Guy Adkins, 41, actor was major player on Chicago stages
Hoodoo
life and craft
May 13, 2010
BY HEDY WEISS Theater Critic
http://www.suntimes.com/news/obituaries/2270776,051310-AdkinsOBIT.article
There was something in the way he moved. Something in the mischievous
little bargain he made with both his characters and his audience.
Something in the breathable intelligence he brought to every role he played.
Actor Guy Adkins, who was a major player on such Chicago stages as Court
Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, the Goodman and the Marriott
Theatre in Lincolnshire, possessed what director Tina Landau defined as
�a unique light.� He died Wednesday night in his West Andersonville
apartment, in the company of longtime partner Sean Allan Krill. He was
41, and had waged a long battle with colon cancer.
�I directed him in his final role, in the fall of 2008,� Landau said.
�He played John Wilkes Booth in the Long Wharf Theatre debut of Paula
Vogel�s play �A Civil War Christmas.� Watching him as he jumped on
furniture and tap-danced around the stage, you just would never have
dreamed that a few months later he would face such a terrible diagnosis.
http://media1.suntimes.com/multimedia/guy%20atkins.jpg_20100513_15_51_53_71-282-400.imageContent
Actor Guy Adkins, pictured in Steppenwolf�s 2004 production of
"Theatrical Essays" passed away on May 12. He was 41 years old.
�Guy really was my greatest muse,� said Landau, who also worked with him
on �Floyd Collins� at the Goodman Theatre and�The Time of Your Life� and
�The Cherry Orchard� at Steppenwolf. �He was profoundly inventive and
was invariably the pathmaker � the actor who set the tone and style for
me and for the rest of the ensemble on any show. And in a way he did the
same as he faced death � with such bravery and generosity and
transcendence, with that quirkiness and wit and light that he also
brought to the stage.�
Born in Lansing, Mich., Mr. Adkins graduated from the University of
Wisconsin at Stevens Point and moved to Chicago in the early 1990s,
quickly becoming a major player here.
�Guy was an absolutely fearless actor,� said Charles Newell, who
directed Mr. Adkins at Court Theatre in in the title role in �Hamlet,�
as well as in Shakespeare�s �Pericles� and Tom Stoppard�s �The Invention
of Love.�
�He was an absolutely fearless actor � physically, emotionally and
intellectually,� according to Newell, artistic director of Court
Theatre. �There were no limits to what he would try, he always had a
powerful point of view, and he was the most rigorously disciplined of
actors. It was a dream to work with him.�
Director-choreographer David Bell, who also directed Mr. Adkins in
Shakespeare�s �The Taming of the Shrew� at Chicago Shakespeare, called
the actor �incandescent.�
�He always found enormously original ways to share his own quirkiness
with the characters he played,� Bell said. �And in doing this he
redefined those characters. As a dancer he was in the class of such
greats as Ray Bolger and Danny Kaye. And the way he moved was such an
integral part of the way he acted.�
Whether playing Leo Bloom, the meek accountant who finds himself, in
�The Producers� (at Marriott), or spinning like a tornado as the
song-and-dance man in William Saroyan�s �The Time of Your Life� (at
Marriott), or flying over the audience on a rope in �Pericles� (at
Court) � Mr. Adkins brought an unusual degree of intelligence, mischief,
grace and impossibly relaxed but seemingly inexhaustible bravura
technique to his roles. A performer of great versatility, he was as at
ease in the classics as in musicals.
Offstage, Mr. Adkins was a man of individuality and quiet charm.
�He was not just a genius in his work,� said Chicago Shakespeare�s Rick
Boynton. �He had an equal genius for generosity and compassion offstage.�
In addition to his partner, Mr. Adkins is survived by his parents, Joan
and Frank, and his three sisters, Laurie, Jane and Jill. The funeral
will be private. A celebration of the actor is to be announced later.
