David River’s review of “Ordinary People”

Terry recently acted the role of “Dr. Berger” in a production of “Ordinary People” by the Richland Players of Richland, WA.  David Rivers, a long-time friend and classmate of Terry’s, has provided a funny and touching review which is also revealing of Terry’s earliest performances.

T'warn't my first rodeo...

But I must say it was the best so far...now I guess the first time woulda been Tom Sawyer to be accurate...I don't count the talent show at Jason Lee where he played a trap set and twirled a drum stick high in the air before catching it...I doubt I'd ever have tried that but he pulled it off (Oh me of little faith)...and I don't count the one man play he put on at Confirmation class where he walked alla way from his house in his PJ's wearing his Have Gun will Travel 6 guns (giggling alla way) only to draw on the teacher when she demanded he check his guns as he warned her: "nobody takes my guns, stranger!"...nah they just don't quite make the grade...they were part of a "work in progress"...

I will say that perhaps the most touching performance was the one he gave me for Christmas the year my Pop died...it was a one man play about my Pop and the way we saw him when we were young or at least the Author saw him that way...It certainly hit a chord and I bawled through the entire performance...In fact, it was my father who called me one evening to shout "Terry's on TV!"...no it wasn't as Rafe Logan on Dukes of Hazzard...I wouldn't see that for a few years when the Internet would be a way of life...it was as Dr. Peter White...before Peter lost his peter...from then on it would be my pleasure to watch this fellow master his craft or his art, as the case may be or "so to speak" as Dr. Berger might say...after being so close in school, it would be a number of years before we hooked up again, but I never stopped watching...eventually, we pretty much picked up where we had left off years before...I would become a weekend guest and soon began to visit the set...sometimes more than some of the younger actors would have preferred...

His skills became well honed and he became a "one take" kinda guy...(well if you don't count the time on Sea Quest where his snoring stopped the filming a couple of times)...on the set the rumor would circulate that we either drank something funny as kids or we were related by blood...it became well known that both of us could drop off to sleep in his dressing room at a moment's notice...we collected nice wardrobes from sets as it seemed silly to let all those cloths go to waste...it was always nice when I would need to do something around his place as he began to acquire some very nice electric tools as well...of course I will never forget the night he let me hang on a strand of razor wire while he corrected my dialogue...."nobody would say 'Oh God, Terry, help, Please', David!"...At times I had the privilege of being his inspiration for this scene or that, when he would have me stand right next to the camera so he could speak his lines to me...

So of course it was a big deal for me when he took a role with the Richland Players in the play which finished on Sunday afternoon (yesterday as you read this)...The mood was festive as a group of us arrived at "Casa Mia" for dinner Friday nite...Keeney ('65) wore a sport coat and Barbara (NAB) looked great...Cecilia was loooooooovely...Kathie Adair and Jimmie ('69; '65-'67) joined us from the ER...I won't repeat what she told the Doc as she stormed out to make dinner and the play (she will remain in the Hospital till you read this so Prayers are always good)...what a wonderful crowd was there...so many from our gang and even College friends that I met for the first time...He was great in the roll...Now I can honestly say that there have been past times when I got more caught up in watching him in his roll that the rest of the cast...that was not the case Friday night...He wove his character seamlessly into the fabric of the play creating a unity that few performances can claim...it was one presentation...

Now I've been fortunate enough to watch him from beginning to this point...I have watched him grow with each new performance...I have been damned proud of him over the years and boy was I proud of him that night...as he shared with me...my daughter spilled the beans by telling him just how proud I was of him...When an actor arrives at this point in a career...perhaps the highest complement can be paid in the terms as Danny WARNER ('65) expressed at intermission: "it's just like he's talking to me." For an actor, it just don't get no better! Great job, Terry DAVIS Knox ('65)!

~ David Rivers ('65)

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