June 12, 2007
Tribute to Bob Kerr - Video and Sound Expert, Director of Musicals, Friend
Friends,
It's been so many years, yet they flew by so quickly.
I don't remember life without Bob Kerr… Robert J. Kerr… RJ to many.
When I was 12 and 13, Bob invited me to join his sound crew for The Miss Pennsylvania Pageant (which was held on the West Chester University campus one year and at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel the other).
And by the I already knew Bob from The Players Club of Swarthmore where his technical knowledge was legendary. Sound man who install more "fire power" than any theater around. Mics, amps, speakers, an unheard of (for the time) horse race around the whole auditorium for the show, "Auntie Mame," where Bob's invention raced the sound from speaker to speaker 360 degrees around the audience (hey, it was 1963 or so… that was totally hot for then!).
He was a director of major musicals too… musicals that grabbed your attention and made you get involved. (I think much of my interest in directing musicals came from my work with Bob).
And then was his videotaping. He was a DuPont Engineer testing video tape and he had a new-fangled-portable-video-machine that allowed us to have a three-camera pickup to record rehearsals so that actors could learn from watching how their own actions. Again, this was the 60s!
And every time I asked Bob for help, he was there for me. He relished the idea that someone who had learned from his teachings was now producing and directing large musicals. He was a giant for me.
And while his time among us has ended, he will never be forgotten by those of us who knew him well.
So… this Online Living Tribute to Bob Kerr has been established right in the middle of a theater site so that everyone who ever knew RJ may leave a thought, a comment, a note of thanks so that generations from now, people will still know why we all loved and cared for Bob so much.
Please… leave a note in the Comment Area below. Let the world know how Bob touched you.
We will never forget….
Charlie Seymour Jr.
A Friend of Robert J. Kerr
Filed under Blog by Charles Seymour Jr
Comments on Tribute to Bob Kerr - Video and Sound Expert, Director of Musicals, Friend »
Ruth Goldman @ 5:45 pm
My dear mentor, Bob Kerr will be missed by me but never forgotten. Until I met Bob about 20 years ago my theater life was not rich on the technical areas. He changed that. Bob taught me all about the importance of sound and sound equipment, technical know-how and video taping.
He was able and willing to answer all questions relating to theater, recording and high-tech equipment. Bob was a bigger than life character who will never be forgotten as he was loved my many.