Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 22, 1993 TAG: 9305220134
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF DeBELL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Garretson, who was 80, was a founder and the first president of Showtimers. The community theater presented its first season in the summer of 1951 and has run continuously ever since - longer than any other theatrical organization in the Roanoke Valley and reportedly longer than most such groups anywhere in the country.
Garretson used to tell friends Garretson that the company was launched with $300 in donations and was so poor that nails were pulled out of scenery and straightened to be used on the next show.
She directed "My Heart's in the Highland" during the first Showtimers season. Her longtime friend and fellow Showtimer, Annabelle Sullivan, estimated that Garretson directed "40-plus" shows during her years with the organization.
Gates DeHart, who frequently performed under Garretson's direction, said that Garretson could coax strong performances out of "incredibly weak actors" and was particularly good at helping actors interpret their characters.
"They would open up almost magically," he said.
Gilbert and Sullivan operettas were a particular favorite of Garretson. In 1985, while directing "The Yeoman of the Guard," she announced that the operetta would be her last production as director.
However, the lifelong theater buff was lured out of retirement to head at least three subsequent shows. The most recent was a well-received staging of the Edward Albee drama "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf." It closed April 25.
Garretson remained active in the Showtimers organization and often worked as technical director or in other off-stage capacities when not directing.
"We laughingly called her the mother of us all," said Showtimers colleague and longtime friend Lynn Eckman.
Garretson attended the Yale University School of Drama and earned a master's degree in theater from Catholic University in Washington. Her mentor there was Walter Kerr, who later became one of the country's foremost critics.
She taught speech and drama at Roanoke College. It was in the school's old Lab Theatre that the Showtimers did their first shows. Garretson also was known for her amphitheater productions of Greek tragedies - in Greek - at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg.
Friends said Garretson's passions, aside from the theater, were her husband (retired Roanoke County librarian George Garretson, who survives) and her pet cats. She loved to read mystery novels, especially those by English writers. She was a devoted Anglophile and ran a travel service that specialized in England.
Garretson was known for her upbeat spirit and for her loyalty to friends.
"We are legion," said Eckman, who was the host for Garretson's recent 80th birthday party last February.
"She was just made out of pure love," said DeHart.
by CNB