1 10 1 https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/32209/archive/files/2b517c50374effcb0ec1da5815431654.pdf?Expires=1776902400&Signature=lUhvzWjQ1hqHOk8E1K2eE-fKOJstwsuyMPgKY94OutmT6U-MX5YVh31h%7EmrgwJ6n2AAvUlIGBOjeZcHDwCPixUH-LZr86Jp008Tx6zJ-H10SBWkLeTS3-nXMQa1OL9ZHES98wPzhlkD6pZVvlD4MKcLiFlDBmQvcfx6hQVr3fxFA64iuFhf3%7EAqdT8qy7GMF3Kc9ZpG8D4yhniiMfp9FCf27gvUq2EH9HEf6wdgX1kEbdeR8ERShXh7x0HBq11EwjjfMUn4i18M-ECZUlj0udsBnHH3wYJW7uhKRlJt2MiqFL4PS0am3X4zyw5bs%7EvmHCdSuWRw340C1z8CXV9g3vQ__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM c07fffa314cf7d5724e4cb4effca039d PDF Text Text Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth Postcards from Falmouth Oral History Transcript Recorded: August 19, 2021 Oral Historian: Mark Pearson Interviewer: Troy Clarkson Topic: College Light Opera Company (CLOC) Note: The right column references postcards by identifiers searchable in the Digital Commonwealth online collection. 00:00 [Music] 00:44 Mark 00:45 welcome we're so glad that you're here 00:47 and Falmouth has 00:49 a thriving artistic community and 00:52 certainly a rich 00:53 artistic history in the College Light 00:55 Opera Company is and has been an 00:57 important part of that so 00:59 talk to us your postcard was of course 01:02 the facility in West Falmouth that is 01:04 the home 01:05 the heart and soul of CLOC as it's 01:07 known right so tell us about the history 01:10 of the College Light Opera Company and 01:11 also 01:12 the site there in West Falmouth where 01:14 it's it's been housed sure well first 01:17 very happy to be here thanks for 01:18 reaching out uh yeah so College Light 01:20 Opera Company was founded in 1969 #cloc #westfalmouth 1 #1969 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 01:25 and it grew out of the 01:28 defunct Oberlin Gilbert and Sullivan 01:30 Players who had been in Falmouth for 01:32 just under a decade so that was a summer 01:35 program operated by Oberlin Conservatory 01:39 designed to provide their students with 01:42 a summer performance opportunity that 01:45 was something very typical 01:47 at that time in America especially in 01:50 resort towns like Falmouth 01:53 you'd have you know any number of 01:55 college organizations and they would 01:57 just put on a different show every week 01:59 and that would be your summer 02:01 entertainment for the summer you know 02:03 folks would have uh season tickets so 02:06 for example CLOC 02:07 and at the time orbiting G&S they did 02:10 nine shows uh in nine weeks the same 02:13 program basically that we continue this 02:15 to today so families would come down 02:17 they'd have you know Tuesday night 02:19 tickets Wednesday night tickets and that 02:21 would be their regular thing for uh for 02:23 the summer and that was known as 02:26 Summer stock theater and it was very very 02:29 typical um #oberlin #gilbertandsullivanplayers 2 #summerstocktheater �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 02:31 it's died out significantly 02:33 there are very few organizations left 02:35 that do it in that similar 02:38 fashion 02:39 CLOC is one of the one of the remaining 02:41 ones uh on the arts landscape 02:44 and I think that's just as as a starting 02:47 point that's a really important 02:50 piece of information to say about the 02:52 organization and its place in the sort 02:54 of national landscape it's sort of 02:57 holding a torch for 02:59 summer stock which was 03:01 at one time a very very important part 03:03 of American 03:05 summer entertainment and very 03:06 specifically American it doesn't really 03:08 happen in many other countries that way 03:11 so that's sort of what CLOC is as I say 03:13 grew out of Oberlin Gilbert & Sullivan 03:15 Players who themselves sort of grew out 03:18 of an older organization called the 03:20 University Players which goes back to 03:22 the 1940s I believe and again that's 03:26 just the sort of tradition of 03:28 a group of college kids getting together 03:30 for the summer to perform 3 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 03:33 the original intent was more 03:34 entertainment but our mission has sort 03:37 of shifted over the years as we became 03:40 a 03:41 