By Stefene Russell
Photograph by Mark Gilliland
Never doubt that two guys and a couple of beers can change the world—or, at least, local theater. Two years ago, actors Steve Isom and Bill Lynch were getting philosophical during happy hour, wondering why, with so many professional theater groups in town, actors have trouble finding work. And why is the house only half-full at some of these brilliant shows?
“We said to each other, ‘St. Louis should have something like the Helen Hayes Awards, like they have in Washington, D.C.,’” Isom recalls. “During the last 20 years, they’ve gone from about a dozen theaters to more than 80.” The Hayes Awards boosted theater attendance overall and “put D.C. on the national theater map,” he adds. He and Lynch racked their brains for people who might want to take on such a project, but eventually Isom ended up belling the cat: He’s now executive director of the Professional Theatre Awards Council, the presenter of the Kevin Kline Awards. Isom and director Jerry McAdams, who functions as board president, have faith that the Klines will do everything for St. Louis that the Hayes Awards did for D.C.
The Klines have already doubled attendance for some smaller theaters, such as Muddy Waters, which are promoted in PTAC’s posters and in programs for larger productions mounted by larger companies such as the Rep. That cooperation between companies—huge and tiny, experimental and traditional, musical and dramatic—occurred almost immediately. “Once we started talking about doing something like this,” Isom says, “everyone in the theater community was overwhelmingly enthusiastic: ‘What can I do? How can I help?’” The first task was to find a recognizable name to attach to the awards, and the choice of Kline was unanimous. “Kevin’s known for his films, but he has theater chops,” Isom says. “They call him ‘the American Olivier.’ He loves theater, and he grew up watching theater here in St. Louis—and he’s very supportive of this.” Indeed, Kline will be at the ceremony this month, held at the Roberts Orpheum Theater, where he watched productions as a little boy. Isom describes the upcoming event with some relish: red carpet, klieg lights, black-tie dress, a big band and 22 statuettes designed by sculptor Jessie Vonk, wife of our late symphony maestro.
It’s not hard to get people excited about big, glamorous parties with a dash of celebrity. But once they’re seated and viewing multimedia projections from the 79 productions judged during the past year, Isom hopes they’ll get excited about what’s going on in St. Louis theaters year-round. “It’s about getting butts in the seats,” he says, “and creating a bigger pie for everyone—but it’s also about saying, ‘Look what we did!’”
The Kevin Kline Awards will be held Monday, March 20, at the Roberts Orpheum Theater, 416 N. Ninth, followed by a gala reception in the Crystal Ballroom of the Renaissance Grand Hotel, 800 Washington. For more information, call 314-276-8165 or visit www.kevinklineawards.org (where you will find current listings for every professional theater production in town).
