Volunteer Spotlight: Glenn Boettger
We are delighted to feature Glenn Boettger as our February Spotlight Volunteer! Glenn has been involved with QCT since 2017 and has been seen on stage in several shows including NEWSIES, THE MUSIC MAN, GOOD PEOPLE, PHANTOM, and BYE BYE BIRDIE. He was recently awarded the Ghost Light Award for his involvement with NEWSIES. Glenn is currently in rehearsals for WAITRESS where he will play diner owner, Joe. You can also find Glenn performing around town as a member of the QCT Emeritus Players!
How did you first become involved with QCT?
I attended my first (of many) QCT productions shortly after I moved to Quincy back in 1992, back when it was called QCLT and located at 13th and Payson. [Fast forward 25 years, the name has changed and the theater has moved to the OLC]. Somewhere along the way, I must have gotten the “itch,” because in 2017 and 2018 I signed up for a couple of acting classes. I remember noticing Brandon (Thomsen) standing in front of the box office window one evening as I left class. I approached cautiously! [Glenn…you’re being overly dramatic!]. I introduced myself and asked him how much theater experience was required or expected to audition for a role in a QCT production. I told him I had completed one of the acting classes offered by the theater and was in the middle of another. He was NOT impressed! [Glenn…again,…irrelevant]. Basically, he told me anyone could audition—experienced or not. I thanked him for his time and we went our separate ways.
About a week and a half later, I received an email from Brandon, asking if I would consider getting involved in the upcoming production of GOOD PEOPLE. He told me several scenes take place during bingo games at a Catholic church and I would be the voice of the priest calling the numbers. I would be offstage using a microphone and would be reading directly from the script, so there would be no memorizing lines, no costume, no make-up. In other words, a “gentle introduction” into the world of theater. To flip the words of an old phrase often heard by youngsters, I would be “heard, but not seen.” How could I resist? And the rest is history! [Again,…overly dramatic!].
What was your most memorable moment working on a production?
During a rehearsal for THE MUSIC MAN one of the child actresses came up to me and said, “You’re my favorite Stage Dad.”
If you could play any role in any play or musical, which one would it be and why?
I would love to play Alfred P. Doolittle (Eliza’s father) in MY FAIR LADY. Why? Because he is quite the “character,” and I mean that in both the “formal” sense (i.e., a person in a play or novel) and the “informal” sense (i.e., an eccentric or humorous individual).
What has been your favorite/most rewarding volunteer role?
Actor
What is an area of volunteering that you haven’t tried, but would like to?
Since retiring, I have had occasion to help out with painting scenery in my spare time, but I have never actually participated in an organized “Build Day.” I’m not sure I have the skills to handle that, but I think, like it or not, it is something I should probably try.
What is the funniest mishap you’ve seen happen during a live performance?
Honestly, I am happy to say, that I do not recall any funny mishaps that occurred during live performances in which I have participated. Now, if you want to talk about funny mishaps that occurred during rehearsals, THAT is a different story entirely. However, I have always been told, “What HAPPENS in rehearsals, STAYS in rehearsals.” So…, no comment!
If QCT could produce any show with an unlimited budget, what would you choose and why?
I would have to say, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. I don’t mean to downplay the 2019 QCT production of Yeston and Kopit’s PHANTOM. I was in the cast and thought it was an excellent adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel, well suited to a theater of our size and resources. But if the size of the budget and the size of the performance area were not issues, I would have to go with THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. It is larger than life, and of course, features music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. (WICKED might be a close runner-up).
What is one thing you wish the audience knew about what goes on behind the scenes?
I wish the audience knew what it is like to exit stage right, make a complete costume change, and enter as an entirely different character at stage left…in 37 seconds!
What would you say to someone wanting to volunteer with QCT?
I wouldn’t SAY anything. I’d just hand them a paintbrush!!!
No, seriously. I am about to make a suggestion that I hope will NOT discourage people from volunteering. Here it is: if you want to be a volunteer with QCT in a particular capacity, whether it be ushering and handing out programs, sitting at the audition table, building sets, painting scenery, etc., etc, I would suggest that you consider planning to volunteer to do it two or three – or better yet, even four times. Here’s why.
The first time you volunteer, you will probably meet two or three other individuals that you may know, or may not know, or may not know very well, but who share a common interest in volunteering in the same capacity you have chosen. As you work together, you will get to know each other better and connections will be established.
The next time you volunteer for that task, two things can happen. You might be working with some of the same individuals you worked with the first time you volunteered, in which case, you will be strengthening the connections you formed earlier, OR, you might meet some new volunteers, and as you work together with them, you will form some new connections. And each time you volunteer after that, the same thing will happen – either you will be strengthening existing connections with individuals or forming new ones. As time passes, an entire network of connections can be created.
So, why all this talk about “connections?” This is because “connections” represent relationships. Relationships build community, and it is “community” that makes “community theatre” successful.