The Wetumpka Depot Players are mourning the loss of longtime actor Bill Nowell, who died as the result of cancer on Aug. 9.
Wetumpka Depot Players Board of Directors president Jeff Langham said Nowell’s talent and work in numerous shows has left a lasting legacy on the theater.
“It is difficult to imagine no longer having the opportunity to enjoy the artistry of Bill Nowell on our stage. Over countless years, he gave us a treasure trove of performances that ran the entire gamut from sinister to slapstick to comical to dramatic to musical. He could, and did, it all,” Langham said. “We will miss his humor, his heart and his incomparable talent. What a legacy.”
According to Wetumpka Depot Players Executive Director Kristy Meanor, Nowell had been involved with the theater since its beginning. She said he acted in a wide range of plays and musicals, including “Foxfire,” “Witness for the Prosecution,” “Catfish Moon,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “My Three Angels,” “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “Twelve Angry Men.”
“Most recently, the audience just adored him in ‘Young Frankenstein.’ He played the role of the hermit, and just brought down the house every night,” Meanor said. “He really was well-known for character roles. He just jumped into any character and could do that so well.”
When he wasn’t acting in one of the Depot Players’ shows, Meanor said he was in the audience giving his support.
“He just had such a love of community theater,” Meanor said. “I don’ think Bill ever missed a show here that he wasn’t in. He always was a supportive audience member, and brought so much positive energy to what we do here at the Depot theater.”
Meanor said the last Depot Players show he was involved with was “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” from which he had to withdraw when he was diagnosed with cancer.
Meanor said Nowell was well known in the local theater community for his work on stages around the River Region.
“Not just the Depot Players. He did work at Theater AUM, Cloverdale Playhouse, Red Door Theatre, Faulkner University,” Meanor said. “So many people from the River Region recognized him and just adored his work.”
To many of his castmates over the years, Meanor said Nowell quickly became a good friend.
“Bill was also known for his lovely, lovely sense of camaraderie,” Meanor said. “When he was working on a show, he made friends with not just the folks that he had done shows with before, but he made all of the newcomers feel welcome.”
Additionally, Meanor said Nowell was a retired math professor at Auburn University at Montgomery and had lived in Montgomery for the majority of his adult life. She described him as a faithful member of Immanuel Presbyterian Church and a sponsor of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