one of the last remaining organizations 03:43 to do this to really focus on the 03:45 educational aspect of that experience 03:48 the educational side of it was sort of a 03:50 side note in the old days I was like 03:51 well yeah you're going to learn how to 03:52 do it because you've got to do it 03:55 and then 03:56 it sort of became clear that hey this is 03:58 actually 03:59 a big part of what's important about 04:01 this organization so 04:02 that's why in our mission education is 04:05 equally important as the entertainment 04:07 that we do 04:09 you mentioned our our campus in West 04:11 Falmouth 04:13 which is where we 04:14 live and work we perform at the 04:16 Highfield Theater 04:18 which is 04:19 as many folks know I think 04:23 was once the stables for Highfield Hall #highfieldtheater 4 #highfieldhall �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 04:26 so if you're familiar with Highfield 04:27 Hall uh it's the building right next 04:29 door that at one time housed the horses 04:31 and now uh since the 1930s this is a a 04:34 theater structure 04:36 and that's about four and a half miles 04:38 from our campus in West Falmouth 04:40 it's about six acres uh right 04:44 uh on the banks of the West Falmouth 04:46 Harbor where the bridge to Chapoquoit 04:49 Road is uh and the oldest building there 04:52 is uh Bridgefields Hall 04:55 which was named uh you know because of a 04:58 the bridge that's basically right in 05:00 front of the building and at the time 05:02 the fields of West Falmouth that 05:04 stretched out beyond which now of course 05:06 are 05:06 lots of houses um so Bridgefields Hall 05:10 was built in 1895 #1895 05:13 uh by a Quaker family the Scull #quaker #scull Gunning_West_Bldg_1580 through 1585, Gunning_West_Bldg_1649 #westfalmoutharbor #bridgefieldshall Hunt_West_Bldg_482 05:16 Sara Scull uh so it's had a couple of #sarascull 05:19 names over the years the Sara Scull 05:21 House Bridgefields Hall 05:23 the Inn at West Falmouth and simply the 5 #westfalmouthinn �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 05:25 Inn 05:26 and the Scull family 05:29 built it her husband died I believe in 05:33 1884 05:34 and 05:36 left her a widow with two children and 05:39 uh she built this as a summer home so 05:42 they were based in Philadelphia and they 05:44 would come summer in Falmouth uh as I 05:47 mentioned they were a Quaker family and 05:51 according to sort of urban legend and I 05:53 can't confirm or deny this but their 05:55 original intent was to uh to buy a 05:58 property on the island Chapoquoit Island #1884 #chapoquoitisland Hunt_West_Bch_496 through 499 Gunning_West_Sts_1549 & 1550, Gunning_West_Har_1606 & 1607, Gunning_West_Isl_1637 through 1648 06:01 and uh 06:02 I as I understand it Quakers were not 06:05 particularly welcome on the island so uh 06:09 as sort of a well I’ll show you 06:11 they bought the large lot right at the 06:14 entrance to the island so everyone going 06:15 to the island would have to drive past 6 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 06:17 their estate to get to their summer 06:20 state uh it was designed by 06:23 J. Williams Beal a Boston 06:26 architect he had recently moved from New 06:28 York to Boston he had spent some time 06:30 abroad 06:32 and he was commissioned to design the 06:34 building uh it is of 06:37 somewhat architectural interest in that 06:39 it is a 06:41 Queen Anne 06:42 Tudor revival which is unusual for our 06:45 area most houses being built at the time 06:48 were what we would call the shingle 06:49 style 06:50 you know everything that standing still 06:52 is covered with shingles and this was 06:55 a style that was more popular for town 06:58 houses sort of stucco half timbered 07:00 style 07:02 and it also has 07:03 the 07:04 whispers of the emerging 07:07 early modern architectural movement in 07:10 that was inspired by a lot of Japanese 07:12 architecture and the sort of play 07:14 between exterior interior spaces so if #jwilliamsbeal 7 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 07:17 you're going around the building you'll 07:18 be in a staircase all of a sudden the 07:20 staircase is outside that it's inside 07:22 again 07:23 and it has a lot of very dominant 07:25 horizontal lines which sort of suggests 07:29 where Frank Lloyd Wright was heading at 07:31 the time you know fitting buildings more 07:33 into the area that they're that they're 07:35 set in 07:37 so yeah the Scull family uh 07:40 lived there for about ten years 07:41 uh Sara Scull died in 1910 07:45 uh at which time it was uh sold and 07:48 converted to an inn in 1912 07:51 and it basically served as an inn 07:54 and restaurant uh until 1975 07:58 when it closed and CLOC moved in in 75. 