“So, 2013 in the fall was Tarzan, our 100th show. We did two weekends of shows. That’s back in the day when we used to
do them. We had double cast basically every role. And so, uh, the Tuesday of show week, I won’t go into great detail, but I basically got a phone call from Alan Manning, who was music directing, and he told me that Houston had passed suddenly in a car accident.”
“And I just I was in shock. And of course, Mackenna was getting ready. I mean, it was just it was hard. Sadly, we don’t want anything tragic to create community, but invariably it is community because we all were at a loss together. We were grieving together. We watched the little teeny kids encouraging the older kids and vice versa. It was just like this big family.”
“Houston was such a great, he was not perfect obviously, but he made it a purpose to make sure to get to know as many people in the cast. He would go and sit with a kid you didn’t know which is what you want. That’s what we always want at First Act. And so he just exemplified the heart of Christ.”
“Can you talk about the tribute to Houston at the end of the show?”
“We wanted to honor him, but it’s also become all glory goes to God. But it started during that time. And I’m glad it’s continued.”
