By MARY JANE MAYTUM
Pursuing both teaching and acting has had its conflicts for Clarksville resident Clint Vaught.
In 1980, two weeks after signing on as an instructor at the Youth Performing Arts School in Louisville, he was offered a dream role as a stand-in for Bill Murray during the making of “Stripes” in Louisville.
“There I was, 14 days after I signed my contract with (the school) and I had no choice but to turn it (the movie role) down,” he said.
Vaught said, in hindsight, he does not regret the decision. He has watched friends move away from home and family to pursue their acting careers, while he in turn has been able to find work in the area, both as an actor with Alix Adams Agency and a teacher at the school, and still be at home most nights with his family.
“I know actors of my demographic who are jealous of me for having a home and family and a home base while they’re always on a cell phone calling home,” he said.
Today, Vaught is still acting — he has two national TV commercials and a local commercial on the air — and still teaching at the school, including coordinating its two-week summer intensive program for middle- and high-school students hungry for the stage, known as Young Actors Institute. It finished up Saturday.
Vaught recently sat down with The Evening News and The Tribune as part of its weekly Q&A; series.
see VAUGHT, page A4
QUESTION: How did you get your latest job in the International Mystery Writer’s Festival?
VAUGHT: “Zan Sawyer-Dailey, the associate director for Actor’s Theatre, called a number of local actors to audition for the festival’s eight award-winning plays. I got roles in six of the eight. Tom Loce (New Albany resident, actor, and Young Actors Institute instructor) also got on. The plays are going to be done as a live radio theater presentation and will be recorded on CD and put on the market. I think it will be similar to the Fireside Theatre of the ’70s which was very successful. Maybe it will become a niche art.”
Q: Why did you start teaching at the performing-arts school?
VAUGHT: “I was a substitute teacher for Jefferson County Public Schools and (the performing-arts school) was a new development around 1977. After five years at JCPS and after my second placement at the school, the principal, asked me if I would like to work full-time.
“I was ready to go to California (to pursue acting). For kids then, ‘Fame’ was a real big hit at the time, so there was a lot of interest in the school, and I figured my family had been in education forever and I wanted to teach and that came into play. So I took the opportunity. I teach speech and debate at Manual High School and I coordinate the actor’s institute in the summer.”
Q: How did you develop the Young Actors Institute?
VAUGHT: “In 1987, I was directing outdoor theater in Pembroke, N.C., and the director of The Institute of Outdoor Drama, Mark Summer, had an acting workshop at a theater site in Chapel Hill. He took me around the property, the classrooms, stages, and I gleaned from that experience how a workshop should be run.
“It didn’t have to be a scattershot approach. I saw from him that we could have each class complement each other. The next year, Bob West, the (performing-arts school) principal offered me the opportunity to do a summer program. We had 55 students and five classes the first year. Since then, we’ve had over 2,500 students go through the program.”
Q: What makes the summer institute unique?
VAUGHT: “We have kids come from all over: Corydon, Madison, Frankfort, Owensboro. We have students who have no experience whatsoever on a stage and students that have some experience, so we let each individual set the benchmark for themselves based on their audition the first day, as opposed to putting them in a team and setting the benchmark.
“The instructors work with each individual student and the results are immediately recognizable. We work with them and record their progress with a camcorder and show them by the end of the two weeks how much they’ve grown. We don’t end with a production, because that wastes time with kids waiting for their turn to go on stage. We invite talent agents, local sculptors — different people to address the students after they eat lunch.
“We have instructors like Scott Davis from Cine-Vera Studios, who produces and directs movies. He teaches representational acting for the camera. We have actor James Cronin (recently in movies, “P.S. I Love You” and “Devil Wears Prada”) teaching commercial acting.”
Q: What do you find rewarding about the institute?
VAUGHT: “I had high school drama classes and college theater classes and I was left wondering what more was out there and unsatisfied with the exposure to the performing arts. I think we really give the students something to remember. I continue to run into people who now have their children coming to our program. The parents recall how much they enjoyed it. I’m proud to be a part of it.
“We’ve had students go on into television newscasting, performing on Broadway and in films. We’ve graduated prominent lawyers and veterinarians. The skills you learn don’t necessarily apply just to the arts. They remember us and we’ll have made a positive impact on their lives.”
