In Memoriam: Rich Albe & Tom Moffit
“…let us sit upon the ground
and tell sad stories…”
Richard II (Act 3, Scene 2)
Our company has had to endure two great losses in the short time of about a month. The curtain fell on the lives of Rich Albe and Tom Moffit, principal players in our theatrical ventures.
Tom Moffit signed up for my Shakespeare class in 1974 and I quickly recruited him to play Lucio in that summer’s Measure for Measure. Young as he was, he showed a talent for comedy in making the role his own immediately. He played Lucio four more times through the years, each performance growing from his experience and creativity. I recall remarking that when Will wrote the part he knew Tom would play him one day. Over succeeding years, Tom did just about every show we mounted and easily holds the record for most appearances on our stage. He played Shakespeare’s great clowns, Bottom, Touchstone, Dogberry, a remarkable Falstaff (in the heat during the “parking lot” Henry IV), but also Toby Belch, Petruchio, Polonius, Antonio (Merchant) and a stunning and noble Macduff. When we did classical works from later eras, he was there to do Mr. Hardcastle (She Stoops), Sir Peter Teazle (School for Scandal), Pinchwife (Country Wife), Sir Anthony Absolute (The Rivals) and a subtly ominous Dr. Rank in Hedda Gabler. He loved the English Music Hall, which he directed, and played in, multiple times, and staged an hilarious Nunsense to much acclaim. The man was a trooper. Even after an illness left him sightless, he returned to us as the blind Old Gobbo in Merchant, one of his most poignant performances.
I remember him vividly for all those unique moments in the theater, and as a loyal player in our merry band, a member of our Executive Board, and a dear and trusted friend.
If you worked at Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey) when I did, sooner or later you came to know Rich Albe, “Techie Extraordinaire” to the campus. My moment of epiphany came in 1982, when, in a casual conversation Rich asked if I would consider making television of our summer show after we closed in the Park. So, thanks to his curious mind, I came to know Mike Wodynski, Roger Lienhardt, Bob Maarberg, and Rich, as we recorded A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the old TV studio in Forcina Hall. Over the next six years we spent lots of hours and many late nights preserving our work, with Rich always behind a camera. As time went on, he became our resident videographer so that every show in the Park, the Black Box Theater on campus, and, ultimately, the Kelsey Theater is thankfully “in the can.” Rich knew cameras, mics, and all things technical, but what made him the person we all loved was that he was a genuinely sweet guy. The smile rarely left his face, and there was always a word of encouragement accompanying it, frequently, “me too.” He loved his work and the people he worked with. He shot Macbeth, our 50th season show, last summer. When we go back to work in 2021, something will not be the same. Our friend, Rich, won’t be there.
“Ave atque Vale,” Tom and Rich.