Yesterday, Kathy and I were truly privileged to be part of a remarkable and even once-in-a-lifetime event at the Racine Theater Guild honoring Norm McPhee, the man who in so many ways embodies what the RTG is all about and who so ably shepherded it into an era of new greatness. At the time he took over the reins of the RTG back in the 1960’s, the guild was presenting its productions in an old church – a charming setting but a wildly impractical, unworkable one. (It was a wonder that they were able to create what they did.) It was Norm who oversaw the enormous task of funding, designing and constructing the splendid facility which became the new (and present) home of the RTG in the mid 1970’s.
Yesterday was Norm’s 80th birthday, and the celebration of such an event could not possibly happen anywhere except on the stage that he helped bring into being- the stage on which so many of his productions have unfolded for more than thirty years. And it was great that so many people could be on hand for such a special occasion- including many of his family members and all kinds of people both past and present from the RTG family. A host of stories were shared about Norm and his sterling career- and at the end of it all, Norm himself took the stage to share a few thoughts about his life in the theater. Here are a few photos:
The well-wishers came from far and wide. It was especially moving that Virginia Harnett, an RTG stalwart from its earliest days, came all the way from Florida to pay tribute to Norm.
The master of ceremonies, who also decorated the lobby for the occasion, was George Mangold.
Ron Halvorson began the program with a Norm Roast that served up some of the biggest laughs of the afternoon:
Husband and wife Donn and Shawn Britten shared their thoughts.
Mona Lewis, who acted in dozens of Norm-directed productions over the years, shared thoughts on all that she learned from him.
The first music of the afternoon was offered up by Kathy, impersonating the infamous Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York socialite in the 1930’s and 40’s who loved to sing, even though she had no discernible talent for it. One of Norm’s requests was that Kathy would come and re-create a moment from “Glorious,” which Norm directed. Kathy’s painfully off-key rendition of Adele’s Laughing Song from “Die Fledermaus” brought down the house. She also sang Cole Porter’s “So in Love,” just as she did at the very end of every “Glorious” performance. Also on hand at Norm’s request was Kate Potter-Barrow as Patsy Cline (another great triumph) in Racine Theater Guild history – singing “Always.” And Norm wanted me to sing something and left it up to me to choose the song: I picked something from one of Norm’s very first musicals at RTG, “The Fantastiks.” The song “Try to Remember” seemed like a good choice for such an occasion.
After that came spoken tributes from Kevin Hlavka and Michael Clickner:
and a delightful excerpt from “Smoke on the Mountain” with Jeannie Costabile:
At that point, some of Norm’s family took the stage ….. including a granddaughter (who sang wonderfully) and Norm’s three daughters, scattered across the country but together to pay loving tribute to their beloved dad.
After a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday,” Norm himself took the stage and shared some recollections of his long life in the theater – and graciously attempted to shift the spotlight away from himself and his own accomplishments to say that this day was actually about all of us. It was vintage Norm.
After that, cake and more conversation with the people gathered far and wide to pay tribute to Norm, who seemed truly shell-shocked and stunned that all of this had been done to honor him. That’s part of what made it an even more wonderful occasion- the humility and grace of the great man at the heart of it all.