08:02 I mentioned earlier CLOC was founded in 08:03 1969. 08:05 so the question is well what was 08:06 happening at that time uh well Oberlin 08:09 before CLOC and then CLOC were 08:11 originally in residence at what was 08:13 known as Tanglewood House #1910 #1912 #1975 #tanglewood Gunning_Village_Bldg_0473 08:15 which if you're familiar with the 8 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 08:16 history of the Beebe family #beebe 08:19 here in Falmouth they actually built two 08:22 mansions up on the hill there was 08:24 Highfield Hall which is uh 08:28 Queen Anne but again leaning a little 08:29 bit more Shingle style and then there 08:31 was an iconically Queen Anne house which 08:34 was called Tanglewood and they were 08:36 built for the brothers and they shared 08:38 the barn and the stables 08:41 and Tanglewood was the longtime 08:43 dormitory for 08:45 both Oberlin and College Light Opera 08:48 now when the property was given to the 08:51 Cape 08:52 Conservatory they were uh unable to keep 08:56 up all of the buildings that were on the 08:58 property and the first one that really 09:00 had to go was Tanglewood so it was 09:01 announced in 09:03 uh 74 that they would be razing 09:06 Tanglewood and there was not enough time 09:08 for 09:09 the sort of uh 09:10 you know grassroots movement that ended 09:12 up saving 09:13 Highfield #capeconservatory #capesymphony 9 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 09:14 several years later so Tanglewood fell 09:17 to the wrecking ball and CLOC was left 09:20 presumably homeless um but uh 09:23 J. K. Lilly 09:25 uh stepped forward at that time and he 09:27 had he and his wife had recently 09:29 acquired the West Falmouth Inn and he 09:31 said you know what I’m going to do is 09:33 let's have y'all move over to West 09:35 Falmouth 09:36 we'll rent the property to you for a 09:37 dollar a year until you get back on your 09:39 feet figure out 09:41 a better solution so the Company moved 09:44 sort of lock stock and barrel to west 09:46 Falmouth in 1975 09:49 B Haslun one of the original founders of #haslun #roberthaslun 09:51 the organization and his wife Ursula uh #ursulahaslun 09:54 got married and had their wedding 09:56 reception uh a week before the Company 09:59 arrived in 75 and then the first thing 10:01 the company the 75 Company did was they 10:03 went up to Tanglewood salvaged 10:05 everything they could and trucked it 10:07 over to West Falmouth and we've been 10:10 there ever since 10:11 um about five years after that so we're #lilly #josiahklilly 10 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 10:16 into 10:17 77 78 ish 10:20 uh 10:21 the Lillys decided that 10:23 they didn't really want to be landlords 10:25 for this property and uh the best 10:28 best use of the facility would be to 10:30 demolish all the structures uh 10:33 four struc— uh five structures at the 10:35 time 10:37 to make a public park 10:39 and uh so there was a big effort to find 10:42 CLOC another home 10:44 in the uh in the area 10:46 and uh that kept coming up with no 10:50 no viable 10:52 alternatives and then finally the uh the 10:55 Board of Trustees struck a deal with the 10:58 Lillys which was to buy the property for 11:01 the cost of tearing it down and turning 11:03 into a park 11:04 so they were able to 11:06 get a mortgage raise some funds and then 11:08 I think by 79 or 80 they had paid off 11:10 the full mortgage 11:12 and the property was was CLOC’s um as I 11:16 mentioned there's the there's the inn uh 11 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 11:18 which was built in 1895 which is the 11:20 most iconic