She is a constant presence, like the
theater ghost, except that ghosts make trouble. She makes things right.
At 69, Susan Tucker has been a member of The Concord Players for more
than forty years. Forty years, more than eighty shows, a few hundred
production meetings and thousands, no, millions of moments expertly
practicing the alchemy we call theater.
When gold and purple
threads of light weave into an Alabama sunset on The Concord Players
stage, we find Susan at the board. When the actor reaches for his prop
so surely placed that he knows he doesn't have to look, it is Susan who
has placed it. She is the script doctor, the crew chief, the mentor, the
designer, the doer. She is the unflappable stage manager who navigates
us through the dark; calm and steady as the pages turn and the flats
slide through the legs. Susan listens keenly and takes action quietly.
Problems appear and then they are gone. Disagreements get settled, sets
get built. And flats, aloft in the fly space, materialize exactly when
and how they should.
Susan was only in
her twenties when drawn to The Concord Players. Soon after, the
venerable Heddie Kent, herself a recipient of the Robert E. Gard
Superior Volunteer Award in 2001, became Susan's mentor, tutor and
friend. Heddie imparted years of acquired knowledge in the practice of
theatre, as Susan honed and refined her own instincts for the craft.
Heddie consistently demonstrated that good theater combines free flowing
creativity with the discipline of a calm head and steady hand. The
student surpassed the master and generations of theater goers have
benefitted as a result.
It isn't possible to quantify the value
of Susan Tucker's contributions to our historic organization, or to
calculate how those contributions have inured to the benefit of an
entire community. She regularly employs her expert knowledge and
negotiating skill to acquire technical equipment for three performing
arts organizations that share the same space, saving thousands of
dollars in the process. Most recently, she stewarded the installation of
state-of-the-art equipment for the hearing impaired in our facility,
enabling audiences for concerts, vocal performances and drama to have a
fully enjoyable acoustical experience. She has overseen the purchase and
installation of curtains, lighting equipment, pipes and rigging,
ensuring both optimal production values and highest standards for
safety.
Susan builds bridges as
well. As a representative for the Players in the Town of Concord and the
eastern Massachusetts regional theater community, she has served on
numerous boards for this theater and several community theaters in
neighboring towns. She frequently functions as mediator, negotiating
difficult compromises in the interest of the communities at large. Her
personal integrity is unimpeachable, inspiring others to cooperate and
conciliate when conflict threatens to persist.
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PLAYERS NOMINATED FOR 22 DASH AWARDS
Proof (Play): Allen Bantly for Best Set Design; Susan Tucker for Best Lighting Design; Anne Bantly for Best Set Dressing.
Amadeus (Play):
for Best Production; Kirsten Gould for Best Direction; John Alzapiedi
for Best Lead Actor; David Gould for Best Stage Management; Brian
Harris for Best Set Design; Anne Bantly, Allen Bantly, Larry
Blundell, Page Evett, Brian Harris and Linda McConchie for Best Set
Dressing; Tracy Wall for Best Costume Design; Marie Petrie and Liz Bishop for Best Make-Up and Hair Design; Anne Bantly and Linda McConchie for Best Prop Coordination.
Follies (Musical): for
Best Production; David Berti for Best Lead Actor; Margaret McCarty And
Lea Oppedisano for Best Lead Actress; John Murtagh for Best Stage
Management; David Allen Prescott for Best Set Design; Anne Bantly for
Best Set Dressing; Robert Pascucci for Best Sound Design; Shahn Knights
for Best Costume Design; Marc Capizzi and Karen Burum for Best Make-Up
and Hair Design; Anne Bantly for Best Prop Coordination.
Cast: Phileas Fogg, Andrew Harrington; Passepartout, Slava Tchoul; Aouda, Newspaperwoman, etc. Mary Helan Turner; John Sullivan, Fix, Elephant Owner, Young Parsi, and more! Terry Tamm; Andrew Stuart, British Consul, Sir Francis, Judge Obadiah, Bunsby, and more! Chuck Holleman; Gaulthier Ralph, Oysterpuff, and more! Alex Jordan.
Production Team: Director, Teddy Crecelius; Stage Manager, Paula McNabb; Producers, Kent Miller and Paula McNabb; Set Design, Allen Bantly; Props, Anne Bantly and Linda McConchie; Lighting, Susan Tucker; Makeup, Charlie Atherton.
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SUSAN TUCKER CONT.
Susan
is the spine of our organization: steely, straight and strong,
supporting all of the ways we need to bend and flex to adapt to the
happy surprises that come with making theater. Her acumen in the theater
is surpassed only by her quiet grace and unassuming demeanor. She seeks
no reward other than to do good work in mutual respect with her peers.
It is to honor these rare attributes that we nominated Susan Tucker for
the Robert E. Gard Superior Volunteer Award, which she recently received
from AACT. It is because of these rare attributes that the impact of
her work will remain, making things good for many generations to come.
Even the ghosts will behave.
-Linda McConchie
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