Page 7 - The Clare Connection_Spring 2018 Flipbook

SPRING 2018 7

was the centerpiece of a conference bringing together
LGBTQ students from several Arkansas universities, a first
for the state. Through it all, John had the opportunity to
hear inspirational stories from parents and observe the
impact of his play.
“The interesting thing about the life of that play was
experiences like that – going to a place where the play was
doing political work for the community,” John says.
On Life After Duke
After 42 years of teaching, John decided to it was time to
move on. He looks back on his time at Duke fondly, especially
witnessing his former students go on to significant careers.
“I think the most inspiring thing has been watching some of Promotion for Rumpelstiltskin, opening in May in New York City with
my students go on and grow and do great things,” he says. music by Ruby Fulton and George Lam and libretto by Clare resident
John Clum .
“It’s fun when you see somebody in an embryonic stage of
their life and career, and then see them having blossomed in May. This libretto proved challenging, because they asked
into something more than that.”
for 90 minutes, when Rumpelstiltskin is only seven pages
Once such instance occurred recently for John, when he long. John therefore had to channel his creativity to make
and Walter saw a play at the Chicago Shakespeare Festival. up a backstory and to present what happens after the
One of John’s former students was a lead in the play. fairytale as we know it.
Otherwise, a pair of students from his first group at Duke His craziest libretto to date, John says, was for an opera
stand out: Jack Coleman, who went on to star in Dynasty called Heartbreak Express that opened in the fall of 2015 in
and Heroes, and Charles Randolph-Wright, who directed
Motown: The Musical. New York.
“The composer came to me and asked if I would be willing
His retirement didn’t signal an end to his passion for and
commitment to theatre, though. to write an opera about Dolly Parton fans,” John recalls.
“They gave me a couple of documentaries to watch to
“When I retired from teaching, I didn’t feel I was retiring get some ideas, and I found people in them who could be
from writing,” John says. “If anything, I’d have more time characters in the opera.”
for it.”
It was fun to write, he says, but it was definitely difficult.
And John has certainly kept himself busy since retiring Dolly Parton couldn’t be named or appear in the opera, so
from Duke in 2011. He’s taken on writing librettos for a small it was an interesting puzzle to piece together.
opera company in New York dedicated to new work, for
example, with an adult version of Rumpelstiltskin opening “I don’t know what wacky thing they may come to me with
next,” he says.
Aside from writing, John also recently
joined the board for the Raven Theatre in
Chicago. And since moving to The Clare,
he gives lectures for the community about
different works that residents are taking
trips to see.
His work may not be curing cancer, John
says, but he believes it’s important to
promote the arts as much as possible and
to use theatre as a means of social change
and education.
“Much of my work has been about the
political aspect of theatre and the way in
which theatre and playwrights have hoped
to change things for the better in certain
A production shot from the opera Heartbreak Express, with
music by George Lam and libretto by Clare resident John Clum. aspects of society,” he says. “I like to push
that idea.”