by dick kerekes dickkerekes@yahoo.com
If I were writing a history of theater in North Florida, the year 1958 would certainly merit mention. That was the year a young man moved to Jacksonville and opened a truck dealership. His name, Tom Nehl. His loves, racing cars and playing golf, were only exceeded by his passion for live theater. His first starring role was in Mary Mary at Theatre Jacksonville in 1963.
Over the years he has appeared on stage in more than forty different productions including dramas, comedies and musicals. As he modestly wrote in a program biography once “I can sing a little, dance a little, and act a little.” He acted in venues that included those well known to today’s theatergoers. Like most theater patrons, he loved musicals, and among his favorite roles were Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady, Harold Hill in Music Man, and Jester in Once upon a Mattress.
Before I became a writer for this newspaper back in 1981, I had the pleasure of appearing with Nehl in two plays, Calculated Risk at the Fairfax Guild Players and Bus Stop, at Theatre Jacksonville.
During his long acting career on local stages, Nehl, the astute businessman, also got involved as an officer and board member in other aspects of theater with several theater groups. What the audience enjoyed on stage took a lot of hard work, planning and money, and the latter always seems to be in short supply. Nehl made many personal financial contributions to various theatres and theater groups.
In 1997, Tom Nehl took the step that would, in my opinion, earn him the unofficial title of North Florida Theater’s Guardian Angel. He established the Community Theater Initiative as a grant-making program designed to improve the quality of community theater productions in the region. The Community Foundation has awarded grants totaling more than $600,000 since its inception.
Community theaters in this area can apply twice a year, in February and August. They submit an application listing needs and costs, item by item. Tom, his wife, Jean, and his daughter, Linda, review the requests and recommend which to approve. Requests must meet one or many requirements in order of importance. Funds must be used to improve artistic excellence (costumes, sets, music), support the production of a play that would not otherwise be possible, support the purchase of equipment (lights, audio, and communications), and support the education and training of volunteers. After the funds have been approved, the organization receives a check in less than two weeks. They must then submit the receipts as proof of how the funds were spent.
Talk to the artistic director or executive director of any of the local community theater groups and they will all emphatically say, “We could not have put on the shows we did without Tom Nehl.” Sit in any community theatre in Northeast Florida, and the lights and sound you enjoy are probably a result of Nehl’s initiatives and contributions. The wonderful costumes in ABET’s Once Upon a Mattress, Players by the Sea’s Cabaret, and Orange Park Community Theatre’s Cinderella would not have been possible without the Tom Nehl Fund. And the list of shows he has assisted goes on and on.
In 1992 Tom Nehl established this fund with The Community Foundation as a gift to the theater community that would keep on giving for years to come. Thanks to the fine management and wise investments by The Community Foundation, the fund continues to grow steadily and now has a value of more than 1.5 million dollars, of which five percent can be granted each year. Future generations of theatergoers in this area will enjoy better community theater productions because Tom Nehl had and has a passion; a passion for live theater.
What is community theater? For the purposes of The Tom Nehl Fund, a community theatre is defined as a group of enthusiasts, formally organized under law, to produce and exhibit live performances of comedies, dramas, mysteries, musicals and other forms of live theatrical entertainment for the benefit of their on-stage volunteers, off-stage members and audiences for the communities in which they operate. Actors are not paid in community theater.
John Zell, Manager of Grantmaking Services for The Community Foundation, says the Tom Nehl Fund is unique. He attends national conventions for philanthropy and, as far as he knows, there is nothing like this for community theater in any other city in the USA.
Speaking for the hundreds of North Florida residents who attend performances at community theaters, our thanks to Tom Nehl for raising the level of the quality of what we see and what we hear coming across those footlights. It is getting better and better because of his efforts.
In looking over the many roles he has played on local stages over the years, I notice that he has almost always played good guys! Do I wonder why? It is because it is his natural role. As we applaud Tom Nehl, I hope he takes his bows now. Because of his foresight, there will never be a final curtain for the Tom Nehl-Fund, only repeat performances of good theater.
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