The River is Wide…the Bridge is Love:
A Remembrance and Celebration of Jim Edmondson’s Life
Thank you so much for joining us either in person or virtually. We had a beautiful time remebering with family and friends.
Jim as the Stage Manager, Our Town, 1972, directed by Pat Patton
Jim came to Ashland in 1972 to play Petruchio opposite Megan (Liz) Cole as Kate in Robert Benedetti’s production of The Taming of the Shrew and instantly felt he had found his artistic home in a town he came to love and that reminded him of his rural upbringing in Montrose, Colorado. Jim remained with the company, save for occasional leaves of absence to work at other theatres around the country, till 2011. His tenure spanned the tenures of four artistic leaders: Jerry Turner, Henry Woronicz, Libby Appel, and Bill Rauch.
As an actor at the Festival Jim was noted for his portrayals of the title role in Libby Appel’s King Lear, and for playing Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, George in Of Mice and Men, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Leontes in The Winter’s Tale, Mephistopheles in Doctor Faustus, Angelo in Measure for Measure, and the title roles in King John and King Richard II.
His directing work encompassed plays by Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Measure for Measure, King Lear, Cymbeline, Titus Andronicus, King Henry VIII)along with contemporary work(A Taste of Honey, Rough Crossing, Fuddy Meers, Rabbit Hole) and classics (Cyrano de Bergerac). He was especially noted for his productions of Shakespeare’s King Richard III and King Henry V, both of which featured Marco Barricelli in the title roles.
Additionally, Jim was for 25 years Producer-Director of the Festival’s annual Daedalus Project, which raised and contributed over a million dollars to local, state, regional, national, and international HIV/AIDS education, research, and support organizations.
Those contributions also benefitted OSF’s Rex Rabold Fellowship Fund, which helps bring a graduate of Rex’s alma mater, Idaho State University, to the Festival acting company. We hope so-inclined remembrance-celebration attendees and non-attendees alike will contribute to the Fund in Jim’s name. (www.RaboldFund.org)
Jim came to Ashland in 1972 to play Petruchio opposite Megan (Liz) Cole as Kate in Robert Benedetti’s production of The Taming of the Shrew and instantly felt he had found his artistic home in a town he came to love and that reminded him of his rural upbringing in Montrose, Colorado. Jim remained with the company, save for occasional leaves of absence to work at other theatres around the country, till 2011. His tenure spanned the tenures of four artistic leaders: Jerry Turner, Henry Woronicz, Libby Appel, and Bill Rauch.
As an actor at the Festival Jim was noted for his portrayals of the title role in Libby Appel’s King Lear, and for playing Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, George in Of Mice and Men, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Leontes in The Winter’s Tale, Mephistopheles in Doctor Faustus, Angelo in Measure for Measure, and the title roles in King John and King Richard II.
His directing work encompassed plays by Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Measure for Measure, King Lear, Cymbeline, Titus Andronicus, King Henry VIII)along with contemporary work(A Taste of Honey, Rough Crossing, Fuddy Meers, Rabbit Hole) and classics (Cyrano de Bergerac). He was especially noted for his productions of Shakespeare’s King Richard III and King Henry V, both of which featured Marco Barricelli in the title roles.
Additionally, Jim was for 25 years Producer-Director of the Festival’s annual Daedalus Project, which raised and contributed over a million dollars to local, state, regional, national, and international HIV/AIDS education, research, and support organizations.
Those contributions also benefitted OSF’s Rex Rabold Fellowship Fund, which helps bring a graduate of Rex’s alma mater, Idaho State University, to the Festival acting company. We hope so-inclined remembrance-celebration attendees and non-attendees alike will contribute to the Fund in Jim’s name. (www.RaboldFund.org)
Jim Edmondson Celebration of Life 