Company of Fools Receives $25,000 from Walt Witcover Estate

Company of Fools (COF), a partner of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts, has received a generous gift from estate of the late Walt Witcover. Witcover, a theatre professional for more than 50 years, was a mentor to COF and important friend of the organization. He passed away in 2013.

Witcover's relationship with COF goes back to the organization's beginnings. He was a mentor to COF founder Rusty Wilson, and when COF first took shape in 1992, he became a lasting influence and source of support for the company.

"Walt was Company of Fools' founder Rusty Wilson's mentor-from Rusty's years as a student at SUNY Purchase through his professional career as an actor and director," said Denise Simone, Core Company Artist. "He then became COF's mentor during the early years of its history and beginnings in Idaho."

Simone explained that Witcover was a very active mentor to COF in Idaho. "Walt came out to Idaho to teach and give counsel on several productions," she said. "He loved the valley and loved the work of the Fools. I think what excited Walt was the Company's commitment to community-that it wasn't just a theatre on Main Street, but a place where folks felt welcomed and encouraged to be a part of the whole."

This relationship now continues with a $25,000 gift to COF from the Witcover estate. Witcover-a decorated World War II Veteran, actor, director and teacher-had divided his estate into gifts to his theatre students and organizations he loved. Company of Fools is fortunate to be counted among the latter.

This gift demonstrates the impact of long-standing relationships and the shared vision of a vibrant future of theatre in the Wood River Valley. Sun Valley Center for the Arts CEO Terri Trotter remarked, "This generous gift is a tangible illustration of how artists' nurture one another's work and how those relationships continue to honor the history and depth of Company of Fools even in one's passing. The Center is grateful to be part of this legacy gift".

Witcover received three battle stars (the Battle of North France, the Battle of Rhineland and the Battle of Austria) after serving in World War II as a Combat Field Artilleryman. He then obtained his BA and MA from Cornell and launched a career as an actor, director and teacher that spanned more than 50 years. Some of his notable early work includes directing in Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio Directors Unit after studying under Strasberg and winning the Actors Studio Total Theatre Award for his production of Verdi's La Traviata. Witcover also taught acting and directing at the Herbert Berghof Studio for over 25 years, later taught at the Stella Adler Studio, and was Professor of Theatre Arts at SUNY Purchase and in Baltimore. As co-founder and Artistic Director of Masterworks Laboratory Theatre, he staged over 30 productions of classic plays and operas, plus poetry, song and story-theatre projects. Three of his Off-Broadway productions won Obie Awards. He also wrote of his experience in theatre and published two books on the topic: Living on Stage: Acting from the Inside-Out: A Practical Process (2004) and My Road, Less Traveled: Becoming an Actor, a Director, a Teacher (2011).

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