Portland Center Stage bids a heartfelt farewell today to Graphic Designer and Webmaster Mariane Zenker, who has been with the company since the summer of 2005. Not only has Mariane been exemplary in her position as resident designer, juggling the many demands of PCS’s design and web needs, but we particularly treasured her creative spirit, her enthusiasm, and willingness to brainstorm and collaborate. Mariane always offered helpful suggestions with positivity and a sense of humor. Bryan Potter Design, a local company that focuses on art, sustainability, and progressive politics, is truly fortunate to be gaining such a dedicated and delightful new team member. While everyone at Portland Center Stage will miss Mariane very much, she has assured us that she will continue to celebrate opening nights with us here at the Armory. We wish you all the very best, Mariane. Bon voyage!

This is our second year of having an in-house telefunding crew at Portland Center Stage. Our crew is off to a fantastic start this year and are continuing with a lot of momentum! The crew started making calls in December and helped to make our year end appeal the best it has been in a long time! Thanks to our great callers, lead by Teleservices Manager Frank Barter, we are well on our way to doubling our donations from last year’s campaign.

People have been truly generous during the Holiday season and their gifts make a huge difference to Portland Center Stage and our community. Every donation counts and the generosity of people that donate to Portland Center Stage ensure that we will continue to create innovative productions, bring the nation’s best emerging playwrights to Portland for the annual JAW/West festival, and enhance our educational and community programs.

Contributions are an invaluable contribution to our city’s artistic vitality. Thank you to those who donate and to our great team of telefunders who help to make those gifts happen!

I am delighted to announce Creon Thorne’s promotion to the position of General Manager here at PCS! Creon has been with the company for fourteen seasons: first as Master Electrician; for many years as our Production Manager (overseeing Sets, Costumes, Lights and Properties); he served as our Project Manager on the design and construction of the Armory; and for the past 18 months was Director of Operations.

When Greg Phillips joined us last month as Managing Director, he and I began talking about elevating Creon to the GM role for a few reasons. Number one, because Creon has for all intents and purposes been playing the role anyway and this would acknowledge both his skills and committment to the organization. Number two, Creon’s internal focus on operations would insure that Greg can keep his focus out on the community and ramping up our fundraising efforts. Number three: Creon has given his blood, sweat and tears to the organization for many years, and deserves the recognition.

To all who work with him, Creon is described as calm, laid-back, unflappable and great with the details. He just gets things done, and is one of the most pleasant people to work with in the building.

Please join me in congratulating him.

Welcome to the New www.pcs.org!

PCS made the decision last Spring to abandon the old “online brochure” model of our website, as attractive as it was, and replace it with something far more dynamic, interactive and yes, to use a buzz word, more “web 2.0.” Rather than try to define that in words for you, here’s a fun video made by a professor at KSU (Michael Wesch) that describes what we mean by “web 2.0.” Once you’ve watched that, you’ll understand where we’re going with the following new features at pcs.org.

What’s in store?
Here are a few of the things you can do when you visit us on the web that you could never do before. What’s more, you still can’t do most of these things at most theater websites around the country. Just one more way PCS is changing the way theaters relate with their patrons and participate in building community. For more detailed instructions on any of these features, follow the links to a more detailed “how to” page.

• Sign in as a registered user…or not. Portland Center Stage respects your privacy, so we won’t require that you register and sign in to our site in order to have fun playing and learning there. If you want to get the most out of the social experience of interacting at the new pcs.org, however, you may find that you want to identify yourself in some way with your comments. more and how to do it

• Read blog entries from Chris Coleman, Artistic Director, as well as from cast members and other staff members at Portland Center Stage. We’ve made it super easy to pull up all of Chris Coleman’s entries straight from the homepage by clicking on a button that says “Chris’ Blog” near the top of the page. more and how to find other blogs

• Leave your own comments at the bottom of these blog entries. That’s right, your words can be left for the world to read on the “walls” of our website. We just ask that you be respectful and adhere to a few simple guidelines. more, including guidelines

