Word reached us today of the death on Saturday of Glenn Edwards, one of the Thespian Festival’s busiest main stage directors during the eighties and nineties and a much-loved teacher in Las Vegas and southern Indiana. He taught theatre for more than thirty years, most of that at Floyd Central High School in Floyds Knobs, Indiana, and then at the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing and Visual Arts. He directed nearly 150 productions in his career.
His association with the Thespian Society began in 1979 when he chartered a Thespian troupe at Floyd Central. He taught there twenty years. When he was inducted into the EdTA Hall of Fame in 2006, his program biography said “his work with Floyd Central and two other Indiana schools, all within ten miles of each other, planted the seeds of a strong and enduring theatre arts presence in southern Indiana schools.”
A high point was the 2005 national Thespian cast production of Ragtime, which capped off EdTA’s seventy-fifth anniversary celebration. It was one of ten main stage productions Glenn directed at the Thespian Festival, beginning with The Robber Bridegroom in 1983.
Also from his Hall of Fame bio:
“Mr. Edwards served as the Indiana state Thespian director and ITS territorial director. He adjudicated for EdTA for twelve years and worked as the technical coordinator for five Thespian Festivals.
“He was appointed to the Indiana governor’s Fine Arts Advisory Board and named the Indiana Theatre Association’s Theatre Educator of the Year in 1991. He is known to his former students for his work ethic and his ability to lead by example by raising the bar for the level of professionalism.
“Colin Hurd, a former student who became captain of the Blue Man Group, recalls how Mr. Edwards accompanied him to New York for his college auditions. While there, Mr. Edwards bolstered Mr. Hurd with his support and made sure he got to the auditions on time; two months later Mr. Hurd was accepted into the North Carolina School of Arts program. When Mr. Edwards brings his students to see the Blue Man Group on visits to New York, Mr. Hurd is reminded of ‘how my life has been shaped for the better because of him.’”
Here’s a link to the Louisville funeral home’s obituary: http://www.ferncreekfuneralhome.com/home/index.cfm/obituaries/view/fh_id/14295/id/4015426