P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525
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P.O. Box 691 Sebring Florida USA 33871 Tel: 863-382-2525 |
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Peter H. Pollard - Actor and Director By: Roy Riedy |
Peter H. Pollard was first seen in the HLT production, Anything Goes, in April, 1982, and since that time he has become synonymous with the presentations and structure of the Highlands Little Theatre. His effort has been awarded with twenty-three Zenons which puts him in second place for amassing the greatest number of those awards, only surpassed by Frank C.Oberhausen, who has accrued the enviable and unprecedented number of forty-nine Zenon Awards over the past eighteen years..
Mr. Pollard, since that Cole Porter musical in the spring of 1982, has participated in eighty-five plays and Zenon presentations which he single-handedly directed and administered for the first ten years as a conclusion to the HLT theatrical season. For this dedicated activity Mr. Pollard was given a Special Zenon Award for his significant labors in 1996.
He has directed fifteen plays in his twenty-one years with HLT and four of them: Arsenic and Old Lace (1986); Barefoot in the Park (1988); On Golden Pond (1990); and The Miracle Worker (1999); have brought him a Best Director Award. Two of these plays were also awarded the Best Play of the Season: On Golden Pond, and The Miracle Worker; and most recently, a third, Steel Magnolias (2003) also won the Best Play award while two of them further won the Best Set Design: Arsenic and Old Lace, and On Golden Pond.
He has exceeded his four directional awards with Zenons for Best Actor, with an unsurpassed seven! In 1986 he received his first Best Actor Award for the part of Michael in I Do, I Do; his second was earned for his portrayal of Tevye in HLT's second edition of the musical Fiddler on the Roof; his third for his depiction of Richard in the 1991 comedy The Seven Year Itch; and the fourth was awarded for his outstanding King Arthur in Camelot that was presented in 1993. In 1995 he played John Adams in the patriotic 1776 and was awarded his fifth Best Actor Award; two years later he claimed his sixth Zenon for his uproarious turn as Psedolus in the early Sondheim musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. His last Best Actor, to date, was received for his inimitable Lenny Ganz in the 1998 presentation of Neil Simon's Rumors. In all Mr. Pollard has acted in twenty-five different parts during his time with HLT and has been elected Best Actor for seven of those roles.
The year he directed Arsenic and Old Lace, 1986, was also the year that he also won the Best Supporting Actor award for his rollicking representation of Teddy Brewster and his Panamanian exertions in his Brooklyn basement and Cuban charges on the family staircase. In 2001 Mr. Pollard received his second Best Supporting Actor award for his part as the Governor of Texas in the musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. In 2002 he received his third Best Supporting Actor Zenon for his role of Sancho Panza in Man of La Mancha. A Board Service Award in 1987, the Significant Achievement Award in 1991, and a Production - Technical Discretional Award for Technical Direction and Sound Design for West Side Story round out the tally of Mr. Pollard's twenty-three well earned and most certainly deserved Zenon Awards at HLT.
And there is still more. During his time with Highlands Little Theatre Mr. Pollard has held nine offices in the government of the organization. He has been President three times, from April 1989 to March 1991, and more recently from April 1998 to March 1999; he has also served on the Board of Directors for six periods that go back to 1983 and stretch to the year 2000.
It should come as no surprise that Mr. Pollard's talent, energy, dedication, and perseverance has also been rewarded with the honor of being recognized as a Life Member by his fellow members of the organization. Highlands Little Theatre is the richer for having him as a member.
The Thirty-first Season has been a busy season for HLT's current President, Peter Pollard. He was elected to his fourth stint as the head of the organization in April, 2005.
In November 2004, Pete worked with Mike McMillian on the Sound Design of the first play of the Thirty-first Season, Frank Oberhausen's reprise of The Music Man; in January Mr. Pollard presented the fifteenth play he has directed for Highlands Little Theatre, Charles Busch's unconventional comedy, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife.
Pete appeared as the credulous Herr Shultz in the Melanie Boulay and Jennifer Westergom production of Cabaret in August, 2005. His excellent portrayal of the gullible greengrocer presented him with his 24th Zenon, this time for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and maintained his position as the HLT member with the second most Zenons ever acquired. The top winner is HLT's Olympian Frank Oberhausen with 51 awards.
Thank you Peter H. Pollard for your unstinting labors that have made our theater the superior establishment it is today. It is impossible to assess the support and efforts that you have so generously and consistently contributed to the theater, but please, let it be known to one and all, that we at Highlands Little Theatre are aware of your stellar contributions and are a better organization for them, for this we all offer you enthusiastic thanks.
