Phil Fitzpatrick Obituary, Supporter of Wise Fool Theater has died

Phil Fitzpatrick Obituary, Death – Phil Fitzpatrick, a supporter and member of Wise Fool Theater has passed away. Phil was an early supporter, enthusiastic audience member, pizza deliveryman on the side, and Wise Fool’s best friend. We even got him to sing along with us once! I was preparing to direct our first children’s show, “Anne of Green Gables,” and I knew one of the most difficult roles to cast would be Matthew. But wait a minute! Phil is an excellent choice for the role of Matthew! “I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to do that…” Phil accepts humbly. “Of course you can; you’d be amazing!” Chani is unwavering. “Does he not have a lot of lines?” “No, what do you mean by ‘too many?'”

Phil arrived at auditions (yay!) and, please understand, I mean it literally when I say he threw himself into things. Phil performed a monologue from William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” (Caliban). (I hadn’t even asked anyone for a monologue.) But Phil was a Shakespeare fan, so why not capitalize on the situation?) He crawled and rolled around the stage on all fours. All I could think was, “Oh no, I’m going to break Phil…” In contrast, he was having a great time. (I was as well.) Huzzah! We’d located Matthew! It was a pleasure to work with Phil. Was he properly prepared? Definitely not.

However, I’ve only worked with a few actors who would give you their whole heart. Just watching Phil observe the other actors was magical. This made him very happy. Every interaction he had with his girls, especially his unintentionally adopted daughter, Anne, demonstrated how happy he was. Phil transformed into Matthew without even trying. His performance had an authenticity that could only come from Phil, who exuded absolute authenticity all the time. He was the real deal, a genuine nice guy. He even surprised everyone on opening night by arriving with custom-printed t-shirts for the show! I will never, ever give up mine.

I recall him being very proud of them and pleased that we all liked them. (As if we could ever dislike anything he ever made.) Phil recently appeared in one of our “Twelfth Night” productions. I hugged him several times before and after the show. Throughout the show, I took advantage of every opportunity to observe his expression as he smiled his big Phil smile. How had I managed to go so long without seeing him? (A gentle reminder not to let that happen!) If you knew Phil, you’d realize that this is just the beginning. He was unquestionably the best.

Phil Fitzpatrick Obituary, Death – Phil Fitzpatrick, a supporter and member of Wise Fool Theater has passed away. Phil was an early supporter, enthusiastic audience member, pizza deliveryman on the side, and Wise Fool’s best friend. We even got him to sing along with us once! I was preparing to direct our first children’s show,…