Sad day for funny man at the Rep

Longtime patrons of the Arkansas Repertory Theater may remember Terry Sneed. Beginning in the early ’80s the actor-director, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., was featured in many of the Rep’s productions. He eventually left Arkansas, relocating to Harrisburg, Pa., where he lived with his husband, Richard Williams.

Sneed died on Oct. 22. He was 67.

Guy Couch was one of the original company members at the Rep and worked closely with Sneed.

“He was a pianist, actor, director — he directed a lot of shows,” Couch says. “He was a very funny man onstage and really knew comedy and timing.”

Sneed’s portrayal of Charlie Baker from Larry Shue’s “The Foreigner” was particularly memorable, Couch says. “The Rep did that show three different times because people loved it so much.”

Actress Candyce Hinkle called “The Foreigner” and “Greater Tuna” two of Sneed’s “comedic masterpieces.”

“In the few years that Terry was in Arkansas, he left an incredible footprint on The Rep and local audiences,” she says in an email. “Just hearing that he was in the cast was enough to insure the house would sell out. He was mesmerizing to watch during rehearsals. He was the master of physicality and facial expression.”

Vivian Norman acted at the Rep from the early ’80s through the late ’90s and says Sneed’s talents as a director, actor and musician made him a “triple threat.”

“If it wasn’t for Terry Sneed, I wouldn’t have spent the bulk of my career at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre,” she says in an email. “He cast and directed me in my first show there, ‘How the Other Half Loves’ a hilarious but complicated production to stage and he directed it without a hitch [with] no drama [no pun intended.]”

In 1985, Sneed played Wong in Michael Rice’s adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s “The Good Woman of Setzuan” at the Rep.

“I was a close friend of his while we were there, but like grains in the wind we all scattered,” says Rice, a composer and musical director originally from Desha County who splits time between New York City and his home in rural Pennsylvania. “His life was spent dedicated to the arts and the performing arts. He was very academic and smart, but also humble.”

Decades after his time at the Rep, his impact remains.

“He should always be remembered as a huge contribution to the Arkansas Repertory Theatre,” Norman says.