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Show Wednesday, September 18, 1996 The Park Record A-7 Park Record Profile Richard Scott surprises himself and entertains us all by Lisa Antonucci OF THE RECORD STAFF He thought he was going to be a lawyer. "Really?" I said, practically choking on my spinach salad. "Or I figured I would be working the graveyard shift at the 7Eleven you know, the shift where everybody every-body dies," he says amused, but I can tell it's a thought he has entertained. enter-tained. Rather than choke on my lettuce, I just put down my fork and took a good look at Richard Scott, producing artistic director for Park City Performances, and tried to imagine him in either role. He has a kind face and sparkling light eyes which convey his delight with his present situation. I could barely imagine him in any other role except master of our little Egyptian Theatre, shmoozing with the community com-munity and relishing in his share of the spotlight. "I think it was somehow supposed sup-posed to happen this way," says Scott with a more pensive tone. He reflects back to the journey that led him to Park City. He grew up on the east coast, South Jersey to be exact, the son of a milkman and what he calls a "traditional" housewife. house-wife. The Scotts were a large family fami-ly he was the fifth of six children and while he believes he was influenced heavily by his family, he doesn't recall anything theatrical about the bunch. He studied pre-law in college, but after working two years in a law firm Scott said the attorney's life was not for him. He began working for a bookstore, a chain similar to Barnes and Noble, and soon became general manager. By 1980, the bookstore job lost its luster lus-ter and he decided to make a trip out West. "It's the traditional Park City story." chuckles Scott. "I came out for one winter and 15 years later I'm still here." Scott stayed with some friends in Salt Lake City that initial visit and made a "spiritual" trip to southern Utah. "I slept under Delicate Arch; it was a full moon; I had a vision, and decided to leave the East Coast for good." He planned to stay for only a winter then move on to Seattle. He chose the Pacific city because he had just started playing around with acting and thought there THURSDAY FRIDAY the former HOWARD JOHNSON HOTEL NOW BEST WESTERN DOWNTOWN 122 WEST SOUTH TEMPLE SALT LAKE CITY UTAH "This event allows Utah families to acquire authentic handmade rugs of exceptional quality to cherish and keep for generations. All rugs will be sold at a fraction of list price, making this an excellent opportunity for enthusiasts, collectors, investors and even first-time purchasers. " Raffi J. Daghlian Fnjoy a memorable evening with the entertaining professional profes-sional auctioneer Michael Abdalla QJ UT AUCTIONEER Limited Seating - Reserve would be more opportunities there. "I didn't think I would act full-time, but I wanted the option." Just for the record. Park City wasn't his initial choice either. He thought perhaps Sun Valley or some place in Colorado would be better. "But then I looked on the map and saw that Sun Valley was nowhere near an airport. I figured I'd get about three months into this thing and think, i need cars! I need fumes! I need the city!' So I chose Park City instead." Like every "ski bum" who dreams of spending each powder day on the mountain and only working at night, Scott searched for a job in a restaurant. Unfortunately this was the winter of the inversion and the lack of snow was causing cancellations left and right. "So the restaurants weren't hiring but the reservation companies were, so I did property think it was somehow supposed to happen this way. " Richard Scott management for the next 10 years." Theater gradually became an intregal part of Scott's life, beginning begin-ning with performances by the fledgling Park City Players. He recalls going to sign up for a play and found out the role was a strong ethnic character. Since he wasn't "ethnic" and had never really been in a show before, he assumed he wouldn't audition and would just sign on for the crew. "However, I didn't know Utah didn't really have any ethnic groups, (so when I found out) I decided to audition and got the part." He continued to act in various performances but still considered it a hobby. That all changed in 1990 when Scott took a chance and auditioned audi-tioned that winter for several performances per-formances in Salt Lake. He got several sev-eral parts with the Salt Lake Acting Company and six months later quit property management. "Acting went from being a hobby to being something very important to me. I began acting full-time." p y B L D SEPTEMBER 19 7 PM SEPTEMBER20 7PM Large Stock of Fine, High Quality, Genuine Handmade Rugs From Around The World No Imitations it it No Machine Made it NoLook-Alikes COME ONE HOUR EARLY FOR