The Utah theater community lost one of its stalwarts Sept. 27 with the death of John M. Elzey, a theater professor at Weber State University, from cancer at the age of 60.
During his career he had directed 54 stage productions, performed in several shows and - in three decades as an educator - touched the lives of countless Utahns.L.L. West, also a WSU theater professor, is in the rare position of having known Elzey both as one of his students 20 years ago and as a colleague in the WSU theater department.
"I remember working with him as a student and he was such a perfectionist," West told us. "He had a clear, defined image of what he wanted."
West said Elzey taught him "to have opinions and to voice those opinions and to have strong vision."
Later, working with Elzey as part of the Weber faculty, "we certainly crossed swords a couple of times. I tend to be non-traditionalist and he was fairly traditional, but we respected each other. He could always back up his opinions with scholarly evidence and I back mine up with gut reactions.
"When we became colleagues, our approaches were frequently different, but I like to think that he respected me because I certainly respected him."
Two longtime friends of Elzey's from the Utah Shakespearean Festival - founder/Executive Producer Fred C. Adams and Managing Director R. Scott Phillips - also have fond memories of working with Elzey on several occasions.
"I had the opportunity of becoming acquainted with John Elzey in 1970 when we determined to use him as a visiting guest director with the USF for the 1971 summer season," said Adams. "My subsequent meetings with John in preparation for `The Taming of the Shrew' formed the basis for an ongoing 20-year-long friendship and long admiration.
"John worked extremely well within the framework of the. . . festival and it was the beginning of a long association. He supplied us with remarkably astute materials on Oriental theater when this sort of information was required, not only for use with the USF, but also for the entire theater history course at SUU.
"He served as one of our major resources and adjudicators for the annual USF High School Shakespeare Competition," noted Adams. "John will be sorely missed by all of us here at the festival and SUU."
Phillips said, "John was a compassionate and caring theater craftsman who always put the interest and integrity of the student first.
"During the late 1970s and early 1980s he was extremely crucial in keeping the Rocky Mountain Theatre Association together and always went to bat for the Intermountain area when it came to national theater issues.
"I think John will always be remembered for the warm smile and extended hand he brought into every room," Phillips concluded.
As a director, as a performer, but perhaps most importantly as an educator, John Elzey made a positive impact on theater in northern Utah.
He had been scheduled to direct one show during WSU's 1991-92 season, "The Zen Substitute," which would have drawn on his unique expertise in the fascinating techniques of Japanese kabuki theater.
No decision has been announced, but it is likely that this slot will be filled by another production. Penciling in calendar dates is an easy formality, but filling the void left at WSU by John Elzey's passing will be much more difficult.
- ANOTHER HIGHLY RESPECTED PERSON in the Utah theater community was in a precarious life-or-death situation during the past several days. Jean Roberts, who had a major role as Granma in the current Pioneer Theatre Company production of "The Grapes of Wrath," collapsed following the performance Sept. 20. She had just left the stage when she had a seizure, apparently the result of an aneurysm, and she was rushed to a local hospital.
The following Monday, while still in intensive care, she suffered a blood clot and stroke, necessitating immediate surgery. Her treatment was further complicated by the differing medications required for the two problems.
Roberts remained in a coma for the rest of the week and did not begin showing signs of responding until Saturday, Sept. 28, but close friends report that her status has been upgraded to "good" and that she is making definite progress.
She cannot, as yet, have visitors (and we cannot report what hospital she is in), and she is unable to accept flowers.
Her family has established a recovery fund for her and contributions are welcome from those who wish to help. Write to:
The Jean Roberts Recovery Fund
P.O. Box No. 84
Moab, UT 84532
Checks should be made out to the Jean Roberts Fund.
Roberts, who has also performed in "Women and Wallace" and "White Money" at Salt Lake Acting Company, moved to Salt Lake City six years ago from Moab, where she had lived for several years and reared her family. She has two daughters living in Salt Lake and another daughter residing in Moab.
Roberts is a thoroughly professional actress who never fails to infuse her characters with depth and realism. One of her co-performers from both "White Money" and "The Grapes of Wrath," Jayne Luke, has taken over the role of Granma.
I know many Salt Lake theatergoers would join me in wishing Jean Roberts a speedy and full recovery.
- AMONG THE FRINGE BENEFITS of the theater beat are . . . the benefits.
Like the AIDS fund-raisers that the casts of "A Chorus Line" and "Grand Hotel" held when they came through Salt Lake. Or, more recently, like the one at Desert Star Playhouse to help one of the city's bright, young actors in his efforts to attend the National Shakespeare Conservatory in New York.
"Theater brings out the best and the worst, both in people and the arts, but tonight we have the best," Janie Wallace, one of the nearly 30 performers at the benefit for Gary Winterholler, told a crowd of friends and colleagues last Sunday evening (Sept. 29) at the theater in Murray.
It was termed "an evening designed for romance, sentiment, visual splendor, sharing and laughter . . . an evening designed to do your heart good."
It was all of this, and more.
Winterholler's friends and associates, many who have performed with him in local productions, presented an evening of song and dance. We enjoyed seeing some of our favorite performers show other facets of their talent - such as Alisa Harris' hot rendition of "When the Sun Comes Out," Kirk Holshue's beautiful presentation of "Send in the Clowns" and DSP pianist Kimberly Crosby's robust fiddling.
It was also nice to have Shawn Maxfield back in town, even for just a couple of days, from his job with a film development company in Los Angeles (Shawn sang "I Don't Remember Christmas") and longtime DSP music director Val David Smithson, down from Alaska, who accompanied several of the performers and also soloed with "Pipeline."
Troy Lunt, who hasn't performed for some time (and his presence is certainly missed) joined Janae Gibbs Cottom for the hilarious "Suddenly Seymour" number from "The Little Shop of Horrors."
Some of the show's best material was in the comedy routines by Winterholler and his close friend and co-performer, Eric Jensen, including their own sendups of the "who's on first" banter and a spoof of quiz shows, featuring both men and their wives as moronic contestants forcing moderator Bob Bedore into a lose-lose situation.
It was a great evening for a good cause.