Monday, July 16, 2007

In Sympathy

We are keeping Jason Marks and his family in our prayers. We learned this morning about the death of Jason’s father. Jason is currently preparing for his role as Mr. Mushnik in SPARC’s Little Shop of Horrors, which opens this Thursday.

Jason appeared as the stuffed shirt lawyer Babcock in the cast of Mame this winter at Barksdale's Signature Season at Willow Lawn. He sang a very memorable O Holy Night in Home for the Holidays, our annual cabaret benefit for the Richmond Theatre Artists Fund. Prior to that, Jason starred as Belle’s father in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and as the Grinch in Seussical the Musical, both at Theatre IV.

When I was 32, I lost my father unexpectedly. He was 74, which seemed old to me at the time, but seems young to me today. It was a very jarring event in my life, one that will always be with me. My theatre responsibilities at the time helped me tremendously to deal with the loss and move on. I hope the same proves to be the case for Jason.

I also hope that Jason knows with certainly that our community stands with him during this transition, providing a foundation of love and support that he can fall back on if and when he needs to. We offer our deepest sympathy. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do.

--Bruce Miller

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

To Bruce, and the Richmond Theatre Community -

Thank you for your kind words. Myself and my family sincerely appreciate the condolences during this exceedingly difficult and unexpected time.

My father had a great love of theater, and was always highly supportive of me and my dreams. He saw many shows in Richmond that I was a part of, and did his best never to miss one. I know that he now has the best seat in the house to watch me.

Thank you again.