RTC House Manager Pam Thomas creates welcoming ambiance

By JIM FLINT for the Rogue Valley Times April 4, 2024

Pam Thomas grew up in Fresno, Calif., watching her college basketball coach father be pretty creative. And she still wears sweaters her mother designed and knitted. It wasn’t a show biz family for sure, but the creative DNA she inherited might explain her being drawn to the theater, even before retiring from her job teaching English and linguistics at Fresno City College (FCC). “I’m Armenian,” she said. “I grew up in a community where violinists were more revered than quarterbacks.”

Today, she juggles a busy schedule as event coordinator and house manager for Rogue Theater Company while working part-time helping with projects at Long Walk Vineyard in Ashland. She sees parallels in the two jobs. “Both produce something amazing that evolves over time,” she said. “The challenging part is when I want to be at both places at the same time. Recently, for instance, Long Walk released our new rosé, but I couldn’t take part because ‘Off Peak’ was on stage at RTC.”

Oversees volunteers

As RTC event coordinator, Thomas oversees volunteers, helps set up the room and make coffee for Tuesday Talks, Q-and-A sessions conducted by Michael J. Hume with various theater artists. They’re scheduled on the last Tuesday of each month from 11 a.m. to noon, February through November.

“As house manager, I get to look after the audience,” she said. “I schedule and train volunteers who help check-in patrons and seat them in the auditorium. I solve problems as they come up and answer questions if I can.”

One of her favorite parts of the job at RTC is working with the volunteers. “They give so freely of their time and create such a celebratory environment,” she said. “And working with experienced artists like Artistic Director Jessica Sage, Equity Stage Manager Kimberley Barry, and Production Manager Sue Anderson is a gift.”

She finds many satisfying aspects working for a theater company, especially on play days. “Topping the list is seeing and hearing the audience reacting to the art we produce,” she said.

Hitting the mark

“When a patron enters the house, sees the stage, and squeals, ‘Look at that set!’, or when a patron, exiting, points back at the stage and confesses, ‘That was my life,’ I know we’ve hit the mark.” And hearing the roar of laughter, or even a snide chuckle after a brilliantly-delivered line, always makes her smile, she said. There are challenges as well, but Thomas and her associates try to minimize them.

“We know that the audience experience begins before the actors say their first lines,” she said. “In spite of careful planning, we sometimes have a bit of a scramble just before showtime, especially if there are latecomers. All of us have to be on our toes.” Creating an enjoyable experience for patrons begins with the volunteers who welcome theatergoers into RTC’s home at Grizzly Peak Winery.

“Each volunteer has theater history and experience,” Thomas said. “Each adds to the experience without taking a bow.” Volunteers try to create a comfortable and welcoming ambiance. The goal: for patrons to relax and focus on the play, not on anything the volunteers are doing.

Thomas earned a BA in English and an MA in linguistics at Fresno State, spending an undergrad year at the University of Wales. “I spent a lot of time in London that year, and, as a student, I was able to see plays — from the West End to the fringe — for very little money,” she said. She took a job at Lassen College in Susanville as a one-year sabbatical replacement after graduation. She spent most of her teaching career at FCC, a community college of about 25,000 students, serving as department chair for a time.

Connection to OSF

It was the Oregon Shakespeare Festival that first brought Thomas to the Rogue Valley. She started attending plays in 1990 and took advantage of OSF’s school visit program, hosting many OSF artists at FCC. In 2000, she did a sabbatical with OSF’s education department. It was then that she and her late husband bought their first house in Ashland. When they moved to Ashland full time, she volunteered at OSF until the volunteer and events coordinator retired, at which time she applied for the job and was hired. She spent the next four and a half years working with more than 700 volunteers. She later worked as a bartender and host at the Gertrude Bowmer Members’ Lounge.

Thomas is excited about RTC’s next project, a play-reading of Tracy Letts’ “August: Osage County” May 2-5, with a cast of 14 — mostly OSF headliners — directed by former OSF artistic director Henry Woronicz.

“What could be better than a great script presented by that amazing cast?” she asked.

For more information about RTC productions and to purchase tickets, see roguetheatercompany.com.