Arts Alive San Antonio

INTERVIEW EXPRESS

BYRD BONNER, Lawyer, Actor and President of the Alamo Theater Arts Council*

                                          By JASMINA WELLIGHOFF, Editor.

How does it feel to be celebrating the 32^nd ATAC GLOBE AWARDS?
I am thrilled that we are now celebrating 32 years.

In the wake of the pandemic, and now, in post-pandemic time, we have fewer theater companies in San Antonio; the scene has changed considerably. How do you see the situation?
Well, it’s hard for all in the performing arts community. It’s the same for the ballet, it’s the same for orchestras, jazz concerts – and all – because spaces where people gather to enjoy and appreciate the performing arts, were closing, and some never reopened. By now, thanks to vaccination and medical care, people are no longer that scared to come together in a closed space though there’s still some fear. And we still see a lot of people wearing masks in the theater. And, unfortunately, we ended up with fewer theaters. There have been two or three closures. However, I think we will see a resurgence. We have new companies, like the Miscast Theater Company and Teatro Audaz. Also, all our colleges have a theater program now.

But we almost lost the Public Theater. Remember the “Save the Playhouse” appeal that was sent out a couple of months ago, asking for donations.

Everyone has gone through financial troubles during the pandemic. When you don’t have ticket sales, you lose a major source of income. While we have a lot of wonderful philanthropy in San Antonio, like the Hill Rogers Fund for the Arts, philanthropy can only do so much. Thankfully, we do live in a very generous city.

How many awards will be given out on Sunday?
I believe, the number is 32, unless there are ties, when we have to give two in the same category.

The format has changed this year, right?
Yes, it’s a big change. We are going back to “five nominees/one winner” like most award programs have, like the Tonys, and the Oscars, and others. The nominees are selected by the judges who attend the shows throughout the year. Names of nominees are published, and you can find them on ATAC’s website. They all know that they have been selected.

Let’s talk about you. You are a practicing lawyer but you are also an active actor. How did you develop your love of theater?
It started early, back when I was growing up in a county-seat town in East Texas. There wasn’t a lot of theater to be exposed to. When I had the opportunity to be on stage as part of a school show, or at church, I was always first in line for that. And then, I had the blessing of grandparents and parents who took me to Dallas to see the Dallas summer musicals and other professional touring companies. That really ignited the spark for me. Then, when I was in college at Vanderbilt University, I joined the extracurricular volunteer musical revue troupe, called The Original Cast. It had just started the year before I got to Vanderbilt in 1976. I went to the show they presented during my first semester – and the bug bit! That was what I wanted to do! I auditioned when I returned to college in January and got in. I was at Vanderbilt for four years.

How many roles have you had throughout your performing career?
Oh…, probably about 50, since then. I was not in a play or in a scripted musical until I came to San Antonio (following law school). I started auditioning for shows after I had been here about a year. Then I auditioned for “Guys and Dolls,” at the San Pedro Playhouse, when the San Antonio Little Theater was housed there. It was directed by Wayne Elkins and Mirna von Nimitz was the music director. After that I just went from show to show, doing two or three a year.

What is your favorite role?
I can’t answer that question without saying Abenizer Scrooge in the musical version of the “Christmas Carol.” I got to play Scrooge for three years in a row at the Public. I liked being Scrooge because of the growth of the character, his transition at the end of the show. Another favorite role was Oscar Jaffe in
“On the Twentieth Century.” The playhouse did it in the mid- 90s, and I was cast as the lead.

People often ask me about musicals, because that’s what I did for 30 years, but I have transitioned to plays, and I’ve found a real happiness and a real home in doing plays on stage. You don’t cry a lot when you are in musicals but plays allow me to explore a wider range of emotions and expressions

You have two, now adult daughters. Have they followed in your footsteps?
Oh yes, they did!  My older daughter, Caroline has even won a Globe Award. Caroline and my younger daughter, Rosalie, all their lives watched their daddy on stage. But they were never in shows with me or at local theaters. Rosalie went to NESA, the Northeast School of the Arts, and was in musical theater there. Caroline’s calling was instrumental music. She was in the band and then went on to UT in Austin where she was in the drum line of the UT Longhorn Marching Band. But when she graduated and came back to San Antonio to be a school choir director, she decided that she was going to try to do this thing that daddy liked so much, and she auditioned at the Playhouse for a production of “Oklahoma” and performed in the show. Two shows later, she replaced the lead singer in another musical when the lead experienced a medical emergency. Caroline did so well that she won a Globe Award.

Let’s focus again on the present. Society is changing rapidly. What are you worried about?
I am worried about the future of the performing arts in San Antonio if we do not take more seriously a commitment to have more equity, diversity and inclusion in the arts. It is a different world now post-Goerge Floyd murder. It’s not that the murder was the defining moment but it was a defining moment in our country. The performing arts have depended on those who had power and privilege for too long. But today, there is more diversity, not only among performers but also on nonprofits’ boards.

What’s the best advice you have ever received?
(Takes time to think) I think that the best advice or challenge that I’ve been given in life is this: rather than focus on our own needs, we need to understand greater needs. I strive to find the greater good, not just what’s good for Byrd.

How do you relax and replenish your own batteries?
By going to New York. For someone like my wife, the thought of going to a huge city is probably the opposite of relaxing and replenishing one’s batteries, but I go there two or three times a year. And I see as much theater as I can. And I just love to be in the midst of that hectic world.
——————————————————————————————————————–
The 32^nd Alamo Theater Arts Council’s GLOBE AWARDS SHOW and GALA takes place Nov. 12, 6-8 p.m. at the Craver Community Cultural Center, 226 N. Hackberry, 78202; tickets are $32 at box office, 210-207-7211 or www.thecarver.org. The event includes “a fabulous night of entertainment as part of the award presentation.”
____________________________________________________________________________________*The Alamo Theater Arts Council – ATAC – was founded in 1990 by a group of theater artists and supporters, led by then theater critic Jasmina Wellinghoff, who is currently the editor of ARTS ALIVE SAN ANTONIO. The idea was to recognize achievement in theater arts in San Antonio through an annual award show and celebration. The first Globe Awards Show took place on Sept. 15, 1991 at the San Pedro Playhouse. Byrd Bonner has been part of ATAC ever since and is currently the president of the ATAC Board