Accessible Community Theaters Shine In Mt. Hood Territory
Wheelchair-Friendly Venues, Welcoming Staff And Quality Productions Make Live Performance Easy To Enjoy
By Guest Author: Lilly Longshore
Lakewood Center for the Arts
Clackamas County is home to a few community theaters for those who love plays and performing arts, and I was recently able to visit two of them. I was dazzled by the quality of performances at both Lakewood Center for the Arts and Sandy Actors Theatre. For anyone who enjoys live theater, these venues are must-sees.
Art enthusiasts in the upscale community of Lake Oswego value visual and theater arts so much that, starting in 1952, they dedicated years of negotiation and fundraising to establish what is now the Lakewood Center for the Arts. The theater’s permanent home is in a renovated elementary school, with space for rehearsals, performances and classes in both visual and theater arts.
Top-notch performances are staged in the 220-seat auditorium, which includes ADA seating and a hearing-assisted sound system.
My seat for Noises Off, a spirited comedy about what happens backstage during rehearsals and performances, was just five rows from the stage. This spot offered an outstanding view of the props, performers and lively antics.
Ramps and wide hallways from the main entrance to my assigned seat made navigation easy in my wheelchair. I easily moved through the welcoming, tastefully decorated lobby, where I bought reasonably priced snacks. Ushers were eager to help and directed me to the ADA restroom.
Sandy Actors Theatre
About 28 miles east of Lake Oswego, in the charming town of Sandy, the Sandy Actors Theatre occupies what was originally the historic Sandy Hotel, built in 1874. The theater has been retrofitted with a lift, ADA restroom and other accessibility features, making it wheelchair-friendly. Sandy Actors Theatre began in 1976 and is now a nonprofit organization that offers theater classes and live performance opportunities for the Sandy community and surrounding areas.
When I attended a performance of Fools by Neil Simon, I was warmly greeted by Ross MacMae, who wore a purple kilt. Ross helped me navigate the wheelchair lift and made sure I knew the layout of the theater, including concessions, my seat and the ADA restroom. The relaxing lobby was tastefully decorated with art curated by the Wy’east Artisans Guild. I picked up snacks at the concession before entering the small, 70-seat auditorium. The space was cozy and comfortable, and my seat at the edge of the stage gave me an excellent view of the humorous, energetic performance about a town cursed with stupidity.
Both Lakewood Center for the Arts and Sandy Actors Theatre were easy to navigate in my wheelchair. I thoroughly enjoyed the performances I attended. The staff and volunteers at both theaters made my experience so seamless and welcoming that I can’t wait to come back for more.
Lilly Longshore is an accessible travel writer, a speaker and an advocate/educator for those with physical disabilities and vision impairments. She has written for various magazines including New Mobility, PN Magazine and Cascade Journal, as well as for various travel blog sites. Passionate about traveling and sharing possibilities with others, she adventures via wheelchair and shares the world of travel possibilities through her writing. After retiring from civil/environmental engineering, she continued to give back to her community by serving as parent representative on the Board for the Washington State School for the Blind, on Washington’s Governor’s Committee on Disability Issues and Employment and is currently serving as Community Outreach Chair for Clark County, Washington’s Accessible Communities Advisory Committee. Connect with Lilly through her Wheeling the World Facebook page. Photo by Carla Foth Christian.
