Ohio Thespians lost one of its greatest contributors to the theatrical genre in 2006. With great honor and respect, we welcome Mr. Larry Coleman into the Ohio Educational Theatre Association Hall of Fame posthumously.

Larry began his teaching career at Sheridan HS in 1975 where he taught English and was instrumental in creating an Acting Ensemble course. Always competing in the OTA Play Festival, Larry brought home many superior ratings. When OTA stopped hosting the OTA Play Festival, Larry created a new festival called “In Celebration” so students in central Ohio would be able to continue to be recognized for their excellence in theatre. His students performed both cuttings and main stage at the Ohio Thespian State Conferences. He also took his students to the International Thespian Festival religiously and participated in the play marathons. In honor of the Vietnam War Memorial dedication, Larry and his students collaborated on a script entitled Denials which was toured to many VFW’s all over Ohio. In 1983, tired of his students performing on a stage at the end of a basketball court, Larry single-handedly raised the money and manpower to renovate the old Glenford school shop into a magnificent theatre space which is still used today by the community.

While living and teaching in Perry County, Larry was instrumental in organizing the Hill Folk Players, a community theatre group where he directed melodramas at the fair and performed as well. He also directed the continental premier of Bouja at Ohio University Lancaster and had an extra role in the film Brubaker.

He joined the Ohio Thespian State Board in 1975 as the Area M representative, serving under Marie Glotzbach. Once again Larry’s energy prevailed as he directed All-Area Shows, had students elected as SSO’s, chaperoned the Ohio Thespian NYC trip on many occasions, and hosted not only the first area M conference but also the Ohio Thespian State Conference. Larry was infamous for his Central Ohio Area Conference auctions where he would gather items from all over Columbus, auctioned them during lunch, and bring in thousands of dollars. His idea soon spread to the state conference and still today we have a silent auction where money is placed in the Bob Fose Scholarship Fund.

Larry left Perry County in 1986 to teach theatre and English at Dublin-Coffman HS until 2001. In 1991, he wrote an original ASL play entitled Eyes to Hear, Hands to See which he toured with his students to the International Theatre Festival in Austria. Larry was also the drama director at Bexley HS from 1999-2004.

Larry Coleman’s contributions to Ohio Thespians and to the theatrical world were amazing and I’m sure there are many more not mentioned. We only wish he could be here to share in this moment of celebration of his legacy.