Company of Fools Salutes Departing Key Company Member

It's with mixed emotions that on Monday, October 31, The Center and Company of Fools witnessed Denise Simone's last official starring role as Core Company Artist of Company of Fools (but it will certainly not be her last time on the Liberty stage). After 25 years helping to lead Company of Fools, founding member Denise Simone has stepped down from her full-time staff position. Simone is leaving to refocus her professional life away from day-to-day management in favor of more artistically focused projects.

On Monday, as Harpo Marx, Denise generously herded over 200 kids in Halloween costumes on and off stage for costume contests at the Liberty Theatre. Her role as Harpo was ironic because for 25 years of leading Company of Fools Denise was never silent in championing professional theatre in Hailey, and unlike Harpo (who played the silent role because he couldn't memorize lines) the characters she inhabited often required prodigious feats of memory and acting-in The Syringa Tree, a one woman show, Denise played 23 different characters.

In one way or another, Denise has been integrally involved in nearly every Company of Fools production since the Company's inception in 1992. Local theatre fans will remember her stellar performances at The Liberty Theatre in so many roles including Shirley Valentine, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, The Syringa Tree and Other Desert Cities. Denise also directed more than 20 plays and readings including Proof, Almost, Maine, Doubt, The Glass Menagerie,Distracted, A Christmas Carol, Frankie and Johnnie in the Clair de Lune andDead Man's Cell Phone.

Over the years, Simone has touched the lives of innumerable Wood River Valley residents as an arts educator. Thousands of elementary schoolchildren throughout Blaine County have benefited from her instruction in Company of Fools' groundbreaking Stages of Wonder theatre arts and creativity program, and countless others have enjoyed her dynamic teaching style in the Company's adult acting classes and workshops.

We applaud all that she is and all that she has given to us and to this valley. We will miss her daily presence and leadership but know that she is just around the corner-and that we'll get to see her on the stage for years to come. Some of Simone's near-term projects include directing Company of Fools upcoming February 2017 production of Constellations and appearing in Boise Contemporary Theatre's April 2017 production of The Clean House.

On this transition, Simone reflected, "One thing that doesn't change is my deep gratitude and love for this community and for this family that is Company of Fools. For me, it has been a life-rather than work.

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