Former SHS drama teacher remembers Jim Wortham

March 1, 2004

Many in the theater community in this area fondly remember Jim Wortham due to his contributions to theatre and to the Sweetwater Municipal Auditorium.

His former high school drama teacher, Clay Freeman, is one person that will never forget him.

Freeman knew Wortham in the early 1970s when Wortham was one of his drama students at Sweet-water High School. Wortham was one of the first students that he met at SHS. He was classified as a junior at that time.

"He was ex-tremely welcoming," Freeman said of his first meeting with Wortham.

Freeman enjoyed teaching him and working with him on projects. "He did whatever was asked of him," Freeman said. "He said he didn't like to act, but he would when needed and was good at it."

Wortham, as most people know, was a good technician and took care of all the technical aspects, especially sound and lighting, of a performance.

According to Freeman, Wortham was also known to be very creative and did some crazy and wonderful things as a student. Freeman said he remembered one incident when his students were in Austin to participate in the UIL state one-act play competition. They had brought a U-Haul to carry their props and other things for the play.

The night before their performance, Wortham could not sleep, so he stayed up all night and painted the U-Haul trailer with washable paint. He painted Shakespeare's face. "It was beautiful," Freeman said.

Freeman also described Wortham as a "self starter" and one who goes "above and beyond what is expected." "He set the benchmark for any student I have every wanted," Freeman said.

Wortham, along with Freeman, was instrumental in getting events back into the Sweet-water Municipal Auditorium after it had been shut up for years and marked off as just an old building.

Freeman said the drama department was booted out of the high school auditorium for some local event and had nowhere else to go. It was suggested that they try out the municipal au-ditorium. After five or six hours of sweeping the place, Freeman said he "fell in love" with the auditorium and knew he wanted to work there.

Freeman led many community productions at the theatre, most of which Wortham was involved in after high school. During the 1970s the city funded theatre productions in the summer, according to Freeman Some were put on at the amphitheater at Lake Sweetwater.

One summer, it rained every time they tried to have a production at the lake and it was decided to move them all into the auditorium. "We had a different show six weekends in a row during one summer," Freeman said. Some of the shows were variety shows and others were full productions. All of them involved a lot of work on behalf of the players and technicians.

Wortham was always there in the middle of it all. "It is not hard to do the work when you have kids who are eager to be involved," Freeman said. He added that Wortham never lost his zest for it, even when he saw him perform later in life.

Freeman said he believes that the new memorial fund that has been set up in Jim Wortham's name for the auditorium is a very worthwhile fund because of what the auditorium has to offer to the community of Sweetwater. "It is a great thing and important thing to preserve the historical integrity of things in a town," he said. He also said Sweetwater is very fortunate to have such a beautiful, historical building such as the municipal auditorium. Freeman pointed out that communities with vital arts programs usually attract more businesses. He added that Larry Ludlum does a good job at bringing performers and shows into Sweetwater.

Freeman also pointed out that having the fund in Wortham's name is a great way to honor Wortham's memory because of his love for theatre and because of the good person that he was. "He was quiet, funny, really smart, sensitive and had a good listening ear," Freeman said of Wortham. "He never got too upset when problems were sent his way. He usually only needed 15 minutes to come up with a workable solution." Freeman concluded that Wortham was also very kind and very committed to his hometown.

Anyone interested in donating to the Jim Wortham Memorial fund for the Sweetwater Municipal Auditorium, may contact Larry Ludlum at 235-1418 or mail contributions to Sweetwater Municipal Auditorium, P.O. Box 584, Sweetwater, Texas 79556.

Freeman is now the director of the theatre department at Abilene High School and taught in Sweetwater from 1971 to 1977. He always enjoys seeing some of his former Sweetwater students drop by and watch some of his productions in Abilene. Freeman has taught some at the university level but pointed out that he enjoys teaching high school students the most because of their enthusiasm.

By Kimberly Gray

The Reporter Lifestyle Editor