The First of November, 2009

Posted by Bruce Miller
Yesterday from two until four we said goodbye to Souvenir, and then from six until last call we celebrated the life and legacy of Jack Parrish.

Prior to making it out to Hanover Tavern, I was with my mother at Westminster-Canterbury. She’s a 93-year old with advanced Alzheimer’s and she was having a bad day. I was called in by the nurses to try to calm her down, to stop her screaming and fighting, to bring her back to this world from the terrifying places to which her disease takes her from time to time.

Just before visiting Westminster, I team-taught with Katy Sproul (Firehouse actress Amy Sproul’s mom) our Sunday School class at Bon Air Pres, as I do every week. The topic was gun control, and our class decided to try to persuade our church, and other churches, to take a stand on closing the gun show loophole here in Virginia and nationally.

It was a roller coaster of a day.

Politics can be so polarizing. All of us are demeaned and diminished when we allow ourselves to be manipulated into corners and fail to come together for the common good.

Disease can also force us into isolated corners—making us feel alone and afraid. Doctors and nurses, despite their many skills and heartfelt care, cannot always pull us back from these dark places. But even on these bad days, "family" can usually make a difference.

True performers like Florence Foster Jenkins (and thank you, Debra and Jonathan for bringing her true story to life in Souvenir) refused to be relegated to a corner. Relying on the strength of her intentions, Ms Jenkins transformed self-doubt into confidence, self-effacement into assertiveness, convinced that it is only through truly sharing innermost gifts and selves that any of us will bring joy and community to others.

Jack Parrish also knew this strength and these intentions. He lived his life center stage. He loved his family and friends. He threw himself into each new adventure. He embraced Shakespeare’s magnificent advice to the players, so beautifully recited last night by James Ricks. In the whirlwind of his passion, Jack acquired and begat a temperance that gave it smoothness.

Jack's friends by the hundreds gathered again last night to honor his legacy in different cities around the world. Jokes and songs, toasts and memories filled with truth even if, sometimes, a little fuzzy on accuracy. Testament to a life well lived. Tribute to all those who come together, join together to bring fullness, not fretting, to this brief hour upon the stage.

God bless Jack and Florence, my mother and my Sunday School class. God bless us every one.

--Bruce Miller

In Memoriam: Jack Parrish

Posted by Bruce Miller
Sharing the sadness that so many in the Richmond theatre community are feeling this evening, I’m sorry to report on the passing of Jack Parrish (pictured to the right with Cathy Shaffner standing and Jan Guarino in Money Matters). Jack was an outstanding Richmond theatre artist and a longtime friend to many of us who’ve been walking these boards for a while. After a lengthy battle with lung cancer, Jack only recently went into hospice care and died this afternoon.

I met Jack in the early 70s when I was rising in the ranks of the theatre program at U of R and Jack was similarly placed in the theatre program at VCU. One of my favorite Jack memories from those early days was when he starred in a wonderful VCU production of As You Like It, I think during one of the FanFare summers. FanFare was VCU’s erstwhile summer theatre operation.

Jack moved out of town after graduating from VCU, worked a few years in New York, landed some soap opera work, and then worked mainly in regional theatre. He played Dexter Haven in The Philadelphia Story, Uncle Ernie in The Who’s Tommy, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, and many other dashing roles (Jack was good at dashing). He appeared at prestigious professional theatres including The Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Asolo Theatre in Florida, and Mill Mountain Playhouse in Roanoke.

Jack returned to Richmond in the late 80s, maybe early 90s, to star at Theatre IV as the dashing spy in the classic Civil War melodrama, Secret Service. His other major Theatre IV roles were as The Man in the Yellow Suit in Tuck Everlasting, and as an unforgettable Captain Hook in Peter Pan.

At Barksdale, Jack starred in Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Little Foxes, The Crucible, James Joyce’s The Dead, Scapino!, the world premiere of Money Matters, and Anything Goes.

Shortly after his foray into Cole Porter, Jack moved to Lexington KY to share a city with his great friend, Rick St. Peter, and to lead the theatre program at a local university. He returned to Richmond during the summers to star in the Henry plays at Richmond Shakespeare, having to leave his role two summers ago when he was first diagnosed and began chemotherapy.

Jack also was an acclaimed director, rallying the forces of several of Theatre IV's touring productions. His contributions to Richmond theatre are immeasurable, and he will be greatly missed. Our deepest sympathies go out to Jack’s wife, Kathy, their son, Clay, and the rest of his family.

With love and respect, Barksdale will dedicate The Grapes of Wrath, our upcoming co-production with TheatreVCU, to Jack’s abiding memory.

--Bruce Miller