Lifelong pro musician explores theatre to nurture passion for performing arts

Mar. 16—In a close knit community like Hunt County, even people who are transplants from other parts of the country or world often find themselves accepted and welcomed as valued members of the "family." Naturally, these "adopted locals" also often have interesting stories to tell about how they got to the area.

One such individual is Bill Carr, who now lives in Commerce, but was once a working musician who played an estimated "30,000 or more" hours on the Las Vegas Strip between 1975 and 1995, but later went back to school at A&M-Commerce to study theater and further nurture his passion for the performing arts. He has since served as chief sound tech and/or music director for several productions at the University Playhouse.

"At first, when I went back to school, I didn't know if I was gonna go with the music department or the theatre," Carr said. "But, when I walked into the theatre [at the Performing Arts Center] for the first time and saw the stage, I said, 'Yeah. I'm home.'"

Long before moving to Commerce, Carr grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island, where he first became interested in music like many of his generation did, listening to Bob Dylan, The Beatles and Cream.

"I got me first acoustic guitar when I was 14, and I just started learning basic chords, folk songs, and Bob Dylan songs...stuff like that," Carr said.

After beginning his musical journey, it wasn't long until Carr found himself playing bass in his first band in Warwick, a group who called themselves The Gentlemen.

"We got these little ruffle things like you get for a tuxedo, and we got these leather vests, but they weren't leather. They were vinyl," Carr related.

"For our very first gig, I was in charge of the clothes," Carr continued. "When we got there, we unpacked everything and everybody got dressed. We went to tune up, and I couldn't find my bass, because I had left it at home.

"In all the panic and excitement, and making sure I didn't forget the clothes, I forgot my bass on my very first gig," Carr said with a groan.

Years later, Carr would get his first taste of theatre when he auditioned to play guitar for an off-Broadway production of the musical, "Hair."

"By the time they came to Providence [Rhode Island] in 1974, they had lost their guitar player," Carr explained. "Somehow it got to me that they were holding auditions, so I went down there.

"There were better players there than me, but they called me up the next day and asked me if I wanted the gig because I could read [musical notation]," Carr continued. "That's what it was. My cousin taught me how to read, and I knew all the advanced chords...all the jazz chords."

After touring through the eastern United States with the production, Carr relocated to Las Vegas, which was a hotbed for gigs at the time.

There, he met a guitarist named Larry Jenks, and the two regular backed famous performers like Wayne Newton and Frank Sinatra. In the late 1980s, though, many of the venues in Las Vegas began started transitioning toward using pre-recorded music to back performers rather than live bands, so Carr and Jenks began on their own band, Hi-Jinx.

"We played whatever people wanted us to play," Carr said.

"If there were a bunch of old people there, we'd play the Tennessee Waltz or some Hank Williams," Carr explained. "If there were young kids there, we'd play some Beastie Boys and stuff like that. If there was a middle-aged crowd, we'd play The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and they loved us.

"I have an article somewhere written on the band, where they call us 'the band that plays music from five generations.'"

Throughout his years as a professional working musician, Carr's exploration in musical theatre continued as he tried his hand at writing musicals.

"I wrote a children's musical called, 'The Saga of John Winston,'" Carr said. "It's about a boy who lives in an orphanage in England, and he's about to get sold into indentured servitude, so he runs away. There's one song in it called 'Lullaby Butterfly,' that's probably the most beautiful song I ever wrote."

Another musical he penned was inspired by the real-life relationship between the front man for The Doors, Jim Morrison, and the rock star's father, Rear Admiral George Stephen Morrison.

The project came after Carr's lawyer put him in contact with Jim Morrison's sister, Anne, who was dissatisfied with the story told in Oliver Stone's 1990 film, "The Doors."

"I flew down, and spent three days on the beach with Jim Morrison's sister, Anne, his brother-in-law and his brother...just hanging on the beach and asking them questions," Carr said. "Then I went home and wrote it.

"It's called the Lizard King. It's about the conflict between Jim Morrison's father, who was the youngest admiral in the Navy ever. He was a genius, but he was completely in the opposite direction of Jim, who was also a genius.

"In theatre you have to have conflict to have drama," Carr added. "I could make it a universal appeal to fathers and sons who clash all the time."

Throughout his years in Las Vegas, Carr also supported his family as real estate developer, but the company he worked for eventually asked him to relocate to Brownwood, Texas.

In 2008, though, during the great real estate market crash, he made the decision to complete his college education.

Since moving to Commerce almost 10 years ago, Carr has earned masters degrees in both theatre and English, taught courses in public speaking, and worked as chief sound teach and/or music director for several productions.

"When you commit to theatre, you commit to theatre, the show must go on," Carr said. "The curtain must go up."

Carr is currently preparing to stage a production of his original musical, "The Saga of John Winston," in the near future.