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Pass A bimonthly newsletter for Rome Little Theatre and Friends of the DeSoto members and contributors
ROME LITTLE THEATRE
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014
BACKSTAGE PASS FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014
Another Good Man Strikes Again! By Wendell Barnes
hat a privilege to be able to have some interview time with one of my favorite RLT leaders, President of RLT Chuck Morris, who is also the current director of “A Few Good Men.” I spent a chilly evening learning some new things I had never known, and reinforcing a few facts that I did know. Chuck is married to RLT’s first Executive Director, Megan Keating, and in fact they met at RLT while working backstage on a show I directed, the fortieth anniversary production of Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s “Carousel.” Megan’s son Grayson Keating was in the show, so Megan decided to start doing some set decoration, and Chuck, as is so often the case, designed and operated the lighting for the show. They started dating a few years later while working backstage on another show I directed (and starred in,) “I Do! I Do!”, and before long Chuck had proposed to Megan under the RLT marquee! Ever since they have been married they have both become more and more involved in the running of RLT, and in fact now hold the top volunteer (President of the RLT Board of Directors) and top paid (Executive Director of RLT) positions. Along with the late Jason Fordham, they were the trio who helped reorganize RLT and to give it the professional look that we have now. We are so lucky to be able to take advantage of the many talents of this trio. Chuck is a native of Helena, AL near Birmingham, and said he was cast in his first role, God, (where can you go from there? ;-) in a story of Noah at his church at age 6. He did more plays at church and at school, and by the 6th grade he was cast as Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol” and relates that that role is when he knew he was hooked. He went on to the University of the South in Sewanee, TN, majoring in theatre and speech, and directed his first show there, a Pinter one-act. His first college role was as Donald in “You Can’t Take it With You,” and he also played Ellard in “The Foreigner” there. Ironically, those two plays were to be in Chuck’s future again—he later directed “YCTIWY” at RLT and played the lead role of Charlie in “The Foreigner” under my
direction, which won him a Roman Award for best male leading actor. After earning his BA, which included spending a semester in New York at the Michael Howard Studio (Howard was a student of the great acting teacher Stanislavski) and Sanford Meisner’s Neighborhood Playhouse, Chuck worked for three summers on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in America’s oldest outdoor drama, “The Lost Colony,” and during the year he worked for Theatre IV in Richmond and Patchwork Players in Columbia, SC doing children’s theater full time. But after these experiences he decided that he needed more stability in his life and entered law school at Georgia State, and after graduating in three years with his J.D. degree, he met Bill Lundy and the next thing you know moved to Cedartown, where he became a partner in the law firm there and a part time Associate Juvenile Court Judge. He has enjoyed his judgeship and there may be more of that in the future. In the meantime, Bill and Catherine Lundy have partnered with Chuck to found the Cedartown Theatrical Performance Company, which has produced at least one play for the past 7 or 8 years, including such blockbusters as “Annie,” “The Sound of Music,” “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” “Treasure Island,” “Seussical the Musical,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Grease” and others. The purpose of CTPC is to give the young people of Polk County basic theatre training and production experience while they are free from school obligations in the summers. Chuck also serves on the Cedartown Civic Auditorium Board. Chuck got involved with RLT approximately twelve years ago, and has become the resident lighting designer as well as training others how to light theatrical presentations. He has also directed at RLT before: first, “On Golden Pond,” then “You Can’t Take It With You,” then “Clue the Musical” (with Musical Director the late Jason Fordham,) and now “A Few Good Men.” Chuck says that so far, one week before the production, this has been the smoothest production ever. He relates that thanks to the high levels of talent and commitment on the part of the cast members, they are actually (Continued onPage page1 8)