Michael P. Hall

Michael Hall, co-founder and artistic director (1975-2009), of Caldwell Theatre Company in Boca Raton, FL, died Thursday, June 15, 2017, from complications of pancreatic cancer. He was 77 years old. Closely involved with the arts all his life, Hall, after a long and prolific directing career at other theatres, in 1975 co-founded the Caldwell (named for Rubbermaid founder James R. Caldwell) in partnership with the late Frank Bennett, with a view to developing a professional regional theatre to serve Boca Raton and South Florida audiences. Dubbed by some in its early days "the hoop-skirt theatre" for its meticulously-crafted productions of such classic period plays as The Heiress and The Barretts of Wimpole Street, the Caldwell's true identity quickly asserted itself with presentations of dramas, comedies, and musicals that also included new works and that celebrated the human condition in all its diversity. Hall's efforts and dedication were rewarded, as the Caldwell rose in the estimation of audiences and critics alike and as its reputation spread among the theatre community nationwide with acclaimed productions of such varied offerings as Bent, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, Gross Indecency, Beyond Therapy, The Normal Heart, Doubt, Falsettoland, Papa (with Len Cariou), Other People's Money, The Laramie Project, and Oh, Coward! (with Beth Fowler), to list only a few, thus further raising the Caldwell's profile and proving that South Florida had a serious theatre-going audience. As a result, the Caldwell achieved the coveted designation of State Theater of Florida, and Hall, his creative teams and his actors and productions won more than seventy-five Carbonell Awards. Hall maintained a keen interest in the education potential of theatre, offering in-house classes for young people and, in addition to the regular performances at the Caldwell, launching Theater For Schools, a program that for many years served to introduce middle and high school students to live theatre at special morning performances of Caldwell's productions. An offshoot of Hall's interest in theatre education and of his close connection with his roots was his partnering in recent years with the Hurry Hill Maple Farm and Museum in Edinboro, PA, for readings from Miracles on Maple Hill, the Newbery Medal winning book for young readers by Virginia Sorensen, a resident of Edinboro during Hall's formative years. He considered Sorensen a mentor, and she was instrumental in his gaining admission to college by permitting him to adapt her book, Plain Girl, into a play that he submitted as part of his college application. Not long before his death, Hall spoke at two Sorensen-related literary events: the first recognized maple sugarhouses in rural Pennsylvania and Miracles on Maple Hill and the second honored the Erie County Bookmobile and Sorensen's Curious Missy, about a rural Alabama bookmobile. After retiring in 2009, Hall indulged his other passions, among them travel and photography, which he combined in his blog, www.bullinthehallway.com. He also wrote extensively, producing an entertaining two-volume history of the Caldwell with an abundance of photographs that was published privately for his friends, family and Caldwell colleagues and associates. A reserved man for the most part, in his personal life Hall shone in social settings in the company of friends at his home for drinks, dinners and pool parties. He was an expert raconteur, with a fund of amusing, touching, and occasionally bizarre theatre anecdotes from his long career, and while some may not always have been G-rated, all were unfailingly diverting. Michael Hall was the only child of Dorothy (Helmer) and Carl Hall and spent his youth in Rock Island, IL, and Edinboro, PA, before earning his bachelor's degree from the School of Drama at Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon) and his master's degree from the University of Florida. He is survived by cousins Judy (Culbertson) and Lou Mundt of Avon Park, FL; Gail (Culbertson) and Larry Bennett of Morganton, GA; Thomas and Linda Culbertson of Lake Placid, FL; Kenneth and Jan Sproul of Hanson, AR; and a large and loving circle of friends and Caldwell artists. In deference to Mr. Hall's wishes, no services were held, but donations, if desired, can be made to a local theatre, museum, library or other arts organization in his memory.