Sacramento Theatre Company
Encyclopedia
History
The theater was originally formed as the Sacramento Civic Repertory Theatre in 1942, an ad hoc troupe formed to entertain locally stationed troops during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.Realizing success on a tour of local military bases, the Sacramento Civic Repertory Theatre aspired to a theater of its own and on October 18, 1949 it achieved that goal with the opening of the Eaglet Theatre, named in honor of the Eagle, a Gold Rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
-era theater, built largely of canvas, that had stood on the city's riverfront in the 1850s. As a "little theater," as community theaters of the time were often called, the SCRT's home was considered a little Eagle. The theater benefited from the patronage of newspaper executive and heiress Eleanor McClatchy, an enthusiastic theater supporter. It was also, briefly, the creative home of aspiring actor Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
.
The Eaglet became the Mainstage of the nonprofit Sacramento Theatre Company, which evolved from community theater to professional troupe in the 1980s. Now staging plays in two performances spaces, it is the oldest professional theater in Sacramento. STC, as it is known, has been instrumental in the careers of such regional theater professionals as playwright Richard Hellesen
Richard Hellesen
Richard Hellesen is a West Coast playwright.His works have been performed by regional theater companies including South Coast Repertory in Orange County, California, the LA Rep , the Denver Center Theatre Company, Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, City Theatre in Miami, Florida, and Geva Theatre...
and director Tim Ocel
Tim Ocel
Theater and opera director Tim Ocel has directed productions for organizations ranging from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis to Shakespeare Santa Cruz to Geva Theatre in Rochester, New York to the Georgia Shakespeare Festival...
.
STC-2 is the Young Professionals Conservatory founded in 2003 for actors ages 12-20. Saffron Henke, and associate artist of STC, directed the company for the first four years and directed several plays including A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
and The Tale.