building on the property 11:23 then there are four outbuildings so 11:25 there are two twin cottages which we 11:27 call Cottage One and Two on the harbor 11:29 that were built in the 30s to uh 11:33 as the inn as the West Falmouth Inn was 11:35 expanding those were sort of uh you 11:37 could bring your family and rent a 11:39 cottage but you would dine in the inn 11:42 and then Cottages Three and Four which 11:44 were added in the sixties uh Cottage 11:46 Three which is out behind the property 11:48 was a caretaker cottage Cottage Four 11:50 which is right next to the bike path uh 11:53 was built as a staff house also in the 11:56 mid 60s 11:58 they dug a pond so we have about an acre 12:02 man-made pond right in the center of the 12:05 property 12:07 and yeah so the West Falmouth campus is 12:10 where we do obviously 12:12 we live all 12:13 those buildings are all dormitory 12:15 buildings 12:16 and we also have our dining facility it 12:17 was fortunate that it was an inn so it 12 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 12:21 came with a large industrial kitchen and 12:23 the dining rooms are perfectly appointed 12:25 for uh for the Company 12:28 as well as our costume shop is housed in 12:30 the former Pony Room which was the uh 12:33 the bar and lounge of the West Falmouth 12:35 Inn 12:37 and we recently just actually 12:40 minutes ago 12:41 completed a new facility on on the 12:44 property which is called Lucas Hall 12:48 which is a 12:50 is the first new structure since the 60s 12:53 on the property and it's a large 12:56 rehearsal and office facility and the 12:58 purpose 12:59 for that is to 13:01 take the stress off of 13:03 Bridgefields Hall which has sort of 13:05 served 13:06 as a catch-all space so it's been our 13:09 main rehearsal space our dining space 13:11 we've carved office spaces out of common 13:14 areas 13:15 uh and so this is an opportunity to 13:17 actually create 13:19 a building designed and intended for its #lucashall 13 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 13:23 purpose which is to 13:25 do all of the rehearsal of the 13:27 preparation for the shows that we do up 13:29 at Highfield Theater as well as provide 13:31 office spaces for our summer staff but 13:34 also for our year-round staff 13:36 none of the other buildings on campus 13:37 are winterized or heated so as soon as 13:40 you have to shut the water off you have 13:41 to shut the water off 13:43 but this building 13:44 is insulated and will have 13:46 year-round use which is which is a big 13:49 uh 13:50 big change for us and very exciting 13:52 wonderful well thank you for that 13:54 detailed history because it 13:57 both the property and the organization 13:59 are richly woven uh through the the 14:03 really the soul of our community so 14:04 thanks for that 14:06 that virtual tour with us that gives uh 14:08 our viewers a sense of of the history 14:11 before the camera went on we were 14:13 talking about the role that uh the 14:15 College Light Opera Company plays in so 14:17 many lives not just in the performers 14 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 14:20 but in people that have enjoyed the 14:22 shows or people feel a connection uh to 14:25 the organization and so 14:27 as we record this the Woods Hole Film 14:29 Festival is about to open in Woods Hole 14:31 and as I told you I interviewed someone 14:34 this week 14:35 who is one of the filmmakers that has a 14:37 film 14:38 his connection to Falmouth began in 1990 14:41 or 91 when he was a performer with the 14:43 College Light Opera Company and 14:45 that sort of lifetime connection to the 14:47 organization has happened thousands and 14:50 thousands of times because over the 14:51 course of more than 50 years 14:54 uh 14:56 you know you've had so many lives that 14:59 have been impacted and enriched by the 15:01 organization yeah it's 15:02 the a couple of things I always try to 15:05 hit when I’m talking about CLOC you 15:07 know one of which is uh if you're in 15:10 Falmouth if you live here and you know 15:12 the CLOC is here 15:14 you may be 15:16 permitted to make the mistake to think 15 #woodsholefilmfestival �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 15:18 oh every community must have one of 15:20 these but this is a 15:22 truly unique organization and it is 15:26 something that 15:28 uh is uniquely 15:30 situated your Falmouth is uniquely 15:33 situated to support this kind of an 15:35 organization um you couldn't do this 15:37 just anywhere and this organization 15:39 couldn't have survived in just any 15:41 community you need a good base of of 15:44 folks who 15:45 appreciate the performing arts who will 15:48 not only attend but will support the 15:50 performing arts and 15:52 a certain uh continuity 15:54 which I think Falmouth provides and 15:57 in uh on the other aspect is what you 16:00 mentioned um this sort of networking you 16:03 know we do 16:04 provide the students with a sort of 16:06 educational experience but the 16:08 experience is more learning by doing 16:10 they've all been to university they've 16:12 all been studying their craft we don't 16:15 provide classes we don't provide 16:17 lectures we simply say okay you've 16 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 16:21 you've been studying this 16:24 now do it and do it 16:26 repeat it for nine nine weeks 16:29 and uh in a very intense environment and 16:32 what 16:33 one learns in that environment is a is 16:35 this what I want to do with my life 16:37 because if 16:38 if you get through that uh really 11 16:41 weeks when you count the pre-season time 16:43 get through those 11 weeks and you're 16:44 like I never want to do that again then 16:46 you probably don't want to have a career 16:47 because your career is going to be that 16:49 you know if you're actually paying the 16:50 bills with performing arts your career 16:52 is going to be that hectic so that's 16:54 thing one and then thing two you you 16:57 realize how to streamline your own work 17:00 um and be more efficient which is also 17:02 important when it's a question of 17:04 economics and trying to pay the bills 17:06 it's great if you're a wonderful 17:07 designer but you can only design one 17:09 show and it takes you six months well 17:10 that's not gonna pay your rent uh but 17:13 then thirdly and most importantly it's 17 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 17:14 the connections that they they make when 17:16 they're here because they are it's a 17:19 hyper concentration of uh 17:22 the best of the best 17:24 in these programs so it's those 17:26 who really 17:28 are 17:29 thinking this is what I cannot do 17:30 anything else with my life this is what 17:32 I want to do with my life and then they 17:34 meet 17:35 all these other people in their age 17:38 group who are feeling the same and they 17:40 end up being a very tight-knit 17:43 group within the performing arts 17:45 community as they go on you know they 17:47 all they go to New York or some of them 17:48 go to Europe but they keep connections 17:50 and they keep talking and 17:53 it also spans generations so you go you 17:55 know you go to 17:56 move to New York after summer CLOC and 17:58 you're at a cattle call audition 18:01 and it is 18:02 very 18:03 likely 18:04 if not a given that at least one person 18 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 18:06 behind that table has either been the 18:08 CLOC or has a strong connection to 18:10 CLOC because that's just how small the 18:11 community is and then of course 18:14 the sort of beneficial residual for 18:16 Falmouth is they also have that deep 18:19 emotional connection to the community 18:21 because it you know for many people it's 18:23 one of the most uh memorable 18:26 summers of their lives and they spent it 18:28 here so they do tend to come back and 18:30 tend to 18:31 keep connections with uh you know not 18:34 just their company members but locals 18:36 that they met while they were here and 18:37 then they may end up doing something 18:38 like the Falmouth um film festival or 18:41 you know some of them 18:43 have come back every year just to do the 18:45 Road Race because they did it that one 18:46 summer that they were playing trumpet in 18:48 the orchestra you know so it's uh it is 18:51 a very 18:52 uh important 18:54 organization 18:56 for on the