It all started with a pig. “Not I, said the pig,” recited five-year-old Scot MacDonald in the kindergarten play the Hen That Baked Bread. That single role ignited Scot MacDonald’s life long passion and career in theater.
“I was a quiet kid. Kind of shy. Theater was an outlet for me,” said MacDonald. “I would tell my teachers ‘I want to be an actor.’ They would tell me, ‘Actors don’t make a lot of money, Scot. You need a fall back plan.’ So, I fell into accounting and banking as well.”
Scot PJ MacDonald was born in South Bend where he lived for about ten years. His family later moved to St. Louis and finally to the Baltimore area, where he attended high school and college. At his university, MacDonald achieved degrees in both Performing Arts and Business Management. MacDonald spent his time sharpening his theater skills, both within the university’s programs and in the local theater scene. In 2001 he moved back home to South Bend and continued to work in theater.
“I kept moving west and eventually I ended up in Valparaiso at the Memorial Opera House in 2012.” MacDonald said. He has since been the theater’s Buisness Director, but his title doesn’t limit him to just management. Throughout his time at the Memorial Opera House, MacDonald has produced, directed, and acted in plays.
“My favorite role at here was Prince Daulton in Once Upon a Mattress. I got to play an overgrown four year old as a thirty year old. It was great!” MacDonald said. “We hads a fountain on stage and the audience (let alone actors) knew what I was going to do with it! I would drink it, I would play in it; they never knew what I was going to do! That’s what drives me. You’re creating living art every night for the audience. And you always have to do right by them.”
MacDonald admits he loves earning a reaction from the audience, but another drive is to push cast and stage workers to see the best in themselves. “I see an actor at an audition and I’ll put them into a part. They may not understand or see why I put them there, so I keep trying to pull out what I saw in them at the audition. I love hearing an actor or a stage worker say, ‘ Wow. I didn’t know I could do that.’ ”
If anyone is curious about volunteering at the Memorial Opera House, MacDonald encourages everyone to just start as a member of the audience. “We want you to come down and see us! If the stage isn’t for you, we’ll find a place for you. There’s a number of things to keep it running here!”
For information about the Memorial Opera House and upcoming events click here.