Artist draws on many sources

Captain America has nothing on artist Bob Hall.

Hall will receive the Artist of the Year Award this week at the Nebraska Arts Council's 2010 Governor's Award ceremony in Lincoln. The honor recognizes Hall's lifetime achievement in the arts, which has included everything from drawing Captain America for Marvel Comics to founding the Flatwater Shakespeare Company in Lincoln.

Over the years, the 65-year-old Lincoln native has worked as an actor, theater director, designer, arts administrator and writer of graphic novels. Captain America, in comparison, is just an ordinary superhero with great pecs.

We asked Hall about the award and his career.

Q. What was your reaction when you found out about the Artist of the Year award?

A. I was quite frankly surprised. I am used to these sorts of awards, because I've been in the theater business for much of my life. The way it usually works with these things is you're nominated several times first and then finally win once people decide it's your turn. This was my first time being nominated for Artist of the Year, so I didn't figure I'd win this time.

Q. How did you develop this dual interest in cartoon characters and Shakespeare?

A. I initially got into cartoons because I saw it as a pragmatic way to make a living. When I was an undergraduate at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, I used to draw posters for the theater and the student union. I wanted to go to New York after I graduated, and someone suggested I look into working as a comic book illustrator. The timing was good because that period in the 1960s is known as the “Silver Age of Comic Books.” I had mostly trained myself as an artist but finally ended up taking a class with John Buscema, who was one of the artists behind “The Fantastic Four.” After the class he got me a job with Marvel Comics. As for Shakespeare, I've always been interested and involved in theater, and for a long time my comic book career helped support that interest. After the comic book industry crashed in the 1990s, I had to find another way to make a living. I came back to Lincoln, and the opportunity arose to found the Flatwater Shakespeare Company. I'm also artistic director of the Haymarket Theater in Lincoln.

Q. Who was your favorite cartoon character?

A. I loved Captain America because he had this great red-white-and-blue costume that was fun to draw. He also had a terrific shield that he would throw around like a Frisbee. As an artist, my strength was drawing human anatomy. I was much less interested in drawing the high-tech, sci-fi stuff. So I enjoyed Captain America more than Iron Man. And Captain America was easier to draw than Spider-Man, which required all that intricate webbing.

Q. Who's your favorite Shakespeare character to direct?

A. My stock answer is to say my favorite character is the one I'm directing at the time. I love too many Shakespeare characters to have just one favorite, so I'll give you three. I love Touchstone the clown from the comedy “As You Like It” because that's a role I've actually played myself. Hamlet is of course one of the best roles to direct because there's always some new angle to his character that you can investigate. Finally, I'd name Viola from the comedy “Twelfth Night.” One of the great things about being a director instead of just an actor is that you can also have a favorite female character to work on, too.

Q. What inspired you to found the Flatwater Shakespeare Company?

A. I've always loved Shakespeare and founded a company devoted to his work in New York in the late 1980s. I also worked with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. When I moved back to Nebraska, I was looking for something to do, and an unusual opportunity arose. The trustees and guild of the old Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln were looking to restore the cemetery's original 19th-century purpose. It had originally been both a cemetery and a park. I was approached about staging plays on the property. I was skeptical at first, but I went there and saw they had this wonderful old 19th-century carriage house with a courtyard. It reminded me of the kinds of places Shakespeare's own troupe would have acted in when they toured outside of London. After I saw that carriage house the rest was history and I got the Flatwater Shakespeare Company started.

Q. When you're not acting, drawing, writing, designing or administrating, what do you like to do?

A. I think your question provides its own answer. I don't have time to do much besides work. But when I'm not working, I like to travel. When I'm real busy, I'll stay in-state and just go to the Nebraska Sand Hills, which is so beautiful. I love to go back to New York and recently also traveled to Belgium.

Contact the writer:

444-1076, john.pitcher@owh.com

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