Exit, stage right

Cyrano's Theatre Company is well known statewide. Regularly voted by the public as the best live theater, they are known for producing work that is not only accessible, but also important, both socially and politically. Local actors remember their times on the little stage at the corner of 4th and D streets in downtown Anchorage fondly, and will often compare which shows they have performed there, even while working with other companies. For many artists, they have gotten their start in the space, or learned from the myriad of more experienced players that they have had the chance to work with.

Cyrano's Off Center Playhouse began in 1992 in a space that had originally opened in 1987 as a bookstore and a cafe. In the 25 years that theater has been happening in the building, founding members Jerry and Sandy Harper became beloved within the theater community of Alaska. Their company, Eccentric Theater Productions, became Cyrano's Theatre Company in 2005. CTC has created a high standard for itself, while holding true to its goal of nurturing regional talent.

Theresa K. Pond is the current Producing Artistic Director at CTC, and is also well known among those that make work in the theater their livelihood or hobby. She has worked with ACT, ATY, Out North, Perseverance Theater Company, UAA Department of Theatre and more locally, and stepped in to take over CTC when Sandy Harper announced her retirement.

Recently, Cyrano's Theatre Company announced that it would be moving out of the building that it has called home for two and half decades, and into the Out North Theater building on Debarr Road. There has been some confusion in the community about the situation because of the knowledge that Sandy Harper does own the building that housed the company for so long.

I contacted Pond to discuss with her what the move could mean for the company, and what direction she hopes to take it. While she is anxious about the loyal patrons of CTC finding them in the new location, she is optimistic, because some have already begun to contact her about the first show of the fall, ‘She Kills Monsters’, which will premiere in the new location at the end of September.

“It was one of these serendipitous events, once we got through our first year of transition, from the leadership of Sandy Harper, to myself moving in, Sandy was moving into retirement mode. She was renting her building, and traveling and writing, and the theater company was in a more independent pathway, because she was no longer running that,” Pond said. “Once it was us looking at the numbers and what the theater company needed, and with downtown rents being quite high. We are lucky, Sandy gave us quite a discount in the building. We started looking at what the future might be down the road, what the long range goal might be, if we ever considered moving. Then it happened, that the building that was the residence for Out North Contemporary Art House had been shut down for the winter, and the city was looking at what would happen with this building. It is owned by Out North, in a deed of trust with the city. So we were talking to them, seeing what was possible, and what they were thinking. After a couple of months, they came back to us, to see if we could anchor this building, as an arts center. Could this be our new home? That was a fantastic possibility for us, because Cyrano's has 25 years of an amazing legacy, and where do we go from here? How do we grow? Where do we grow, if we have more space artistically and with sustainability?”

Artistic growth and pushing boundaries is something that CTC has been known for in the past, and something that Pond feels should continue in the new location. The ideals set forth by the Harpers will continue on, and hopefully with a larger space they will get better. As Pond said to me at one point: “Isn't that the ultimate compliment to a parent? For their child to be more successful than they were?”

Pond also feels strongly about the impact on patrons and artists that CTC has had, and will continue to have. A sense of community is very important to her, especially in theater. Her mentor and father is Bob Pond, who quite literally wrote the book on the theater community in Anchorage. She took over for him at ACT in the 90's, and so she also has a 25 year history with theater, especially in smaller venues. She also has realized many things through her constant work towards maintaining relationships, professionally, personally and artistically.

“To work with other groups in the community is very exciting to me,” she said. “To have all ships rising together is the only way to have a healthy artistic community, or a healthy community at all. Anchorage is going through some tough economic times, there is a lot of fear in the air. The greatest art often gets created when times are uncertain. Let's see what we can do together.”

It's these types of productions that people have come to expect from CTC and she wants to continue that, not only for her company, but for all companies. She is excited for the opportunity to continue the Cyrano's tradition of hosting events beyond plays and musicals. With higher ceilings, the ability to move where the audience is placed, and having extra rooms and galleries, more possibilities are open to all that come to take advantage of the new location. “What's more exciting than to be in a place with multiple spaces, so that multiple artistic voices can be heard at the same time?” She said with a smile.

Pond is grateful to be taking over the legacy that Sandy Harper handed over to her, as it has given her the chance to focus on what her vision is: “Going through this process and transition, I really crystallized my vision. I didn't know that I hadn't, but when you go through a change, it makes you look at your values, at your center. What is your base? Why are you doing this? People asked me why I returned to Anchorage. I had been freelancing out of New York. I have said, I came home to build community in the arts. I need to feel an ability to build relationships. I was able to build off of what Cyrano's had been brewing and building.”

She also understands the mixed emotions involved with taking such a mainstay of the community and putting it somewhere completely different. “I know that transition and change can bring up a lot of feelings, people can feel uncertain, and wonder what it means for the future. It can allow the possibility for you to realize inside yourself, and around you, what you hadn't thought of. For me, what really crystallized was, having room to try new things, to take new risks. This space allows us the ability to leap and to try and to grow. When you have that possibility, an arts organization is even healthier.”

Pond has no plans to change the type of art that Cyrano's puts forth.

“We have a history of doing plays that look at social issues, community issues. I think that is a legacy that I am very proud to be stepping into the shoes with, because Sandy Harper had quite a vision, and was never afraid to take a look at the harder subjects,” Pond said. “We also do musicals, like later this summer, ‘The Great American Trailer Park Musical’. We can run the gamut on the kind of work that we want to do, or the shows that we want to put on, and what we think the community might want.”

It is this type of belief that has kept Cyrano's at the top of so many people’s lists when they think about where to go when they want to catch a great show.

With a new location, more space, and more stable finances, the team of Cyrano's Theatre Company is looking to the future with hope, excitement, and maybe just a few pre-show jitters, something that anyone in show business never really gets over. For Pond, she has one main reason to keep working hard, and doing what she does.

“There is a draw for actors and artists with Cyrano's and the high artistic standards, the really strong professional quality that comes out of it. The people that are drawn are the ones that create that, it is their energy and work that makes it. One thing I have realized through all of my years of directing. People are capable of so much more than they realize.”