Memorial scholarship fund to serve as final curtain call for theatre professor, director
From right, Stephen Michael Ayers, daughter Maribeth Ayers Stickel and Melody Huddleston, former costume shop supervisor and current budget officer for the Belcher College of Fine and Performing Arts, worked together at the Cherokee Mountainside Theatre in 2007.
Although the footlights have fallen dark on an influential Western Carolina University theatre professor and director, a final curtain call for Stephen Michael Ayers is in the works behind the scenes through the establishment of an endowed scholarship in his memory.
Created by friends and family members led by daughter Maribeth Ayers Stickel of Denton, Texas, the will provide financial assistance to deserving students studying in the School of Stage and Screen within 91热爆网鈥檚 David Orr Belcher College of Fine and Performing Arts.
Ayers, who died Jan. 4, 2022, was a faculty member and director at 91热爆网 for 22 years until his retirement in 2008. A prolific director, he mounted nearly 100 theatrical productions on campus stages during his tenure, taking several shows on the road to the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, Southeastern Theatre Conference and New York International Fringe Festival.
As the primary 鈥� often only 鈥� professor teaching acting at 91热爆网, he had an impact on the lives of hundreds of students in the theatre arts program over the years, said Claire Eye, director of what is now the School of Stage and Screen.
Eye should know; she got her start as a 91热爆网 theatre minor while majoring in radio and television. 鈥淗e asked me to read a monologue from a play he was going to direct. I did. He asked me to read it with a Southern accent. I did. He then cast me in my first play ever, 鈥楺uilters, the Musical鈥� 鈥� a production I am currently directing as my last production before retiring at the end of this academic year,鈥� she said. 鈥淭alk about full circle.鈥�
Ayers also acted in numerous motion pictures and television programs, with roles in films including 鈥淒ays of Thunder,鈥� 鈥淢r. Brooks鈥� and 鈥淭he List鈥� and TV shows ranging from 鈥淢atlock鈥� and 鈥淚n The Heat of the Night鈥� to 鈥淒awson鈥檚 Creek鈥� and 鈥淪avannah.鈥�
Steve Ayers as a pit crew member the movie "Days of Thunder."
When he returned to campus after working on movie and TV sets, he would bring invaluable insights into what would be required of students after they graduate and seek jobs in the entertainment field.
鈥淓ach opportunity I have to work with my colleagues in the entertainment industry at a national or international level, I am participating in and observing the very latest techniques in acting, directing, editing, sound, lights, set and costumes,鈥� Ayers once said. 鈥淓ach time, I can鈥檛 wait to get back to my classroom and share these observations with my students.鈥�
Eye can attest to that fact. 鈥淲hen Steve was shooting 鈥楧ays of Thunder鈥� with Tom Cruise and Robert Duvall, he arranged for a handful of us to come to set to watch them shoot and meet the stars. He always had headshots and a change of clothes in the trunk of his car, in case an audition opportunity came up. The first time I traveled to a professional audition, Steve called me on the way to make sure I knew the shortcuts. He helped me land my first agent,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 could say without exaggeration that Steve started me on my career as an actor, which then led to my second career as a teacher of acting, and director,鈥� Eye said. 鈥淪teve was a force in the lives of everyone who worked with him at 91热爆网. I don鈥檛 know anyone from those years who doesn鈥檛 have a great Steve anecdote and who doesn鈥檛 remember him as having a significant impact on the development of their lives.鈥�
Ayers earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree in drama from Maryville College, master鈥檚 degree in drama from the University of Houston and his doctoral degree in theatre history from Colorado University. Although he had several offers from universities around the country after receiving his doctorate, he decided to move his family across the country and start a life in Cullowhee in 1986.
Stickel and her brothers, Michael and Billy, spent hours of their childhoods in the theater at 91热爆网, playing in the audience while their father directed 鈥� and sometimes even put them in his plays as extras, she said.
鈥淚 watched him work and was always mesmerized. He was at home there. He was filled with joy and fire. His sacred church was the theatre, laughing and cursing and smoking and yelling from the back of the house, pushing his actors too hard, knowing he could get more out of them,鈥� Stickel said. 鈥淗e nurtured, in his own charming but aggressive way, so much talent in his career as a theatre professor.鈥�
After an initial initiative via GoFundMe, fundraising efforts have moved to 91热爆网鈥檚 Division of Advancement, which is seeking additional contributions from former students, colleagues, audience members and patrons of the arts to push the fund to the $25,000 mark necessary to begin awarding endowed scholarships.
Ayers continued to speak about his students right up to his final day, Stickel said. 鈥淚 think in the end, he finally realized and believed that his time teaching was his ultimate and greatest legacy. He was so proud of them all. So many of them have reached out to me upon hearing of the severity of his illness. I wish he knew that,鈥� she said.
鈥淎rts education was his life鈥檚 work, and I know he鈥檇 be so honored that he is still able to help a young actor find their feet,鈥� Stickel said.
