Illuminating R.J. Lloyd
A Tribute to Charleston's Longtime Theatre Tech
Friends say Richard James "R.J." Lloyd left this world while doing what he loved the most-backstage theatre. R.J. loved theatre. It was his passion, his job, his life. He never said much, but he was always behind the scenes, working hard and playing hard.
R.J. was hanging the lights for the Kanawha Players' production of Enchanted April- his 40 th play with the company in the last five years alone-when he died February 6. Colleagues say he was backstage in the Civic Center Little Theatre when he suffered an apparent heart attack.
"People just don't realize what kind of impact he had-I don't think R.J. had any idea himself," says Debbie Rainey Haught, who befriended R.J. 25 years ago. Haught is the co-artistic director of Kanawha Players. "Fifty-two years old is just way too young no matter what. What three guys do you get to replace him? One person can't do what he did. We're going to realize what we never had to ask him for."
A St. Albans resident, R.J. worked with various theatre productions over the years, including Kanawha Players, Children's Theatre of Charleston and others. For 22 years he ran Theatrical Designs and Technology, a company that specializes in theatrical lighting, sound and equipment. He also participated in numerous festivals, fairs and concerts throughout the state, the Charleston Sternwheel Regatta and Symphony Sunday to name a few.
Tom Pasinetti, technical director and stage manager for the Clay Center, was one of the last people to see R.J. alive. Pasinetti met R.J. at the Civic Center on the Monday morning he died to help with a lighting problem. Twenty minutes after Pasinetti left, Civic Center staff found R.J. "He seemed fine," Pasinetti recalls. "He was in good spirits, joking about being a day behind (on the lights) and being $600 richer from a Super Bowl pool the day before."
'A Constant'
Pasinetti, who first met R.J. in 1974 when they were students at West Virginia University, says R.J. was always jovial and fun to be around. "I think there's going to be a void in our community for some of the arts groups, especially Kanawha Players and Children's Theatre because they depended on him quite heavily to do their lighting for them."
President of the Children's Theatre Board of Directors, Karin Weingart, agrees. She says R.J. was a staple for Children's Theatre-a steady, reliable constant in what is often a mind-numbing whirl of a time during production. "He was a constant in more than the sense that we could count on him for all our productions-not an insignificant thing. He was a constant in temperament as well. While the rest of us often run around stressed, scattered or anxious, R.J. was always smiling, always steady."
When Enchanted April opened without R.J., director Jeff Haught had this to say in his curtain speech: "If there's anything to learn, it's that the arts are important, but friendships are the most important thing," his wife Debbie recalls.
R.J. is survived by his brother, Steve, of Illinois. He never married or had children, according to Haught. Children's Theatre is dedicating the March production of Aladdin, Jr., to R.J., who would have lit the show, says Weingart. Several arts groups are discussing a memorial fund or some type of more permanent memorial of his contributions.
Irreplaceable
R.J.'s death has brought a lot of people together, Rainey explains, to both celebrate and mourn his life. Without his contribution, local theatre may never be the same-but his legacy will live on.
"R.J. is the rock," says Perriann Kaywash, a Children's Theatre parent and board member. "The people that are pretty amazing are the people that show up whenever you need them with whatever you need even if you don't ask for it. The kids loved him. He treated them with respect. I have a hard time verbalizing or quantifying what R.J. meant to Children's Theatre."
"I can't imagine a show without him," Kaywash continues. "He was ornery and fun."
Kelly Strom, vice president of the Children's Theatre board of directors, worked with R.J. as both an actor and director in different arts groups. She will miss her friend.
"We all felt like we could ask R.J. anything-advice, help or his opinion and he would give it, willingly and with sincerity. Every time we look for someone to fill his place, someone to figure out a lighting issue, for me, every time I look at the light booth-we will never forget our friend," says Strom.
R.J.'s spirit will undoubtedly carry on in the valley's theatre. He understood his work and he understood theatre. Charleston Light Opera Guild artistic director Nina Denton Pasinetti remembers him as "the confidence behind the show"-a poignant depiction of the man behind the spotlight. Though minus a beloved character, the show must go on. R.J. would have wanted it that way.