• Keep up to date on the most recent comments from other users, including PCS staff and the general public. how to track recent comments

• Write your own reviews of the plays you see! The space for this is easy to find. From the homepage, just click on the name of the play you saw. When you get to the page for that play, scroll down and start typing in your review. more on reviews

• Vote in Online Polls about all sorts of things. more on polls

• View or download multimedia files from our accounts at Flickr, Myspace and Youtube. more on multimedia

Some things don’t change so much
Of course, you can still learn about past or upcoming shows, purchase tickets, make a donation to the operating fund or the capital campaign, read past newsletters and press releases or find out how to contact us here by phone or email. We are making improvements in these areas as well, and the architecture of our new site makes that easier to do.

So jump in, the cyberspace is warm and inviting and we want the new pcs.org to include reflections of you.

It’s official: we have a brand new Executive Director - GREG PHILLIPS! After a four month national search we landed on this fantastic new addition to the PCS team.

Greg brings a really interesting background to Portland Center Stage. Most recently he served as Executive Director for Broadway by the Bay in the Bay Area. In that capacity he dramatically increased contributed income and ticket sales and expanded education and outreach efforts.

But he also led the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center (San Francisco’s answer to the 92nd St Y) growing it from a $2M to a $7M operation and building a performing arts wing that presented an incredible roster of performers, writers and luminaries like: Mandy Patinkin, Maureen McGovern, Stephen Schwartz, Carl Reiner, David Sedaris, Desmond Tutu, Kurt Vonnegut, Wendy Wasserstein, Andrew Weil, Steve Allen, Sandra Bernhard, Eric Bogosian, Margaret Cho, Deepak Chopra, Spalding Gray, Ethan Hawke, Danny Hoch, B.B. King and the Kronos Quartet. Whew.

One of the things that we loved about Greg’s time at the JCC, was that he successfully raised $11 million for their capital campaign. And he’s already diving in to help with ours!

Artists liked working with Greg so much - that he decided to become an artists rep for several years and wore the agent’s hat very successfully.

In his early days, he made a name for himself in television, hosting and producing the first PBS home remodeling series, KQED’s Grin and Repair It (the forerunner of This Old House).

Greg and his wife, Megan (an attorney) have two kids:  his oldest, Marissa, is studying at the University of Oregon, and Taylor, his son, will finish high school this year. They became enamored of the Portland area a few years ago in their search for “quiet” - and bought property out in the hills near Sauvie Island. So, in a sense, the move to Portland will come easily for them.

Greg is a high energy, go-do-it kind of guy whose positive energy is just exactly what we need to help take PCS to the next level.

When you see him in the lobby or in the theater - walk up and introduce yourself!

Last week’s Portland Business Journal delivered the annual installment of their Corporate Philanthropy Awards, a listing of businesses that give heavily to local non-profits. And some of our best business partners are all over the awards. Check it out:

Topping the ranks of $10-50m revenue companies is Gerding Edlen Development, a major supporter of Portland Center Stage and the Amory Theater Fund. Not only are they #1 in the “Medium Companies” list, their cash contributions (in excess of $800,000 last year) would rate them 14th place on the highly competitive $50m+ “Large Companies” ranks. Wow!

Massive philanthropists on the “Large Companies” list include:

• our Main Stage Season sponsor, KeyBank
• our Production sponsor for A Christmas Carol, The Standard
• our Educational Programs sponsors, NW Natural and Umpqua Bank
• our vital corporate partners at U.S. Bank and Nike

Some other Portland Center Stage supporters who were recognized: RBC Dain Rauscher, Stoel Rives LLP, Vernier Software & Technology, PGE, Bullivant Houser Bailey, Saks Fifth Avenue, Norris Beggs & Simpson Co. and Miller Nash LLP.

Thank you to these businesses and all of the companies who support professional theater in Portland.

We couldn’t do it without you!