Event information
The induction ceremony will include a dinner. Or for those only interested in the actual induction following the dinner, hors d’oeuvres will be served. For additional information, call 937-429-0335 or email Barbara Jorgensen at dbjorg@sbcglobal.net.
On Aug. 3 at Blair Hall on the campus of Sinclair Community College, four theatre artists — a producer, two scenic designers and a director — will be inducted into the Dayton Theatre Hall of Fame.
Let’s look at the inductees:
John Kenley
John Kenley will be posthumously inducted. To say that Kenley had a long career in the theater is akin to saying that Lazarus had a long life. Kenley was 4 when he first hit the Vaudeville stage. He worked as a producer till near the end of his life. When he passed away in 2009 he was 103.
From 1957 to 1995, he gave Daytonians opportunity to rub shoulders with the glitz of Broadway, film and TV. Every summer Memorial Hall was home to the Kenley Players. They would perform a musical or play for a week, then pack up and trek off to their next venue — Warren (later Akron) or Columbus — and a second production would move in. For nine weeks straight, this hard-knocks troupe graced the boards of Memorial Hall — with a new play or musical every week.
With only six days of rehearsal, The Kenley Players was summer stock on steroids. Among those whose careers were extended, ignited and born again included Ethel Merman, Mae West, Gypsy Rose Lee, Burt Reynolds, Billy Crystal, Betty White, Mitzi Gaynor, Robert Goulet, Ann Miller, Marlene Dietrich, Mickey Rooney, William Shatner, and Tommy Tune, to name but a few. Tune called the hard-working Kenley “the most amazing human being I have ever met.”
According to Human Race Producing Artistic Director Kevin Moore, John Kenley is “the reason Dayton continues to be such a strong ‘theater town.’ ”
Darrell Anderson
Darrell Anderson came to the University of Dayton as a student in the late 1960s. An art major, he soon gravitated to theatrical productions — first as an actor, then as a builder of sets, and finally as a set designer. Back then U.D. did not teach set design, nor did it have a tech person on staff. Sets were designed and built by students. In many ways the UD theatre program (with Anderson now as its chair) is still very much hands on.
After he graduated from U.D., Anerson went on to Ohio State where he earned a graduate degree in set design. By the time he graduated from OSU, UD was looking for a full-time faculty to teach set design and design and oversee the construction of all main stage productions. Anderson was hired on. That was nearly 40 years ago.
But, of course, it is not for his longevity as a set designer that he is being recognized with this induction. It is for the quality of his work.
The real genius in Anderson’s set designs is in the floor plan. Anderson always designs with the movement of actors in mind. A well-blocked play is symphonic. How actors move throughout a play can forcefully reveal a play’s narrative. But this is only possible if the designer is keenly aware of the inner dynamics of the script and the inherent power of a stage. To a seasoned director’s eyes, Anderson’s floor plans bristle with energy.
Anderson is one of the finest lighting designers in the area. (Last year he won a Daytony for his lighting of “Eleemosynary.”) He also has an inventive spirit that kicks in when it comes to set and prop construction. He knows all the obscure shops and thrift stores. These he’ll prowl until he hits on the right juxtaposition of objects, and, presto!—out of a Styrofoam pumpkin will come a wholly mammoth’s head; from an old wheelchair, a concessionaire’s cart; and from a couple of ornate chairs, a pair of thrones!
Chris Harmon
Chris Harmon, the resident scenic artist, prop master, and resident director at Town Hall Theatre, is the youngest of this year’s inductees, and possibly the most hard-working and prolific. At 37, he has already won thirty-two DayTony Awards. Most are for set designs and scenic painting, but he has also won for directing and acting.
Harmon grew up in Beavercreek, and then went off to Wright State to study acting. But after taking a class in scenic painting from Pam Lavarnway, he was so smitten with the craft he decided to change direction. But what he didn’t want to do was start his education over. So he began working as a set designer and scenic painter at community theatres throughout Dayton. This led to full-time employment at Town Hall Theatre. In addition to his work at Town Hall, Harmon continues to design shows, paint scenery, and direct in community theatres throughout the region. He has worked at The Dayton Playhouse, the Springfield Civic/Ohio Lyric Theatre, Beavercreek Community Theatre, the Epiphany Lutheran Church, and Sinclair Community College. He regularly puts in 12-hour days and will work on 16 to 17 shows a year. He knows he should slow down, but love for his work and the rewarding collaboration it affords, keeps him vitally engaged.
Kay Francis Wean
The fourth inductee this year is Kay Francis Wean, who passed away from cancer two years ago.
Wean studied theater at the University of Cincinnati, then when her husband, Ron Wean, began studying for the ministry at Capital University in Columbus, Kay transferred to Ohio State and finished off her undergraduate degree in Communications.
When Ron’s ministry took them to Nebraska in 1979, it was there that Kay directed her first play. Soon Ron’s ministry took them to Chicago. In Chicago, Kay got enough acting work to earn her Actors Equity eligibility card. But it was when Ron’s ministry took them to the Epiphany Lutheran Church in Centerville that Kay really found her calling.
For 18 years, she directed the summer musical at Epiphany Lutheran Church. Anyone who tried out was cast (even if it meant Kay had to write a part into the script). For Kay, directing was a form of ministry. “Drama Ministry,” she once wrote, “requires the leadership to ‘bind up the broken’ artistic ego. Nothing hurts worse than presenting your gifts to those who didn’t cast you in the part you think you deserve.” She saw the process of mounting a play as “a breeding ground of selfless support and encouragement.” While “competitiveness cannot be banned,” she wrote, “it can…be transformed.”
Excellence was always what she was after, and what she almost always achieved, but it was always through love and encouragement. She was a dynamo of energy. Although she did most of her theatre work with the Epiphany Lutheran Church, she also acted at most of the community theatres in the area.
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