Spotlight: marsha morgan – the lowercase ‘m’ is not an e.e. cummings fixation

{Header photo taken by Angie Fiedler Sutton.}

Note: this article was previously published in the February 2006 issue of KC Stage Magazine as a Stage Savvy column (link no longer active). I’m posting in memory of marsha morgan, who passed away last week.

“My mother gave me three names, all beginning with ‘m’,” marsha morgan, professor of Park University Theatre Department, starts to explain why she doesn’t go with capital ‘m’s. “I started writing these big ‘m’s, but as I got older, the ‘m’s got smaller. In high school, I ended up eliminating the capitals altogether. When someone noticed it, they made the comment of, ‘Oh, you’re short and your “m”s are short, and you’re in theatre, so you write those lower “m”s so people can remember you.’ It made me think, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

morgan has been fascinated by theatre ever since seeing Haley Mills on the big screen when she was nine years old, seeing Tiger Bay. “That was what started me, it was an amazing thing – in fact, I got to meet her last fall.”

The actual spark, though, happened in 7th grade when her mother got her front row tickets to a local production of Guys and Dolls. “It was just . . . life was opening up.”

morgan grew up in a town of 20,000, and while there was some community theatre, the only theatre in schools started at the high school level – and there was one teacher. “It was a teeny tiny program,” morgan says. However, when she was in ninth grade, there were auditions for Picnic. “I auditioned, since they were looking for a 16 year old, but they ended up giving it to someone older – they were afraid I wouldn’t follow through. I asked if I could watch rehearsals, and the longer I was there, the more jobs they gave me – because I was reliable.”

Her first onstage role was in her sophomore year, for You Can’t Take it With You. “There were about nine billion people auditioning, and they never did get around to me,” she says. “So, I went up to the director after auditions and said I could do accents – and he cast me unheard as the ‘Duchess’.”

morgan got her Bachelors in Theatre, with a concentration in acting, and a Masters with an emphasis on directing, both from Indiana University. She was the artistic director for 13 years of the Olive Branch Players, a multi-generational theatre group in Independence. She was the adjunct teacher and director at Avila University. And has been the theatre professor at Park since 1984. morgan is a published playwright, and a professional acting coach. But what does she get inspired by? Aside from meeting Haley Mills, the excitement of having a tech designer full time at Park for the first time. “It has been a big turn-on,” morgan says with a laugh. “Jon [Young] is energetic, filled with new stuff and ideas. He’s just wonderful to work with, a real gem.” In fact, Young submitted a grant request for the faculty enrichment program at Park for the two to go to New York over spring break and see shows.

Her main concern, however, is getting more students – both as majors and as minors. Last year, Park re-instated their theatre major program, and it’s been hard getting people to still consider the minor. “Thankfully, we’ve had a fairly strong program and alums who come back and help out.”

When asked about her dream production, she doesn’t even hesitate. “I’ve already had that,” she says. “It was Quilters for Bell Road Barn. I had a dream cast, dream script, it was perfect. It was close to so many things to me, and is the number one heart production. It was lyrical.”