'I feel like I'm an EGOT:' New Bedford Festival Theatre founders to receive honorary degree
NEW BEDFORD – Armand Marchand and George Charbonneau, both retired teachers and former directors of the New Bedford High School Drama Club, have entertained SouthCoast audiences and filled the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center with their New Bedford Festival Theatre summer program for decades.
Now they will be recipients of Bridgewater State University’s honorary degree.
“I feel like I'm an EGOT or one of those people who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony,” said Marchand, who together with Charbonneau graduated in 1966, and then received their graduate degrees in 1970.
Charbonneau said the last time they were both on campus was in December 2022 for an Alumni Christmas gathering. “Those events are always a treat for former graduates,” he said.
They both said their most vivid memory on campus was the reaction to the assassination of JFK on Nov. 22, 1963. “The tolling bells and feeling of utter devastation pervaded the entire campus,” Charbonneau said.
More: Seven deadly-good desserts: Taste these recommended treats from New Bedford restaurants
How they met
Marchand and Charbonneau met at Bridgewater, in the same fraternity — the brothers of Alpha Upsilon. They met in the Commuters' Lounge on campus in 1962.
Although having lived together since the 1980s, they got a marriage license on the first day it was legal for gay and lesbian couples on May 17, 2004, at Fall River City Hall.
“We've been together ever since, through thick and thin, as they say,” Charbonneau said.
According to a letter from BSU President Frederic W. Clark Jr, Marchand and Charbonneau have raised the standard of what was considered possible in high school and local theater productions, and have brought joy to thousands of theater goers.
Being honored by BSU with an Honorary Doctorate is beyond anything I have ever dreamed,” said Charbonneau. “Bridgewater has very special ties with all I have done both professionally and creatively. I always say I just did my job, a job I loved, without any thought of honors or accolades. So this is special.”
Local theater productions
Seven years before the formation of Festival Theatre, Charbonneau and Marchand initiated summer musicals at the Z. To cast their presentation of "Jesus Christ, Superstar," the pair required a callout to the high school students of the region, from Wareham to Somerset.
It was that performance at New Bedford High School which prompted a Zeiterion board member to invite the duo to stage the show at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center.
More: Fans can literally 'Ease on Down' the Yellow Brick Road to the Zeiterion to see 'The Wiz.'
In 1990, the Z ceased its own summer theater production, and as a result, Charbonneau and Marchand established New Bedford Festival Theatre as a non-profit organization.
For the past several years, NBFT has employed 20 to 30 high school-age apprentices each season.
In 2019, Wendy Hall, who began working with the duo while at New Bedford High School in 1990, succeeded Marchand as executive producer.
Marchand and Charbonneau will speak together at the undergraduate commencement ceremony for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences on May 13, 2023.
As for their speech, Charbonneau said they plan on saying something along the lines of choosing a path you love and remembering no path is a straight road for long.
"Never die wondering,” he said. “Playing the coulda' woulda' shoulda' game can be very deflating. Accept change and welcome opportunity,” Marchand added.
Standard-Times staff writer Seth Chitwood can be reached at schitwood@s-t.com. Follow him on twitter:@ChitwoodReports. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times today.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Bridgewater State to honor New Bedford Festival Theatre founders
