Recently, I had the opportunity to revisit an important part of my theater past—Vassar College. Back in 1988, when I was considerably younger, fresher and full of unblighted enthusiasm, I ventured to the Poughkeepsie, New York campus to take part in the then four-year-old Powerhouse apprentice program. Joined by 20 other dewy-faced youths culled from the finest higher institutions nationwide, I embarked on an eight-week boot camp-like theater whirlwind. With a schedule crammed with morning classes, afternoon rehearsals and evening performances compounded by crew and more rehearsals in the wee hours of the day, I dreamt, ate, and imbibed theater. Against this pastoral nirvana, I revelled in my creativity. Nothing was set in stone; everything was chaotic, scaling the height of madness and like any paradoxical, congenitally insane, artistic person, I loved it.

The program and staff has grown exponentially since those early pioneer days, which Dina Hampton describes at length (“Powerhouse Powwow,” on page 84) in this month’s special section devoted to training. It has become more structured, allowing each participant a certain latitude that was not readily available during those halcyon days of yore. Schedules are printed out for each participant two weeks in advance and not that morning or afternoon. The dreaded cafeteria food no longer tastes like sawdust and apprentices are now guaranteed ample opportunity to exercise their budding skills.

Beth Fargis-Lancaster, who’s been the executive producer of the Powerhouse summer theater program since 1986, couldn’t be more pleased about the changes—especially since Vassar has been running the gauntlet of some serious competition the last few years—and not just from its larger summer theater rival, Williamstown. Northwestern University Summer Drama Festival, for instance, has been making some noise in the marketplace. But Fargis-Lancaster does not seem too concerned. “I like what we do now,” she says affably. “So many people use it as a prototype.”

It is this spirit of trailblazing innovation that pervades this month’s specially expanded (120 pages) issue. From James Moody’s thought-provoking advice to aspiring lighting designers on how to select the right program (“The Right Path Traveled,” on page 64) to Rebecca Webber’s rundown on three superior theater management curricula (“Managed Care,” on page 68), we present a world of copious information and unlimited choices. Other articles sure to whet the appetite for learning are Ann Anderson’s illuminating profile on a unique program at Purdue University and its immoderately gifted instructor (“Teaching Sound Design,” on page 74) and my exploration of North Carolina School of the Arts’ wig and makeup degree programs—one of the few of its ilk (“My Kingdom For A Wig,” on page 78).

Fall is always a precursor of transition, and here at Stage Directions we adhere to this maxim with a slew of noteworthy changes and additions this month. Aside from the magazine’s unprecedented length, we are also inaugurating a semi-regular “case studies” series in which we will provide an inside look on equipment installations around the country; this month, the focus is on lights (“Shedding New Light,” on page 16). The theaters we are highlighting—Carnegie Mellon’s Purnell Center of the Arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sapulpa Community Theatre in Tulsa, Oklahoma and New York City’s PS 122—are representative of different types of theaters operating under disparate budgetary constrictions. Each company has been kind enough to furnish us with spec sheets, which we hope will inspire you with a windfall of ideas.