Memorial for Steve Hall
05/10/2008
Today I attended memorial service of Steve Hall – and the following celebration at the Hyde Park Opera House. It would be small to say she was just my mentor, because everyone who had the opportunity to work with her felt the same way. Here are my comments I contributed to the memorial:
I grew up just a church away from the Opera House. Long before I would consider that grand building home, I would sneak down the street to get a glimpse. Inside was a powerhouse of a woman, Kathryn Hepburn in demeanor and flair. She had a scarf jauntily tied around the neck, hair in a bun, and fingers pointing; directing all around her. This was Steve Hall, the woman who gave me and many others their love of theatre.
Eventually I worked up the nerve to stay through an entire audience (it took years!) and finally was cast in my first musical, Fiddler on the Roof in 1975. I was a “daughter,” you know, the one who mama teaches “to mend and tend and fix.” That was the beginning of many shows that would shape my world. Steve was the fearless leader who created magic out of chaos. She was the one we all looked to for any kind of direction. Steve was blunt enough to tell you the truth - that you look better on stage with your butt pulled in and that your smile isn’t a smile unless you can see teeth! She was also the one with the innate ability to make you feel special and that the show wouldn’t go on without you. Her praise was a commodity I valued above all treasure. I still have the letter she wrote me when I starred in my first show at college and then, another letter when I directed my first show at the Opera House.
There isn’t a play or musical I do – on stage or off – where I am not utilizing Steve’s methods. She could block a crowd scene like no other, distill comedy out of thin air, and found the human connection in everything. I am now in the midst of a directing a comedy I wrote and am profoundly present to the difference Steve Hall makes in my life to this day. Attempting to walk in your mentor’s footsteps is a daunting task and Steve’s? Well, her footsteps will always be one of a kind and simply unfillable – and that’s just fine with me.