Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 8, Issue 4, April 2004

Copyright 2004 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article below in your research. Be sure to cite the Seattle Sun as your source.

Moore making mark on Seattle theater scene

By JEAN CHEMNICK

Professional actor and Sand Point-area resident Terry Edward Moore moved to Seattle as a compromise.

It was the only way he could get his Seattle-native wife, Corrie Duryee Moore, to leave New York.

A Wisconsin native, Terry Moore had already "done" New York and many other theater towns, and was now living and working in Minneapolis. "She wanted to be in New York, I wanted to be in Minneapolis, so we moved to Seattle," he says.

Moore added that Seattle also seemed to be a good place to start a family. The couple now has two sons.

He discovered that Seattle was a great place to open a theater company as well.

In the 1980s and early '90s, Moore says, there was a tremendous amount of excitement for theater here. Seattle was far more supportive of the arts than most cities its size, and suddenly it had become a "trendy" place to do theater, he says.

Young theater artists flowed here from all over the country, starting companies of their own that added to the city's burgeoning scene.

The Bathhouse Theater at Green Lake and The Group Theatre were in full swing.

Moore and his wife, an actress and choreographer, were two of the seven founding members of the Seattle Shakespeare Festival, which since has morphed into the year-round Seattle Shakespeare Company.

Moore had long worked with Shakespeare's text, and his study with Eloise Watt at the Michael Howard Studio in New York had greatly deepened his appreciation for the art of spoken verse.

Now Moore was part of a group that shared the duties of running a theater company. Eventually he became its co-artistic director.

Meanwhile he was acting all over town. In North Seattle, Moore worked at the Bathhouse Theater under the direction of Arni Zaslove. He appeared in a number of productions there, but perhaps his favorite was "Billy Bishop Goes To War" (1995) in which he played the title role of Billy.

This is a role he has reprised at other theaters. It tells the story of a Canadian farm boy who becomes one of the three top World War I flying aces. It is a funny and energetic piece and requires its lead actor to play 16 additional roles, including a number of women. There are great comedic possibilities as the actor has conversations with himself and does quick-changes.

However, the piece also shows what happens when this farm boy with a gift for flight uses that gift to kill.

Moore enjoyed the "character hoopla" intertwined with this dramatic change in the character. The contrast, he says, is "what theater does best."

Also in North Seattle, Moore performed in the West Coast debut of "Adam Baum and the Jew Movie" (2000).

He likens the Empty Space in the Fremont District to a "grown-up fringe theater," because it focuses on new work, "new ideas, and new ways to come at old ideas", but does this professionally.

He says he found the brand new script of "Adam Baum" was refreshing after so much Shakespeare.

When asked what kinds of roles he prefers, Moore says "interesting ones." For him, an interesting role can be small or large, but must be well-written enough to afford him new inspirations throughout the run.

For instance, Moore finds that the complexity of playwright George Bernard Shaw's writing makes it easier for him to meet the demands of the drama. He performed in "Candida" at Taproot Theater in Greenwood last year.

"I adore Shaw," Moore says. "He's such an intelligent writer. He refuses to pander to the audience. He assumes they will keep up with him."

In addition to acting, Moore has directed plays at a number of theaters, including Taproot. He is not currently planning any upcoming work in North Seattle, but says that may change at any time.

Moore can be seen next at Book-It Repertory Theater's production of "Cry the Beloved Country," which runs from March 12 through April 10.