national scale but also I 18:58 think for us in Falmouth it really you 19 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 19:00 know when you are talking about 19:02 your home community and you're giving 19:05 folks some information about it it's 19:07 like okay well Falmouth what's Falmouth 19:08 oh well you know Woods Hole and the 19:10 ferries are going to the Vineyard and um 19:12 there's WHOI and all of this great 19:14 science going on and there's College 19:16 Light Opera Company which is this 19:17 incredible uh you know 19:20 unique 19:21 summer program for for young artists so 19:24 I often refer to our community as a 19:26 mosaic 19:27 and 19:28 CLOC is one of the shining tiles in 19:30 that mosaic for sure and that's what uh 19:33 in in my full-time work I work in 19:36 government and have worked in many 19:37 places 19:38 and there are no other places in my 19:41 experience that quite bring 19:44 just such 19:46 an array of tiles to the mosaic and the 19:48 arts community in the scientific 19:50 community 19:52 and people's willingness to engage 20 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 19:54 in so many different ways and it really 19:57 really 19:57 makes this place special and and CLOC 20:00 is certainly an important part of that 20:03 yeah I mean I would I would absolutely 20:04 agree I think Falmouth is so 20:07 interesting in that it is a small town 20:09 but it has 20:11 large city scale 20:13 uh 20:14 bells and whistles to it which is so 20:18 crazy you know that we get to live in 20:20 this community where there are 20:23 world-class 20:24 everything happening around us and we 20:26 can walk on the bike path and there are 20:28 little villages yeah it's it really is 20:31 that's what Falmouth is to me I I think 20:33 you said it perfectly this amazing 20:35 mosaic of of 20:37 all any 20:38 any piece of which would be incredible 20:40 for a community but we're so spoiled you 20:43 know to have it all here 20:45 you bet well one of the other phrases 20:47 that I love to use is that it takes a 20:48 name to make a town but people to make a 21 �Falmouth Public Library – Postcards from Falmouth 20:51 community so Mark we thank you for 20:52 sharing the time with us and for you 20:55 being one of the people that really 20:56 enriches that mosaic and and thank you 20:59 for your leadership at CLOC and keeping 21:00 that tradition going thank you so much 22 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Postcards from Falmouth Oral Histories Description An account of the resource A collection of transcribed oral history interviews from the Postcards from Falmouth project, 2020-23. Postcards from Falmouth is a local history project made possible by a Library Services Technology Act grant administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Falmouth Public Library Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Language A language of the resource English Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Falmouth Public Library Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Transcript of Mark Pearson's Oral History on CLOC Subject The topic of the resource College Light Opera Company Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Falmouth Public Library (Falmouth, Mass.) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource pdf Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Video transcript Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Postcards from Falmouth Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Falmouth Public Library (Falmouth, Mass.) Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Mark Pearson Troy Clarkson Falmouth Community Television Falmouth Public Library 1884 1895 1910 1912 1969 1975 Beebe Bridgefields Hall Cape Conservatory Cape Symphony Chapoquoit Island CLOC Gilbert and Sullivan Players Haslun Highfield Hall Highfield Theater J. Williams Beal Josiah K. Lilly Lilly (family) Lucas Hall Mark Pearson Oberlin oral history Postcards from Falmouth Quaker Robert Haslun Sara Scull Scull (family) summer stock theater Tanglewood transcript Troy Clarkson Ursula Haslun West Falmouth West Falmouth Harbor West Falmouth Inn Woods Hole Film Festival