Note: At the Denver Actors Fund, anonymity of aid recipients is presumed and fully protected, unless and until the recipient chooses to have his or her story told.
Financial-aid recipient: Wayne Kennedy is a legend at BDT Stage, formerly known as Boulder’s Dinner Theatre. He is currently directing “The Buddy Holly Story,” and when he stars as Fester in the upcoming production of “The Addams Family,” opening Nov. 21, he will begin celebrating his 25th year performing at the venerable Boulder theater. Kennedy, a graduate of Jeffersoon High School in Edgewater and the former Loretto Heights College, arrived in 1991 at BDT, where he also has served as the company’s Sound Designer for the past decade. He has also performed three major roles at the Arvada Center: As Thenardier in “Les Miserables,” Herr Shultz in “Cabaret” and Tateh in “Ragtime.” He has won two Denver Post Ovation Awards and this past July won the Colorado Theatre Guild’s Henry Award as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical for his work as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof.” Wrote Juliet Wittman of Westword: “I’ve seen Wayne Kennedy perform often; I know his capacity for shoulder-shrugging and ironic humor, his talent for unsentimental pathos. But I’ve never seen him as he is here playing Tevye, larger than life, carrying the entire lively production on his shoulders.”
His story: Wayne has degenerative arthritis in his right hip and a cartilage tear in his left shoulder. He’s been struggling to perform through the pain for about two years now. Both of these conditions, particularly the hip, have progressed to the point that it has seriously impacted his ability to continue to perform. Without surgery, he would eventually have to stop entirely. Wayne‘s two surgeries cannot be done simultaneously, so he had hip surgery on Tuesday (Sept. 15). While Wayne has health insurance, his family has faced extraordinary financial challenges of late, and his out-of-pocket costs are still estimated to run into the thousands of dollars.
How we will help: The Denver Actors Fund board of directors has approved a gift of $2,000 to help Wayne through his hip surgery, and will re-evaluate his case in the coming months as his shoulder surgery approaches.
How you can help us help Wayne Kennedy more: The Kennedy family still faces thousands of dollars in medical bills. If you would like to direct a specific donation to Wayne Kennedy, simply mail checks made out in his name to Denver Actors Fund, 4594 Osceola St., Denver, CO 80212. Or use this donation link, and in your note, be sure to direct your gift to Wayne Kennedy.
A message from Wayne Kennedy, whose first surgery was Tuesday: “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. I feel great. I put weight on my leg today and there is no pain in … so long. It’s such a gift to be able to do that with confidence and not have to worry that I am going to get myself in a jam. I can’t tell you what that meant to me. Whatever I can do to help out to help raise money or awareness about the Denver Actors Fund, I will gladly do.”
When BDT Stage hosted a recent DAF benefit performance of “Fiddler on the Roof,” it was Wayne Kennedy who starred as Tevye. The evening raised more than $5,000 for the Denver Actors Fund, still the largest single fundraiser for the DAF in its history. In the video above, Wayne put out a personal call for people to come and see the show.
