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Director honored for role in theater

Community theaters honor a New Port Richey man, 82, who is leaving Florida to marry a childhood friend.

By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
Published October 11, 2005

LARGO - New Port Richey resident Dick Poole was given the Lloyd Lewis Lifetime Achievement Award by a group of Tampa Bay area community theaters on Sunday for his decades of service to theater.

The prestigious award was presented at the annual Lary Awards ceremony, the Tampa Bay area's version of Broadway's Tony Awards. The event was held at the Largo Cultural Center and attended by more than 300 theater performers, crew members and enthusiasts.

Since he moved to St. Petersburg 25 years ago, Poole, 82, has directed 41 musicals and 15 plays at various theaters in Pinellas and Pasco counties, including Richey Suncoast Theatre, Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center and Francis Wilson Playhouse in Clearwater. In addition, he has performed in 16 plays and made hundreds of award-winning costumes for several theaters.

"My life would have been pretty empty without theater," Poole said as he accepted the award. "It has been a wonderful experience."

Poole has been involved in theater since early childhood. Along with his late wife, Rose, he founded the Porthole Players in Oregon. He was resident director for the Maui Community Theater in Hawaii.

In recent years, Poole has directed The King and I at both the Francis Wilson and at Richey Suncoast; Hello, Dolly!, 1776, Mame and Zorba at Tarpon Springs, and scores of other productions elsewhere.

His next show is My Fair Lady at the Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center Nov. 4-20.

The Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe classic will be his last show in this area. Shortly after it opens, Poole is moving to California to marry a childhood friend, Gerry Gollihur, whose husband recently died.

"We will miss him terribly," said Mary Ann Boos, who has been music director for many of Poole's shows, including the upcoming one.

Poole jokingly confessed to being part of a "threesome" for the past 13 years, a reference to his collaboration with Ms. Boos and choreographer Jane Geddings. The three are working together on the upcoming production of My Fair Lady, which is also the first show they did together 13 years ago.

His anecdotes about "horrendous things that have happened to me in the theater" had the audience roaring with laughter. In one instance, an overenthusiastic fellow performer accidentally knocked him out during a show. In another, a stagehand in a show he directed got caught up in the curtains and was forced to stand still in full view on the stage during the ensuing scene, where the hero sung the line, "People stop and stare..."

Friends and fellow theater buffs are giving Poole a going-away party at 6 p.m. Nov. 7 at Francis Will Playhouse. An hourlong reception will be followed by a musical tribute to Poole in the theater, using tunes from the shows he has directed over the years. Reservations are required. Call 727 446-1360 or e-mail Ray Kenney at ggkenn@aol.com

[Last modified October 11, 2005, 01:57:17]