Dick Storer, President of the Sun City Theater Company charter club, began his acting career with a laugh from the audience.
Storer said, “My daughter is involved in the theatre community. She came to me and said, ‘Dad, I need one more guy for this production.’ I agreed. I had one line to say. It was a funny line. When I performed and said that one line, I heard someone laugh, which hooked me. That was in 2001. I worked a lot behind the scenes. Each person on stage takes about three people behind the scenes.”
The Sun City Theatre Company began with two men with extensive theater backgrounds, Peter Davis and Roy Hornig. The first performance was the musical “Once Upon a Mattress” in 2003.
Dick Storer is the newly elected president of Sun City’s Theatre Club and a true thesbian in the community. (Photo by Christine Such/My Sun Day News)
Storer said, “I joined in 2007 for the performance of South Pacific. I got hooked. I have been involved in almost all the productions, about 34 of them since then. I don’t need a big role. We recently put on the musical, ‘The Sound of Music.’ I had a small role in the show. The production was one of Sun City’s Theatre Company’s finest. In 2010, we put on a production that I enjoyed. It sold out both shows: ‘Sex Please, We’re Sixty.’ In 2018, I had a nice part in ‘South Pacific.'”
Storer’s wife, Pat, also acts. She recently played the role of Mrs. Santa Claus at the Grandma, Grandpa, and Me breakfast in December 2023. She stopped and chatted with family members and helped the grandchildren get their Christmas list to Santa.
The Storers have three children. Sheri is married, enjoys community theatre, and is in the current production of a three-woman play. Their son, Mike, and his wife, Amanda, are band teachers. And Rick and his partner are also nearby, living in downtown Evanston. The Storers also have four grandchildren.
Storer said, “We recently have held auditions for ‘Hello Dolly,’ which will be in late April. For the summer, we have an Agatha Christie favorite, ‘The Mousetrap.’”
The Mousetrap is the longest-running show of any kind in the world. It opened in November 1952 at The Ambassadors Theatre in London. In March 1974, it moved to St. Martin’s Theatre. It is still in production.
“In the fall, we have ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’ It took us three years to get the rights to that script. We are going to start planning for the 2025 season soon. We will have a committee that will begin the process,” Storer said.
The Theatre Company director for the last 20 years has been Rob Kaye. Val Stroud has been the choreographer from almost the beginning. Hello Dolly, the first production in 2024, will be the first show directed by the new musical director, Chandler Sullivan.
Storer was recently elected Theater Club president.
“I am just the guy up front,” Storer said. “Our membership does all the work.”
