SCOTT ALLISON (1953-2018)

Scott Allison was this boy whom I had the good fortune to meet at Taft.  He was a year behind me, in the class of 1971, and he would become my protege and friend.

Scott didn't hit the Bingham stage until the top of his second year when he was instantly bitten by the theatre bug, and there was no turning back.  This seems a good time to mention that Scott was possessed of a fine aquiline nose, like Sherlock Holmes Junior.  He dropped his previous interest in the campus radio station (below) like a cold potato.

He began as a carpenter, and by the second show he had become a member of Masque and Dagger.  He worked his ass off, and as this photo of the the Senior Revue stage crew illustrates, he was always on his toes and at the ready, shown here (far right) wearing his ever-present hammer, giving even the photo call his rapt attention.

Scott (as his senior photo attests) played Bashful and Vague, but he was smart as a whip and funny as hell.  He was of a patrician family and resided on Long Island's north shore, so he was well-acquainted with B'way and all that that entailed.  

By the final show, Scott had become TD, and in his senior year he was the prime mover in producing the 1971 Senior Revue, besides running the stage.  He is seen here front row center.

Roanoke College (Salem, Virginia) gave Scott the chance to write and to dabble in acting, shown below being made up for the title role in Ionesco's Jack.  Scott was both a dreamer and a dreamboat.

At Roanoke,  he met Abbey Harper who would soon become his bride.  Below, the cast and crew of Roanoke's 1975 Pirates of Penzance.

Abbey was a live wire, a kindred spirit, and a local girl who wanted out.  Scott provided that opportunity.

Owing to summer stock schedules, their Virginia wedding was held scarcely a month after graduation.  The wedding party, of which I was a member, stayed at Richmond's Hotel Jefferson, which had become stuck in time, as if by magic.

Abbey Harper and Scott Allison at the rehearsal dinner...

...and the real thing, June 7th, 1975.  

The pair instantly moved northward to work summer stock at the non-union Southbury (Connecticut) Playhouse.   Scott would later serve three summers at the Hampton (New Hampshire) Playhouse as Equity Production Stage Manager.

In Manhattan, Scott worked for Kay Rockefeller's Traveling Playhouse where he earned his Equity Card.  He later landed full-time at the off-B'way American Place Theatre, and here he is shown at his pinnacle in 1981.  Self-effacing and naturally shy, for once he looks the camera in the eye.

Scott was a Heavenly soul, and he shall be missed.

Grateful acknowledgement is given to Abbey Harper, who provided most of the photographs and a treasure trove of memories.

For an index of other Taft School articles, click here.

July, 2018