EUGENE–Rehearsals have been underway for several weeks in preparation for the largest undertaking at University Theatre in many years. The mounting of "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" this spring will cap a year-long celebration of the 50th-anniversary season of theatrical productions in Robinson Theatre at the University of Oregon.

Not since productions were last mounted in spring 1975 at McArthur Court has University Theatre taken on a project of this magnitude, according to Jack Watson, head of the UO Department of Theater Arts. "Nicholas Nickleby" will be performed in two parts during the last two weeks of May and the first week of June, but it was cast in November and has been rehearsing since January.

As early as the Fall of 1998, ideas for celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Robinson Theatre began to take shape, Watson says. During the winter of 1999, as discussions commenced regarding the 1999-2000 season, the ideas coalesced into a single production that would involve everyone in the department and which would serve as a cap to the year and a fitting tribute to 50 years of inspired theater.

Many different plays were discussed, among them original scripts, classics previously presented here (including re-mounting "Winterset," the Horace Robinson-directed production which opened the theater on Dec. 2, 1949), or possibly a season comprising one play from each decade the theater had been open.

Watson says "Nicholas Nickleby" became the choice because of the quality of the script, the uplifting nature of the story, and the availability of production responsibilities for a multitude of people–faculty, staff and students.

"The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" was hailed as one of the great theatrical experiences of our time when it premiered in 1980 in London (1981 in New York). It won the Tony Award and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for 1981 and became one of the greatest theatrical triumphs of the 20th century. Because of its demands on a theater’s resources, however, the production, with its multitude of characters, is not often mounted and seen.

For the University Theatre production, a trio of directors has divided the directing tasks and are approaching the production as a collaborative effort. Watson, an associate professor of theater arts, is sharing directing duties with recently hired faculty member John Schmor, an assistant professor of theater arts, and Jon Cole, a doctoral degree student in theater arts.

Alexandra Bonds, a professor of theater arts, is designing and coordinating the costuming, with a coterie of nearly a dozen assistants. The production uses two production stage managers to handle the logistics of fitting 32 actors into 150-plus characters and keeping track of who is on stage as whom in each scene.

Jeff Radcliffe, a master’s degree student in music composition, is composing original music which will be played live on stage by students from the UO School of Music. Chris Wooten, a Master of Fine Arts theater arts student in design, is developing the scenery and props, and the lighting is by senior instructor Janet Rose, University Theatre’s resident designer.

"The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" will be presented in two parts beginning on May 18 and running through June 3. Part I will be performed on Thursday nights and at Saturday matinees, with a Sunday matinee on May 21. Part II will be presented on Friday and Saturday nights with a Sunday matinee on May 28.

Show times for "Nicholas Nickleby" are 7 p.m. for evening performances and 1 p.m. for all matinees. Tickets are available now in Eugene at the Box Office at the Hult Center, One Eugene Centre, (541) 682-5000; and on campus at the Ticket Office in the Erb Memorial Union, 1222 E. 13th Ave., 346-4363, and at the Box Office in Robinson Theatre at Villard Hall, 1109 Old Campus Lane, 346-4191.

For more information, browse http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~theatre. A taped message about University Theatre productions and activities also is available 24 hours a day by calling GuardLine from a Touch-Tone phone at 485-2000, ext. 2287.

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