--
Trout Mask Replica
WFMU.org or WMSE.org; because music channels on
Sirius Satellite, and its internet radio player, suck
Hoodoo
Actor's work graced almost all of the area's top theaters
Chris Jones Theater critic
6:23 p.m. CDT, May 13, 2010
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/obituaries/ct-met-0514-adkins-obit-20100513,0,1264697.column
He was a perpetually boyish and emotional actor equally at home with
Shakespeare and musical comedy, "Hamlet" and Mel Brooks. He was one of
the leading lights of the Chicago stage for more than a decade. And as
he approached death after a long battle with colon cancer, he wrote
frankly and eloquently on his Facebook page about his impending transition.
Guy Adkins died Wednesday, May 12, in his West Andersonville apartment,
after visits with members of his family and friends from Chicago
theater, according to his longtime partner Sean Allan Krill. He was 41.
Sign up for home delivery and get big savings >>
"We had been watching our favorite movies all day long," Krill said. "I
had just put in 'Titanic.' And he was smiling. It was such a blessing
that Guy was able so eloquently and so beautifully to take us along on
his journey."
Mr. Adkins was born in Lansing, Mich., graduated from the University of
Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and landed in Chicago in the early 1990s. For
most of the next two decades, Mr. Adkins' work graced almost all of
Chicago's leading theaters from the Goodman Theatre (most notably, in
"Floyd Collins" and "Arcadia"), to the Steppenwolf Theatre (where he
built a close relationship with the director Tina Landau) and from Court
Theatre to the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire.
"I've never worked with anyone like Guy," said Landau, who worked with
the actor on "The Time of Your Life," "Floyd Collins" and many other
shows in Chicago and beyond. "He was my muse. He acted like he lived the
last year of his life. With consummate grace and light."
He played the title role in "Hamlet" at Court Theatre in 2002. "He was a
ferocious actor," said artistic director Charles Newell, who directed
that production. "I am not sure I could ever do 'Hamlet' again without him."
And, in 2007, he took on the role of Leo Bloom in "The Producers" at the
Marriott with both ebullience and great critical success.
"Guy could do everything," said Michael Halberstam, the artistic
director of Writers' Theatre.
"He was a happy, joyful person," Krill said. "And at the end, he just
started to glow."
Along with Krill, Mr. Adkins is survived by his parents, Joan and Frank;
and three sisters, Laurie, Jane and Jill. Funeral arrangements will be
private. Arrangements for a celebration of Mr. Adkins' life are pending.
Diner
Chicago actor Guy Adkins dies at age 41
By Scott C. Morgan | Daily Herald Staff
Local actor Guy Adkins died at age 41 after a battle with colon
cancer, according to his longtime partner and fellow actor Sean Allan
Krill.
Adkins, who died Wednesday in Chicago, openly documented his physical
struggles via Facebook and a blog he titled "Notes from a Candyman" on
his website at guyadkins.com.
Adkins was equally at home on stage in big, brassy musicals and more
introspective roles ranging from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" to Tom
Stoppard's young poet A.E. Houseman in "The Invention of Love" (both
for the Court Theatre).
The Michigan native moved to Chicago in the early 1990s and regularly
appeared on Chicago-area stages including the Marriott Theatre,
Steppenwolf, Drury Lane Oak Brook and Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
Adkins was nominated multiple times for Jeff Awards, winning
supporting actor awards in 1999 for the Goodman Theatre's "Floyd
Collins" and in 2002 for Writers' Theatre's "Misalliance."
In recent years, Adkins co-starred alongside both film star Molly
Ringwald and "Trading Spaces" reality TV star Paige Davis in a
national tour of "Sweet Charity." Adkins also won much acclaim in
leading roles in the Marriott Theatre's "A Funny Thing Happened on the
Way to the Forum" in 2005 and "The Producers" in 2007. He is set to be
featured in the forthcoming independent film "The David Dance."
Adkins is survived by Krill, his parents and three sisters. Funeral
services are to be private, but a memorial is in the planning stages.