Thank You James Nichols!

Written by Tracy Reich
All photos by Giao Nguyen

James Nichols is not just a man behind the curtain.  

He’s the man overhead, the man  off stage left, the man below the floor. There are very few places in our home James hasn’t been throughout his 28 years with ACT Theatre. He’s literally part of the walls. 

Which is why we’ll miss him when he retires on July 4th.

James found his way to the theatre like so many of us – a friend and a tantalizing offer: “We’re doing a show on the back deck of a bar!” Knowing a good time when he hears one, James joined the ensemble of Babe in Arms, directed by Jane Hill, the Head of the Drama Department at College of the Redwoods. He was soon convinced to add movement and drama classes to his studies, and next thing you knew, he was tap-dancing as Tom in  College of the Redwoods’ production of No, No, Nanette or dancing the part of Curly in the Oklahoma!  dream ballet with the local light opera company.  

But even more than the theatre, he was falling in love with the people.  

Life continued, and James found himself on the opposite coast, looking for some fun outside of his building  maintenance work. Enter Silver Spring Stage in Maryland, where he began volunteering, doing everything from running the sound board to fixing toilets. Soon he was designing sets – including a production of Little Shop of Horrors — where he built 15-foot venetian blind ‘curtains’, painted on both sides for visual illusions, and operated from backstage.   

But the east coast was no match for the dramatic landscapes of redwoods and mountains of his home turf on the Pacific coast. James packed up his car and headed west for Seattle, in the center of natural beauty and a strong arts and culture scene. Despite not knowing a soul, he found himself volunteering at the AHA! Theatre in Belltown. Soon after, James joined Local 15 of the IATSE Union. At that point, he was able to quit his day job and “just have fun” as the Technical Director of Civic Light Opera in Lake City.  There, a scenic carpenter, Colleen McManus,  taught him how to weld and clean steel. It was a fortuitous skill to obtain, because in 1998 ACT called – they needed someone who could weld.

So, at age 40, James went from being a Technical Director to being hired as an apprentice carpenter at ACT Theatre. His first show was Thunder Knocking on the Door (1998). After three years in our scenic shop, James got the chance to be closer to the action, moving into the position of Master Stage Carpenter. This role is backstage at each show, ensuring the safety of every performer and supporting the actors so they have to worry about nothing but their performance. In practice, this can look like anything from helping actors rappel in for their entrance (Big Love, 2001) or ensuring the Ghost of Christmas Present rises from the depths on his bountiful dais during A Christmas Carol.

When James shows you where he works, you might find yourself climbing up a wall to a metal grid above the stage or lost among stairwells and corridors where a door opens into an electrical shop. Vertigo isn’t a problem for him after 28 years of navigating lighting grids and the rigging for every piece of scenery that flies in from above. Many years of rock-climbing has him well adjusted, and he always carries a flashlight.

When he talks about his life in the theatre, it has always been the people who have made it most meaningful. He enjoys a great design and an interesting design challenge to solve (Pillowman, 2006, designed by Matthew Smucker), and the adrenaline of working backstage, hitting cues, working heavy machinery, keeping everyone safe and the show on track. His passion for this work is evident in his smile and energy, but it’s the people he enjoys most: his college friends who roped him into a production, Colleen who taught him how to weld, working with legends like Sir Alan Ayckbourn (Sugar Daddies, 2013), and everyone he has had a chance to learn from along the way. He met his lovely wife Beth at the theatre. He “fell in love with theatre people” and those who have had the privilege of working him feel the same.

James will always be a part of our history. You may even call him our erstwhile historian. Many theatres have a tradition of signing a wall after a performance. When ACT moved into the Eagles Building, the first show to claim a spot in a stairwell was The Crucible (1999). James has help to continue this tradition, and you can find his production drawings (and those of many others) along with cast signatures in a stairwell by the Allen Theatre. Lacking a stairwell in the Falls, he created a timeline on the west wall backstage, underneath the audience seating. Each year is a foot, starting in 1996, with a section for each production, and a program, if we have one. Within his 28 feet of wall is a lifetime of memories, for him and for us. We are so grateful for the hard work, passion, problem-solving and presence you have brought to this work.  

Thank you, James.