Member of the Month Archives
Larry
and Beverly Adams-Bowers,
Nich Radcliffe
Reprinted from the January, 1999 issue of Grease Paint Online
by Steve Arnold
In our past two issues of Grease Paint we have focused on members who have recently moved into new homes, as ACT I will also soon move into its new home. Continuing that theme, we feature Beverly and Larry Adams-Bowers and Beverly’s son, Nich Radcliffe. All three have been involved in ACT I for several years. The family has recently purchased a charming Victorian cottage near downtown Vinton and are now comfortably moved in.
Beverly generally remains behind the scenes (aside from being murdered on stage seconds after her entrance in The Boardwalk Melody Hour Murders) but Larry is a frequent performer and director with us. His major roles for ACT I have included Max in The Sound of Music, Fagin in Oliver! and Milo Tindle in Sleuth, which he also directed. Larry also directed The Foreigner and will also direct this season’s final production, Marvin’s Room. He has previously served as a board member and secretary to ACT I and has organized the awards program during the past three seasons. Larry is a former teacher who taught drama in Laredo, Texas, and is now a customer service representative for MCI. He wants it understood that he is NOT a telemarketer! Beverly is a phlebotomist at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids. In addition to Nich and Larry her family also includes her older son, John Wilson and his wife Brenda and their children, Jonathan and Martha.
Nich, a 1997 graduate of Washington High School in Vinton, is currently a student at National Lewis University in Chicago majoring in theatre. He played numerous major roles at WHS, including The Stage Manager in Our Town, Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird, and Charlie in Flowers for Algernon. He also appeared in several ACT I shows, and co directed our production of Same Time Next Year. In Chicago his roles have included Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Father in The Yellow Boat, as well as appearances in Godspell and Wolfchild. Both Nich and Larry have also taught theatre classes for ACT I STAGE!.
Beverly and Larry’s new home is a charming Victorian with a large attic the couple hopes to renovate as a family room. Larry and Beverly think ACT I has been "a wonderful avenue for their creative energies." They look forward to staging our shows at the newly renovated Palace Theatre. Best wishes to Larry and Beverly and Nich in their new home and we hope for years of involvement in ACT I from them in the future!
Update:
Since this article was written Larry has directed successful ACT I productions of Marvin's Room, A Streetcar Named Desire, and the musicals My Fair Lady, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Larry also produced Events Series productions Intermezzo I, and the poetry reading What God Tells Me When I Am Alone. Beverly appeared in both the musicals and the Poetry Reading. They also appeared together in our Readers Theatre production of The Crucible, with Beverly as Rebecca Nurse and Larry as an excellent John Proctor.
Nich continued with theatre at National Lewis, including such roles as Charlie Brown in Snoopy. Nich also portrayed Stanley Kowalski in the ACT I production of A Streetcar Named Desire. He has now graduated from National Lewis and is working in Chicago trying to break into the theatre scene there.
As for the house, it's now a lovely yellow with decidedly more Victorian flair, thanks to the efforts of Beverly's other son Jon Wilson, a local contractor. Jon also created a beautiful upstairs great room out of the attic, but don't forget to watch your head as you go up the stairs!
Larry Adams-Bowers as Miles Gloriosis rehearses a scene in our 2001 A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, which he also directed.
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