One of the pleasures of our recent variety show, Live at the Palace, was the return to our stage after a very long absence of two ACT I favorites, Jill and Tony Bopp.  And happily, this Vinton couple, who brought so much pleasure to ACT I patrons through their performances in the 80s and the early 90s, seems ready to come back for more, as Tony is already scheduled for a return engagement as a member of the cast of our upcoming You Can't Take it With You.  And so it is with pleasure that we reintroduce Jill and Tony Bopp to a new generation of patrons as our Members of the Month for February.

Tony Bopp and Jill Lockard-Bopp delivered a classic comic performance during our recent Live at the Palace.  Jill played it straight at the piano singing and playing while Tony brought down the house with some incredible and wacky visual comedy.

For anyone who began attending ACT I productions after 1993, the appearance of Jill and Tony Bopp in Live at the Palace was a delightful arrival of a pair of new faces.  But for those of us lucky enough to have been around before that, the appearance of the couple on the Palace stage was the signal of a return to some of the early delights of ACT I's early years. It was for our October, 1985 production of The Mousetrap that Jillian Lockard first gained credits for ACT I.  Jill served as an Assistant Director for that show and also did costumes and makeup.  She was back again for our very next show, Lovingly Yours, in which she appeared as a vocalist.  The next ACT I show was My Three Angels, in which Jill played the role of Madame Parole.  That show also included a young actor in the cast named Anthony Bopp, in the role of Paul.  This was followed by the October, 1986 production of The Girls in 509, in which Jill played the featured role of Mimsy and Tony was seen in the highly comic supporting role of Old Jim.  Jill also did costume and makeup design for that show.

Jillian g. Lockard as Mimsy and Becky Mossman as Aunt Hettie listen at the door as Old Jim, the elevator operator, talks to a reporter during The Girls in 509 at the Old Creamery Theatre in 1986.

Following 509, Jill directed an ACT I production for the first time.  For The Rainmaker in April, 1987, Jill cast Tony as Sheriff File.  Tony also was busy with publicity for that show and Jill was busy was costume and lighting designs.  Jill also directed our next production, The Cat and the Canary.  For the following show, Take a Number, Darling, Tony was heard as the announcer and did set construction while Jill did lights and makeup.  Our next show, the comic melodrama Klondike Kalamity, featured the couple in some very broad comedy, with Tony as a member of the company for the pre show olios and Jill as the featured female lead in the melodrama itself, the hapless Nell Oudt.  The couple also did set construction for that show.

Tony Bopp and Jill g. Lockard were both dragged around the stage in our 1988 production of Klondike Kalamity - Tony in one direction and Jill in two!

For our next production, Morning's at Seven in April, 1989, Jill was back as director, this time with a new name - Jillian g. Lockard-Bopp.  Jill's plate for that show was full with technical assignments while her new husband did lighting and set construction.  Jill also directed our next show, In 25 Words or Death, in October of 1989.  Next up, Jill ran lights for our April 1991 production of Daddy's Dyin, Who's Got the Will, and that fall she directed Cheating Cheaters for us on the Brenton stage of the Old Creamery Theatre.  In addition to Tony, who did set construction and properties, another family member was also involved in that show.  The couple's shih tzu Wicket became the first dog ever to appear onstage in an ACT I production.  (A total of six different dogs have performed for us.)  Our next show was the May, 1992 production of Dancers, for which Tony did Box Office and set construction and Jill did makeup and appeared as Sutton.  During this period, Tony was also active as the organization's president.

In June of 1993 Jill appeared for the last time on our stage before a long absence.  She played the role of Sylvie in The Odd Couple, female version.  She also did makeup and Tony did set construction.

Jill Lockard-Bopp, center, as Sylvia in The Odd Couple, female version with Bunny Feller (left) as Olive and Judy Wood as Renee.  (The poker players of the original version became Trivial Pursuit players in the female update.)

Following The Odd Couple, Jill and Tony began their long leave of absence from our stage.  Jill planned to return in 2002 when she was cast as the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, but the final illness of her father forced her to withdraw from that role.  She did, however, design several costumes for that production.  The couple has of late been regular volunteers at the Palace, and now, with Live at the Palace, we are delighted to finally have them back onstage!

Jill writes, "Well, I can say Tony and I are a true ACT I couple.  We met during ACT I's play My Three Angels.  We were both in the show at the time.  We got to know each other better after I cast Tony in The Rainmaker.  (I kinda had a 'captive' interest in casting him.)  :)  It was during one of my rehearsals for an Agatha Christie play, when Tony came in to watch, that things got really interesting!  In the middle of rehearsal, (he did wait for a break), that he turned to me and asked me LOUDLY, 'So, Jill, will you marry me?'  This put a stop to the rehearsal BIG time!  I pretended I didn't hear him.  Tony, in typical fashion, asked again even LOUDER, 'So Jill, will you marry me?'  I replied 'Okay already!' just to shut him up!  Quite the romantic moment!  But in keeping with the drama our lives have had!"

"Tony has been employed in the computer software field and is a true "pooter nerd!"  I left Mount Mercy College five years ago and have been loving working out of my home and mostly not working!  We love puttering around the house both inside and out.  Tony is a late blooming 'lawn-man' and I love to pretend I am a gardener.  We also enjoy our 1 year old Cocker Spaniel named Rheaghal Pippin Dumbledore, and our resident feline queen-of-the-house, Willow Missy Fuzzbutt.  Quite the names for our children, but then look at the parents/owners! :)"

"Tony enjoys computing around the internet and watching "American Chopper"  for whatever strange and unusual reason that is beyond me!  I enjoy reading (I think I'm the library's favorite checker-outer), gardening, and learning to knit something besides scarves.  We're quite the pair."

"After getting involved with volunteering with the Palace about a year ago, Tony and I decided to become a little more active in ACT I.  Tony and I had fun with the last variety show and now Tony's in the next play You Can't Take It With You."

We are delighted to once again have Jill and Tony Bopp back among our ACT I family for current productions and hope their renewed involvement with us will be a long and happy one!  We thank them for their years of dedication to theatre in Benton County and for such a memorable performance in Live at the Palace, and look forward to seeing Tony again in You Can't Take it With You!

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