Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Sue Parks-Hilden: She's entertainment!

Photos and story by James Hill

by James HillActing can be about projection. On a theater stage, an actor must project the voice, be heard by all. For Sue Parks-Hilden, a resident of Lake Oswego, her enthusiasm for the theater projects loud and clear.In what could be her final musical production at PCC, Parks-Hilden is a flurry of activity to help her students learn the nuances of theater.It’s simply second nature for this theater pro who was practically born into show biz. Her mother is a seamstress and lover of theater, and her father a trumpet player on steam line ships. Her first effort on stage came in high school, when she performed a comedy skit, "Let me entertain you, " from The Gypsy. Her mother made her costume, she got up to perform, and people just stared at her, not reacting to her humor.But when she began singing, people stood up and cheered."I found out then I had a great voice,"she said. "From that point on I was heavily involved in singing and musical parts."At the University of Oregon, she was into musical theater and performed in Eugene’s Carnival Theater. The theater bug continued throughout her career and has been an instrumental part in productions with the Portland Civic Theater, Oregon Children’s Theater and Triangle Productions.When she moved on to become an adjunct English instructor at the Cascade Campus in 1973, teaching an acting class. Her class hosted popular noontime performances in Terrell Hall for staff and students. They all loved it."After I did that class, the guy here retired early and the rest as they say is history,"she said, surveying her Performing Arts Center office. "They saw that I had taught an acting class and had a reputation in town and a master’s degree. I was very lucky because jobs like this are few and far between."She was hired full time by PCC in 1976 to teach theater arts and has been going strong ever since. What a history it has been. Since her hiring, she has put on nearly 100 productions, from her start at the Rock Creek Campus to Sylvania, where she was instrumental in the planning of state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center. "I didn’t do it for me,"she warns. "I’m emotionally invested in this place. The five years of planning was a labor of love."Her first production in the PAC was "Noises Off,"which required a two-story set that was exposed, revolving around for the entire audience to see. "The paint was still wet,"she said. "I remember Alice (Jacobson, Sylvania Campus executive dean) came in hours before the first show and I was still painting the thing."But 23 shows later in the facility, Parks-Hilden still feels the electricity of planning and producing a play. This winter term she has been helping students prepare to produce "Cabaret"The PCC Theater Arts department presents the famous musical at 7:30 p.m., March 7-9 and 13-15 in the Performing Arts Center on the Sylvania Campus, 12000 S.W. 49th Ave. The show on Sunday, March 9 will be at 2 p.m. and on Thursday, March 13 the play will be interpreted for the hearing impaired. "Cabaret"features an emcee who leads the audience through a wild and decadent journey into Berlin’s Kit Kat Club in 1929. The play follows the character of Cliff Bradshaw as he meets Sally Bowles and girls of the Kit Kat Klub. This musical exploration of the coming of the Third Reich includes familiar songs like "Cabaret"and "Don’t Tell Mama."Like any production, Parks-Hilden’s style of theater instruction is helping the students to focus on the process, from organizing a production to making costumes and sets, as well as the glamour work of acting. Her days are filled with meetings on casting, costumes, choreography, rehearsals and ironing out technical issues.Her time is also spent preparing a budget, buying the rights to plays, staffing the entire production and then meeting with her technical director Dan Hays who also coordinates the theater. "I have grandiose ideas and Dan brings them all to reality for me,"she said. For Parks-Hilden it’s a six-day week leading up to opening night with three hours per day devoted to private rehearsals with students and Diana LoVerso, PCC dance instructor, on polishing the dynamic dance numbers. Plus, not counting working and creating posters, public relations, tickets and staffing the concessions.For a lay person, it can seem pretty confusing, but to a pro like Parks-Hilden it’s all part of a usual day at the theater."What is educationally significant for the students is learning something besides the theater,"she said. "I wanted to do something I cared about and this one I liked."Then all the sweat and tears and hard work pays off with opening night."It’s very exciting. It’s the time I turn it over to the students,"Parks-Hilden said. "I’m emotional about it. I usually make a speech before and usually I cry. I know how much fun they will have. It belongs to the students."