For the first time, disabled students had access to the tension grid via an elevator to stage-manage the light board. Jeanette De Jong, assistant professor of theater arts, was a graduate student in costume design before the facelift and recalls the cramped quarters. “Everything was tight and you really felt it. It was hard to move around as people tried to move past each other,” she says. “The workflow now is so much easier.” More than double its original size, the light and airy costume workspace also features high ceilings with several large windows that let in natural light, which helps students distinguish the true colors of fabrics and how they will look on stage.
All these improvements add up to better teaching, learning, and production experiences, said Schmor. And these benefit everyone involved, regardless of their majors or what they do after graduation.
“It’s a good investment educationally because theater teaches people to pay attention to details, to show up on time, to respect deadlines and the always tricky work of collaboration,” he said. “More broadly, the best plays and productions open new horizons for compassionate intelligence about what it can mean to be human.”
—Sharleen Nelson, BS ’06
Dramatic Ducks
Alumni, with diverse majors, who were involved in theater at the UO
Kaitlin Olson, BS ’97, actor, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Mick, Finding Dory
Heidi Schreck, BA ’09, playwright, producer, and two-time Obie Award–winning actor, Nurse Jackie, Billions
Jeff Whitty, BA ’93, playwright, actor; cowriter of the Broadway hit musical Avenue Q, for which he won a 2004 Antoinette Perry “Tony” Award for Best Book of a Musical
Ty Burrell, class of ’91, actor and comedian (Modern Family, Finding Dory), winner of a Primetime Emmy Award and five Screen Actors Guild Awards
Greg Behrendt, BA, ’91, writer and comedian; script consultant on Sex and the City; cowriter, He’s Just Not That into You