For more than 4 decades, Jonathan Smoots was a force in Wisconsin theater

Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The history of two great Wisconsin theaters began with Jonathan Smoots.

As Theseus in "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Smoots spoke the first words of the first production that American Players Theatre staged in its first season in Spring Green in 1980.

And when Milwaukee's Next Act Theatre was formed in 1990 from the merger of two earlier companies, Smoots was its first artistic director, serving two years before handing the reins to his friend David Cecsarini.

For more than 40 years, Smoots was a force in Wisconsin theater as an actor, director and even a few times as a designer.

Talking about "King Lear" in a 2016 Journal Sentinel interview, Smoots characterized it as an ensemble work: "You need a whole lot of strong horses to pull this wagon up the hill."

Colleagues and theater lovers are grieving the loss of one of the strongest horses.

Smoots died March 21 "following a brief battle with pancreatic cancer," according to a statement released by Next Act. The actor, who lived in Shorewood, was 71.

Read Full Tribute Here