Spotlight article: “Keith Wirtz, SVS 1st Director"
Question: Going back to when you began your association with the Senior Variety Show, who came to you and asked you to become an active part of the show? It was probably Cay Peet that very first year. As luck would have it, I had a good friend and college professor, Frank Brandt, who had attended a senior variety show in Branard, MN. He brought back a videotape of the show and a manual of how the community college there produced it. We used that as a starting place!
Question: What is your theater background? I graduated from ISU in 1974, majoring in speech and theater. While in school I was a part-time costumer which eventually led me to help with the Utah Shakespearean Festival for two years, and then to MURST (Memorial Union Resident Summer Theater) where I directed, performed, waited tables, tended the bar… the works! I had been involved with Ames Children Theatre, ACTORS, and ISU Theater through the years before Senior Variety Show came knocking.
Did you have a favorite role during those years? It was probably when I was cast as one of the fathers in Fantastics, or the role of Seymour in The Little Shop of Horrors.
Question: What was your responsibility when you joined the Senior Variety Show? Were there committees like the current production and creative teams to help get the show up and running? I was asked to be the director of the first show. In those first years there were only five of us putting it together. with Betty Boccella and Cay Peet heading the project. Chuck and I auditioned the performers and then met for a few lunches at the Broiler to decide the show order.
Question: What do you remember most about your first year of directing? We really hoped we could fill at least half the auditorium for the one production, and surprise! It was packed! And they had to turn people away at the door!
We only had about 8 individual or group acts so everyone did two or three numbers. There was no time limit because we needed to fill up the show. But it wasn’t too many years later that Chuck instituted the 3 minute rule because the word had spread and more people wanted to audition. My motto was: If you were interested in being on stage, I was interested in having you on stage… so we made room!
Question: How many shows were you involved with? I directed the first seven shows and then passed the baton to Mark Forbis but continued to help with almost every show thereafter. I continued to give input at the planning meetings and helped with the staging of the show itself. In 2017 I came back to co-direct “Feelin’ Groovy! with Betty Boccella.
Question: At what point did you realize that there was no stopping this show? After the first two years we began to realize, Holy Smokes, this is bigger than any of us thought!
Question: Who were some of the key people who inspired you during your first years with the show? Oh, ALL the performers! That is like being asked to pick a favorite child! Definitely Cay Peet and Chuck Jones, and Ireta Knapp who was the 90 year old pianist who played for the preshow entirely by ear, Jim Okey, and Bob and Marilynn Curry, the college sweethearts who sang those beautiful duets. And there was Bonnie Schaupper. She always asked me what to wear and I would say “anything sparkly!” “What shoes?” “What do you have?” “Well, I have red shoes.” “Then by all means wear red shoes!”
Question: What has been your favorite show theme? I really enjoyed the USO theme and Irving Berlin. I was my idea to have it “snow” for the finale of “White Christmas.” After searching country wide, we borrowed the used snow from the local Nutcracker production, and it came with feathers and sequins!
Question: Every director has stressful moments in working a show. Do you remember any such times? With so many acts, there are lots of moving parts….so it was always juggling the lights, sound, music, keeping everybody happy, safe, and helping them have the best performance and experience they could have. Because of the age of the performers I wanted to be respectful of people’s time and endurance so we managed with only two rehearsals that show week. That in itself is stressful!
Question: Were there special relationships that developed during the years with the show that have a place forever in your heart? Well, being able to hand off the show to Mark Forbis who I’d known since days at the Maintenance Shop. I knew from observation that he was capable of directing the show and had the musical talent to go with it. I appreciated watching the show continue under his directorship for the next 15 years and enjoyed working with him.
Question: Is there a memorable moment from a show that has remained with you all these years? It had to be singing the duet with Chuck Jones when I turned 60. We dressed as farmers and sang, “Plant a Radish” from Fantastics.
I was only 40 when the show began. So I was amazed that the show lasted long enough for me to reach the golden age of 60 to be in it! (Now I am amazed that I’m here to tell this tale!)
Anything else you would like to share? Well, I’m still performing. I sing with a men’s chorus in Des Moines and thought last year might be my swan song; but COVID hit and moved things back and now I find myself still at it!
Thank you, Keith Wirtz, for being a knowledgeable, creative “founding father” for the Senior Variety Show and for caring about the show and its special performers all these years!
MUSICAL TELEGRAMS!!
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