LENNY ANDERSON
1943 - 2021
LENNY ANDERSON – A Tribute to a Special Friend by Thom Hill
Saying a final goodbye to anyone is difficult – but when it’s a friend of over 50 years it is inexorably hard. My relationship with Lenny was very special:
· We were students together at the University of South Dakota in the late 60’s and bonded over our shared love of theatre and Johnny Walker Red.
· We were colleagues together when he hired me to direct plays during five summer seasons at South Dakota’s Black Hills Playhouse between 1976 and 1982.
· We were friends together, and he was the Best Man at Sheryl’s and my wedding in 1983.
· We laughed together because Lenny had an insatiable desire to bombard folks with jokes that could best be described as “groaners.” Truth be told, most often Lenny’s telling of the joke was funnier than the punchline.
· We shared together a passion for the production of quality plays and musicals. Lenny’s desire to make whichever theatre organization he managed a professional haven was palpable.
Early in our friendship, Lenny and I spoke about the devastating impact on his life as a result of his military service in Viet Nam. I believe that because of that horrific experience he lived his life with a heightened sense of compassion, decency, and caring.
Lenny was a sophisticate belied by his Missouri twang and was unvarnished in the best of all possible ways. Exuding that “down home, good ol’ Lenny” persona was just one of his many incredible assets. His agendas were never hidden, and he was never a half-way kind of man. He was a virtual bulldog, and when he was in your corner you could have no better, nor a more powerful, advocate. Lenny was, by far, one of the most genuine people I have ever known. What you saw was what you got. Thank God for that!
There was nothing elitist about Lenny – but he possessed incomparable class.
There was nothing overbearing about Lenny – but he never compromised on his innate principles.
In My life’s path I have been blessed to meet and get to know a lot of wonderful people – bright, energetic, spirited, fervent people with distinct stories to tell. Lenny Anderson has always been at the very top of that list.
In his professional and private life you could say that he never played walk-ons – just leads – and that his life was truly measured by good deeds.
If I may paraphrase a line from Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, “Leonard, he was such a man – may the Kingdom of Heaven be his.”
Sheryl and I cherished our time together with Lenny, and we pray that he rests in peace with his beloved brother, Bill.
Thom B. Hill
Glendora, California
LENNY ANDERSON TRIBUTE by Menno Kraai and Jennie May Donnell– November 6, 2021
We are grateful to have had Lenny Anderson as a friend and colleague. As a theatre Managing Director, he dedicated his career to engage his community in the Performing Arts. As one of the first Southern Methodist University graduates to acquire an advanced degree in Arts Management, he was mission driven, and always worked to create practical steps to accomplish organizational goals. Our goals for the performing arts, theatre, and education were aligned and we had the privilege to meet and work with him at the Black Hills Playhouse and the Sullivan Little Theatre on the Square.
Menno and Jennie May
Lenny was a producer. He brought artists together to create a product that inspires and entertains his community. He hired Jennie May as an actor and stage director and helped her obtain union membership in the Actor’s Equity Association. He hired Menno as a production manager and scenic/lighting designer. We had the opportunity to work as a team and appreciated Lenny’s actions to improve all aspects of the organization, including the physical plant. He had the admirable trait of wanting to make things better and doing something about it. He saw the need and was able to take action.
With the hiring of his brother Bill Anderson the “NY lighting designer”, Jim Singelis, “NY set designer”, Dean Mogle, costume designer, and many others – under his direction as a producer- he elevated the BHP from a college/community theatre to a professional theatre. When you look at Menno’s photos you begin to understand the work Lenny did bringing artists and audiences together. While at Sullivan Little Theatre, Lenny worked to bring in the best artists and give the audience the best theatre he could muster, while upgrading the physical plant! Always working, always striving, always improving what was there with what could be possible. And always with a big heart and smile.
In the Summer of 1987 Lenny was to vacation while caretaking our home on the East Fork of the Illinois River in Takilma, Oregon. Suddenly, the Longwood fire erupted and threatened our tiny community. Lenny jumped into action and immediately began fighting the fire with our community and the fire fighters! Not the vacation he was expecting but once again, Lenny took action! Fifty-five thousand acres were burned but not one home or outbuilding was lost to the fire. Lenny’s action helped save our home. Lenny’s action helped save the community. Lenny was and still is our hero.
We will miss working with Lenny striving for the unattainable.
In the distance we can hear the recognizable sound of his brother Bill’s laughter, welcoming him home.
Best wishes,
Menno Kraai
Jennie May Donnell
REMEMBERING LENNY ANDERSON by Anna Marie Thatcher
I first met Lenny in the summer of 1969 - his first and my second year as a company member at the Black Hills Playhouse. In 1970 we were both privileged to be a part of a 15 member company on a USO Tour to entertain the troops on Air Force Bases in Greenland, Newfoundland, and Labrador. Calling on his experience in the US Army, Lenny acted as our unofficial “logistics” guy to help keep the the rest of us in line and the show moving! He was a real trooper and became a good friend of mine and my husband Graham. Although we saw Lenny infrequently over the last years, it was one of those friendships where you could just pick up where you left off when you last saw one another. Graham died in 2018 and I can imagine they have reconnected on that great stage in the sky!
Lenny went on to be the Managing Director of the Black Hills Playhouse after Doc Lee, its founder, retired. He served until 1985 and was instrumental in the development of the Playhouse in the late 70s and early 80s. He made many campus improvements and built new company dorms to replace the deteriorating ancient CCC Buildings. The summer of 1970 was our last, so unfortunately, we didn’t get to spend as many summers and as much time with Lenny at the Playhouse as many others did in the many years after. But we delighted in reconnecting at the Playhouse reunions and sharing memories and stories (both fun and sometimes weird) that came from living communally like we did as company members. Many Playhouse alums have their “Lenny" stories and he will remain an infamous part of the Black Hills Playhouse history!
In the 1980s Lenny visited Clark Richardson, a fellow grad from the University of South Dakota, when Clark was teaching at the International School in Rotterdam, Netherlands. They had become friends and toured various places together in Europe. Clark and I had the chance to spend some time with Lenny and Carol in Hayward during a visit to Wisconsin at the end of September of this year. We had a great time, good drinks, and a delicious dinner. In spite of his illness, Lenny seemed to appreciate the visit and I am so glad we were able to spend a little time with him before he passed on. Along with many others, it is a memory I will treasure.
I loved Lenny as a good friend and I, along with his many other friends and colleagues, will miss him. I have a heavy heart that Lenny is gone, but I am also filled with gratitude for his life, his contributions, and his friendship over many years.
Anna Marie Thatcher, JD
Managing Producer
Periaktos Productions
... the dramatic difference in CLE®
3213 West Main Street #272
Rapid City, SD 57702
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TRIBUTE by SETH REINES
October 25 I lost best friend and mentor Leonard A. Anderson, former Executive Director of Little Theatre on the Square and Black Hills Playhouse.
A war hero, avid arts advocate, master builder, dynamic leader, loyal colleague, friend and mentor…Lenny Anderson was all that and more.
For over 20 years, he guided and molded Little Theatre on the Square, creating innovative company housing, impressive administrative facilities and an imposing new theatre space.
He raised the national reputation of our theatre, leading us as a dynamic member of the National Alliance of Music Theatre Producers.
He elevated our production standards and encouraged us all to be our very best as theatre artists and human beings.
Dear Lenny, thank you for sharing your passion for theatre and life with us and challenging us all to "Dream the Impossible Dream."
Seth Reines
Former Artistic Director of Little Theatre on the Square
CHEERS!