By LEAH WEATHERSBY

Itıs hard to tell which is has more laughs and adventure: a Civic Light Opera musical or a conversation with the groupıs new managing director, Rick May.

His life story starts out tamely enough. As the son of a insurance executive, Mayıs childhood was spent moving around a lot, usually through the freezing cold environs of Canada and the northern United States.

Even as a kid, May, now 61, was a performer, though back then his work ran more to card tricks and ventriloquism than the legitimate theater. He got started in that realm the same way many teenagers before and after him have: he moved to Seattle and enrolled at Roosevelt High School.

It happened like this: one of Mayıs buddies saw that the schoolıs drama club was going to put on ³Heaven Can Wait,² and May went along to audition. Sadly (for the friend), only May landed a part ‹ the role of the fight manager, which, according to him, got the most laughs in the show.

³It was the funniest part in the play,² May said. ³That was all it took ‹ I was toast.²

By ³toast, ³ May means he caught the infamous acting bug ‹ a germ some parents fear more than the flu. His role in ³Heaven Can Wait,² earned him not only the admiration of his peers, but a mentor, in Roosevelt teacher Aristelle MacDonald.

MacDonald showed May the ropes and taught him itıs best to learn acting by doing ‹ not studying. Nonetheless, May considered enrolling at the University of Washington to study drama, until his father, a conservative man, convinced him that the UW was sure to be full of ³commies.² The elder May convinced his son to attend St. Olaf College in Minnesota instead.

That lasted only a year. The cold and the good times of college life got the best of young May and he dropped out to enlist in the Army in 1960. Fortunately, he joined during a peaceful time in U.S. history.

³I was lucky,² May admitted. ³I caught that window where no one was mad at anybody. Ironically, the army did more for Mayıs career than drama class.

³Every Army post Iıd go to, theyıd have a theater,² May said. ³Basically, I did what Iım doing right now.²

Eventually May wound up stationed in Tokyo, where his job had a lot more to do with stars than bullets. During that time he played host to movie stars Bob Hope (³one of the nicest men Iıve ever met,²) and Danny Kaye ‹ who was friendly to May until he found out he was just a private.

³His show bombed,² May laughed of Kaye.

While in Japan, the young soldier also began an interesting side career in the voice-over business. He dubbed several Japanese films into English (reading many different parts) including the Godzilla movie ³Mothra² and ³Pedro Goes to Tokyo.²

May returned to Seattle in 1962 where he got married, began a family and settled down. While he had an agent and continued to do some acting (even appearing in a small role in the George Lucas film ³American Graffiti²), May dropped out of stage acting for a while to help raise his kids. He turned to a more lucrative career in marketing and direct sales.

May returned to acting in 1980s when he began appearing in shows with the Driftwood Players in Edmonds and at other theater groups (including a production at Civic Light Opera), but again, his big break came from an unlikely source.

One day in 1989, the marketing company he was working for sent him on an assignment to the Renton Civic Theatre. He and the theaterıs artistic director hit it off and May, who felt heıd been given a second chance to follow his dream, stayed on as the groupıs marketing expert. He eventually became artistic director.

During his 12 years at Renton Civic Theatre, May met his current wife, Diana Lilly, while they were both appearing in a production of ³Death Trap.²

Unfortunately, they werenıt all good days in Renton. May said he kept the theater alive with ³prayer, spit, fasting and my credit cards.² Finally after a dispute with the groupıs board, May took a leave of absence in August. When he learned that Civic Light opera Managing Director Jared Shaver left his post for a job in the private sector in December, May, who had fond memories of his brief acting stint with CLO years earlier, saw it as a golden opportunity.

³When this (job opening) came up, I thought, ŒMy God, itıs a perfect fit,ı² May said. ³(Shaver) left everything in place. This is my gold watch, this is my last stop:²

A happy ending? Not quite yet. May, who isnıt ready to retire, is looking forward to figuring out ways of keeping CLOıs audiences entertained and coming back for more. Can he do it? May says with a smile: ³I have some aces up my sleeve.²

Civic Light Opera is located in the Jane Addams Theatre at 11081 34th Ave. NE.