WATCH in favor of the Defense

By Josh Eiserike

Published: March 12, 2008

Actor in Manassas play receives award

Dan Yount was speechless — literally. Washington-Area Theatre Community Honors had just named Yount “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama” for his role as Henry Drummond in Prince William Little Theatre’s October “Inherit the Wind,“ a dramatization of the Scopes monkey trial by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee.

The play marks Yount’s second return to the stage after 30 years.

“I was the most shocked person in the room when they announced the winner was ‘Dan Yount,‘“ Yount, 67, said.

He had been so sure he wouldn’t win that he hadn’t bothered to prepare any remarks.

Somehow, he found the words to acknowledge director Zina Bleck for taking a chance on him for a role that even his children told him he was wrong for.

“I was thrilled,“ said Bleck of Reston. “I know how hard he worked on that role and how hard he and myself and (assistant director Herb Tax) worked on that role… It was just like we’d won the lottery. It was great. It was a very proud moment, too.“

She said Yount brought a lot of “energy and fire” to the role.

“He really became Drummond,“ Bleck said.

She said Yount asked lots of detailed questions, which included Drummond’s feelings about evolution and creationism, to flesh out his character.

Yount said he read up on the history of the play and looked for the best way to communicate his character’s motivations.

In the play, Drummond—based on renowned attorney and champion of hopeless causes Clarence Darrow—comes to Tennessee from Chicago to defend a high school science teacher on trial for teaching Darwinism. The actual trial took place in 1925, but the play debuted in 1955, as an allegory for McCarthyism.

Yount, who also appeared in another production of “Inherit the Wind” more than 40 years ago, grew up in San Diego, where he worked several summers at the Globe Theatre Shakespeare Festival. Yount said he made a bit of a living as an actor, performing in a melodrama, “The Drunkard,“ on a showboat.

“It was one of those things where the audience eats peanuts and drinks beer while they’re watching the show,“ Yount said.

After that, he went into the Army as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division and got out in 1965, before the Vietnam War dominated news headlines. Yount said he went back to school, first a year at Pasadena Playhouse, and then finished up at California Western School of Fine Arts, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting and directing.

Yount went on to work in several theaters, including national touring companies and a season at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Va.

“All together I’ve been in over 100 shows,“ Yount said. “It’s kind of a gypsy existence, and if you have a family, and I had a family, it becomes somewhat of a strain.“

Yount quit that life in 1970, took a job as the entertainment director for the Army in Fulda, Germany, and returned to the United States five years later to operate a community and dinner theater in Fort Hood, Texas.

In 1979 he was back in Germany, running the entertainment program for all the Army bases in Europe.

Working for the military, Yount had to take a 30-year break from the stage. Because of his duties, he did not have the time or the chance to act. But, he made a return when he retired in February 2007 in The Arlington Players’ production of “A Man For All Seasons.“

Now, Yount is performing in Woodbridge-based The Lazy Susan Dinner Theatre’s “Witness for the Prosecution.“ He plays Mr. Myers, the prosecutor. The show closes Sunday.

Yount and Bleck have been brainstorming future Prince William Little Theatre projects.

The award for “Inherit the Wind” is Yount’s first for acting, Bleck said.

The play was also nominated for best set painting, but didn’t win.

“The cast was super. None of this stuff is done in a vacuum,“ Yount said. “It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.“

The actor now displays his Plexiglas obelisk award on his mantle.

“He could play any role he wanted to play,“ said Bleck.

Staff writer Josh Eiserike can be reached at 703-878-8072 or .