At MSU, alumnus John Goodman shares Tent Theatre, homecoming memories

Actor John Goodman said he likes this time of year in the Ozarks.

He returned to the Missouri State campus Saturday to celebrate the end of the five-year fundraising campaign that he agreed to chair. It raised $274 million.

"This time of the year in the Ozarks is just the best, it's incredible," said Goodman, 70.

The event coincided with homecoming, which Goodman said he enjoyed as a student in the early 1970s. He recalled the energy of the campus and the alumni visiting: "It made me feel like I belonged here."

On Saturday afternoon, at the Great Southern Bank Arena, Goodman agreed to take questions from the media along with MSU President Clif Smart and Brent Dunn, vice president for university advancement.

The Missouri-born star of movies "The Big Lebowski," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and television shows "Roseanne" and "Treme" said he was looking forward to seeing the amphitheatre in the Judith Enyeart Reynolds Arts Park, on the southeast corner of campus, that will bear his name.

The John Goodman Amphitheatre will be a permanent home for Tent Theatre, which Goodman was part of and has credited with helping teach him the craft of acting,

More:Missouri State raises $274M for academic programs, scholarships and buildings

"To be honest, this was a great place to fail ... because I've done plenty of it. And that is the only way to learn," he said. "By saying that I mean you can trust the people you're with and trust the instructors you have and that's how you learn."

Goodman said those experiences also form a sense of community.

Goodman said the visual and performing arts amphitheatre, which will be used all year, will be among other things a place for students to hang out on campus.

He recalled how hot the rehearsals and summertime performances got under the temporary canvas tents erected for the annual performances, typically in June and July.

"I really don't know what it's going to be like," he said of the difference. "I know it's always hot in there. I passed out on stage one year ... I caught myself before I fell down."

Goodman said he hopes the amphitheatre inspires talented young people to come to MSU.

"Any improvement that we can give them, it's important," he said. "It's also a draw, I think, for talented kids who come down here and know they'll have a home down here."

Originally from Affton, a small town near St. Louis, Goodman started at a community college. He transferred to MSU, then called Southwest Missouri State University or SMS.

"I came down to try to walk on the football team and transferred from a junior college in St. Louis and I didn't even have the grades to do that. So they told me to wait a year," he recalled. "And in that year, I got involved in the theatre department."

Goodman didn't look back and explained why: "There were more girls in the theatre department than on the football team. It made it more inviting."

In a 2019 video announcing Goodman's involvement in the campaign, he said: "For me, Missouri State is where it all started."

Smart said that at the start of the global pandemic, the university saw a need to raise funds to support students in a variety of ways, from the food pantry to providing Wi-Fi hotspots for students studying from home.

"There's money that specifically was raised to help students finish and to help in emergency situations. And that could be a financial catastrophe that happened or your parents lose their jobs and they're not able to help," Smart said. "Boom, we have funds to help you get through."

With need rising during the pandemic, Goodman recorded a message asking those who could help students to give to the emergency fund.

"An appeal from John for emergency aid for students, when the university closed, that gets people to open that email," Smart said. " ... That kind of ability to get that message out, I mean, that was a big deal."

Claudette Riley covers education for the News-Leader. Email tips and story ideas to criley@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: What John Goodman said about MSU homecoming, Tent Theatre