PREVIEW, REFRESHMENTS & APPETIZERS : AUC-76 Free Parking Your Place At This Special Event By "Were you surprised by how much you liked it?" I asked. "Shocked," he said emphatically. emphatical-ly. "I never even considered it before. I suppose like everybody I was looking for that thing that is going to make us happy, that thing that we really want to do, but I never expected it to be acting. "I really don't know where it came from. I suppose it started with discipline. (Acting) takes tremendous discipline, focus, concentration. con-centration. It's analogous to competitive com-petitive sports, but at the same time you have to be open and be able to flow. It's a strange combination of two things that really run against each other. That's what really intrigued me. It still does." He compares his venture into acting full-time to going back to school. He moved down to Salt Lake and was barely getting by, not making any money. "But it was great," he says with a smile. He began working somewhat steadily with the Pioneer Theater and earned 38 points toward his Actors Equity Card (recognized nationally) without even knowing it. "Are there certain kinds of roles that you like more than others?" I continued to pry. "No, not really," he replied. "Bigger parts are better than smaller small-er ones no matter what they say about 'No small parts, only small actors.' I like to have roles that push your buttons, help you grow and stretch." Scott has achieved his wish. His love of theater has grown into a full-time position with Park City Performances. He started by producing pro-ducing a show for the 1993 season then went on to produce the entire next season. I asked him his opinion opin-ion of community theater and its role, particularly in Park City, and I was gently reprimanded. "I don't like the term 'community 'communi-ty theater' because it comes with so much baggage. I like to think of the Egyptian as community-based theater the-ater because we have so much community support. Whether it's talent or ticket sales, the local community com-munity is invaluable." He officially took over as producing pro-ducing artistic director of Park City Performances just this past year, but continues to act as much as possible. He still performs in Salt rx m LKJ Personal Checks Calling: 801 -595-01 41 llilti SCOTT SINEPARK RECORD Richard Scott has found unexpected happiness in the theater. As producing artistic director of Park City Performances, Scott enjoys his role behind the scenes almost as much as his roles on stage. Lake and has practically become a regular at Sundance Children's Theater, and occasionally steps on stage at the Egyptian (look for him in this season's Tally's Folly). As a director, producer, teacher (Oh yes, he teaches theater for the University of Utah and will teach a communications course for the Winter School this year.) and actor. Scott is comfortable wearing his many hats. While this crazy pace would cause most of us to hyperventilate, hyper-ventilate, Scott is quite calm and looking forward to the future. "We are trying to move to the next level," says Scott. He speculates specu-lates that he will be doing more 1 1 saw- r , fl BhrybrrrrrTi 1 fl I CV Opening Friday, September 20th C2il 1 I sStT W 6 months Interest FREE y 73gy If "---cL-.x IK i I hi vs-'vA E " V ,lL Queen Size 1 Complete ' ""'' ""' "' "" '''!!: ' SoUd Pine High Post Bed Mexican Rustic l . af-T. J U I Alt-t $699 G-Uerycollectlon .Jgj I I' " ' I Conner Mccel " (, I I -.Hoinaan Lf I , .. . ., 1 M I i . , . - Tin tn SS" TV lift I I Hi in A I 1 LULLSIZJ - i Mon. Saturday mmr a tnmm -"Y-iiiiim , r- J f I travelling to research new material for the theater and for the newly established youth theater program (which was a great success this past summer!). He admits the near future will be a challenge with the planned remodeling of the theater scheduled to begin in April of 1997. "We'll continue to do performances perfor-mances but we won't be in the Egyptian for six to eight months," he explains. The inconvenience, however, cannot overshadow his anticipation for the improvements. "It's more than just refurbishing the theater. We will improve what was stai ted in 1981. If we do, we will have a state-of-the-art theater (BfffBIEKfl (Dp(Bmilm 10 - 9 pm 293 V which is very unique for its size (300 seats). "My overall goal for (Park City Performances) is to continue to improve the quality of the shows, increase the number of guest artists, directors, set designers. That way we don't get too settled it creates vitality. I hope we do a shorter run-time so we can increase programming. I would like to see more musicals." And the list goes on. For Richard Scott, the theater has become a full-time commitment, commit-ment, and he couldn't be happier. Thank heavens now I can finish my lunch! 5 t A 1 I E E E E m East 3300 South Sunday 12- 5pm thmsep' ins Salt Lake City |