William Adams
1922 - 2005

From the San Diego Union Tribune.
Reprinted with permission

March 22, 2005

As early as age 5, the performing arts infused William J. Adams with purpose and passion that endured throughout his life.

"Every aspect of the theater appeals to me enormously," he told The San Diego Union in 1963, when he was in his early 40s. "I am so enamored that I must be an amateur. The professionals are supposed to get over it."

For nearly 50 years, more than 30 of them as a San Diego State University educator, Dr. Adams poured this enthusiasm and expertise into San Diego's cultural scene in various roles.

He was a founder and stage director of the San Diego Opera. He was artistic director of Starlight musicals. He acted in plays, wrote and recited poetry and founded the Institute for Readers Theatre.

"Bill virtually pioneered the readers theater movement in the United States, and knew everything about opera that was worth knowing," said David Ward-Steinman, former chairman of SDSU's Music Department.

Dr. Adams, who had grown increasingly frail after being diagnosed two years ago with congestive heart failure, died March 13 at his home in Pacific Beach. He was 83.

"He was active until the last minute," said daughter-in-law Christine Adams.

Within the last year, Dr. Adams published a volume of poetry about confronting his advancing years, "Winter Songs," and wrote a play, "On the Wilde Side," based on the life and literature of Oscar Wilde.

Despite relying on an oxygen tank to breathe, he attended an international workshop of the Institute for Readers Theatre last year in London.

Conceived as a vehicle to encourage reading and bring literature to the stage for young students, Readers Theatre grew under Dr. Adams' wing to more than 20 countries and spawned annual international workshops.

Through its Script Service, Readers Theatre provides instructional packets for elementary through high school students as well as adults.

Dr. Adams' textbook, "The Institute Book of Readers Theatre: A Practical Guide for School, Theater and Community," was published in 2003 and is being translated into Japanese.

Born William Jennings Adams in Fitzgerald, Ga., Dr. Adams was named after three-time Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan. "He had spent the night in the Adams home shortly before Bill was born," his son, Anthony, said.

Fascinated by theater as a child, Dr. Adams embraced everything from Shakespeare to Broadway and musical comedy.

After graduating from high school at 15, he studied speech, drama and English – first at Bob Jones College in Cleveland, Tenn., and later at McMurry College in Abilene, Texas, where he earned his bachelor's degree.

Shortly after marrying Rosemary Carlton, a McMurry coed, he was drafted into the Army Air Forces during World War II.

Dr. Adams later taught in Odessa, Texas, and earned a master's degree during summers at Northwestern University. He became chairman of the speech and drama department at McMurry before moving to California, where he received a doctorate in theater and oral interpretation at Stanford University.

In 1955, Dr. Adams joined the SDSU faculty. In his first eight years on campus, he directed 20 plays, including "Of Mice and Men," "Camino Real," "The Crucible" and "Misalliance."

He conducted play readings, supervised a touring theater to present dramas for community organizations, and founded the Studio Theater to help teach college actors their craft.

In the midst of it all, he began discussions with the San Diego Opera Guild in 1962 about the possibility of bringing a production company to San Diego. At the time, the San Francisco Opera was in its second decade of producing opera performances here.

When San Diego Opera was formed and presented its first production in 1965, "La Boheme," Dr. Adams was stage director. He directed 17 of the company's first 20 productions, including the 1967 American premiere of Hans Werner Henze's "The Young Lord."

After Dr. Adams resigned as stage director and associate artistic director of San Diego Opera in 1971, general director Walter Herbert credited him with being a "guiding light" in its growth.

"There is no doubt in any of our minds that without Dr. Adams, San Diego would not have an opera company today," Herbert told the Evening Tribune. Dr. Adams served as a guest director at the Old Globe Theatre and directed productions of "The Chocolate Soldier" and "Flower Drum Song" for Starlight. In 1969, he collaborated with composer Ward-Steinman, writing an opera libretto based on Robinson Jeffers' book-length poem, "Tamar."

"Bill was a librettist, an adapter, an actor, a philosophical poet, a man of very broad culture," Ward-Steinman said. "He had great wit and urbanity and an incredible depth of learning and sophistication."

Through the Institute for Readers Theatre, Dr. Adams produced "The Grapes of Wrath," starring John Carradine, Ed Harris and Carolyn Jones, and "The Martian Chronicles" in collaboration with author Ray Bradbury.

Dr. Adams wrote a libretto for his son Anthony's rock opera, "An Eye in Each Head," and presented "A Song for Gar" as part of the San Diego Opera's education program.

His wife of 59 years, Rosemary, died in April 2001.

Survivors include his son, Anthony Leigh Adams of San Diego; and a sister, Faye McCash of Boca Raton, Fla.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. April 4 at Casa del Prado Theatre, Balboa Park.