The Cambridge Dictionary defines mentoring as:
The act or process of helping and giving advice to a younger or less experienced person, especially in a job or at school.
It is past time for me to write about several people who influenced me during my professional life as a musician/lyric theater director. Following T.S Eliot's advice to "only connect", I write to reach back to my mentors and connect them to you.
Sir John Anthony Quayle (1913-1989) was an English actor, theatre director, narrator and author who is best known for his Academy Award-nominated role as Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in the British period-drama 'Anne of the Thousand Days'. Some of his prominent roles in films and on television were in 'The Wrong Man', 'The Battle of the River Plate', 'The Guns of Navarone', 'Lawrence of Arabia', 'The Fall of the Roman Empire', 'Operation Crossbow', 'Strange Report','QB VII', 'The Eagle Has Landed' and 'The Bourne Identity'. As the director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, he sought out some of Britain's finest actors including Richard Burton, Alan Badel, Rachel Roberts, Laurence Harvey and Michael Hordern, which laid down the foundations of the future Royal Shakespeare Company.
In 1974, Quayle was appointed by the University of Tennessee as Artistic Director of the Clarence Brown Company (the resident professional theatre company there). Throughout the mid-1970s, he taught classes at the University of Tennessee, while starring in several stage productions that included: 'Everyman' (1974), the eponymous role in 'Macbeth' (1975), played the title character in 'Rip Van Winkle' (1976), and appeared opposite Mary Martin in the opening production of 'Do You Turn Somersaults' (1977).
While pursuing my Masters degree in Music at The University of Tennessee (1974-1976), I spent more hours in the Theatre Department than in the Music Department and in 1975 became a member of the Clarence Brown Theatre Company. It was during these years that I met and observed Anthony Quayle. I was blessed to be cast in the Bicentennial production of Rip Van Winkle and traveled with the company to the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and to a theatre in Philadelphia.
In addition to watching Quayle closely on a daily basis for several months, I had the opportunity to discuss his craft with him. I attribute my knowledge of the following stage techniques to his mentorship: 1) character development; 2) economy of gesture; and 3) stage picture (one’s position on stage in relation to everyone else’s position).
During the Autumn of 2008 (more than 30 years after my time with Quayle), I became aware of and read Quayle’s autobiography, A Time to Speak. I learned much about his early life and about his military career during World War II. Especially fascinating were his experiences on Gibraltar as a British Captain and Military Assistant to British General Mason-MacFarlane. In that capacity, he met and transported Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, Averell Harriman, Bernard Montgomery, George Patton, Charles De Gaulle, and the King of Greece (among others).
Quayle worked along side the greatest British actors/directors of the 20th Century (John Gielgud, Tony Guthrie, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Alec Guinness, Michael Redgrave, Peggy Ashcroft, and Peter Brook) and he writes descriptively and with humor about them.
But back to my personal time with Quayle. On one occasion, during a private conversation while he was applying his stage make-up for “Rip Van Winkle”, I asked him, “Is there a method for losing my strong East Tennessee ‘hillbilly’ accent? Quayle looked me directly in the eyes and kindly replied, “You shouldn’t try. It is charming and is a part of your authenticity”. I took his advice to heart, and it provided me a confidence that served me well beyond the lyric stage.
I bow to Mr. Quayle, and hope I have connected him to you.
CPW
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