I always found encouragement and inspiration from Jeffrey Nickelson's example.
I first met the founder of the Shadow Theatre Company when I was first discovering my professional path. In 2005, I was a French major at Metro State College, but the lure of journalism had already pulled me in another direction. I had just started as the features editor for The Metropolitan, the school's student newspaper, and I was on the lookout for compelling and captivating cultural events in Denver.
When I heard about the Shadow's production of "Paul Robeson," a one-man onstage biography of the legendary musician, intellectual and activist starring Russell Costen, I knew I'd found ideal fodder for a review.
Before the performance began at the Emerson Center, Nickelson emerged onstage to address the crowd. As the play's producer, he spoke about the production. As the theater company's founder, he talked about its mission. As a major player in the city's theater scene, he highlighted the work of other companies performing in the area.
His energy and enthusiasm was contagious.
After the show, I contacted Jeffrey for an interview, and the fact that I was writing with a small student paper didn't make any difference – Nickelson was wholly approachable, and he offered expansive input and inspiring insights.
The experience helped to secure my passion for features writing. The energy and passion obvious in the performance and in Nickelson's feedback was contagious.
Years later, after I'd found a job as a city writer at the Sentinel and the Shadow had made its move to Aurora, I would find many more occasions to interact with Jeffrey, and to find the same sort of inspiration.
I interviewed Jeffrey as he prepared for the first performance of "Dinah Was," the premiere production at the Shadow's new home on East Colfax. I sat in the audience for shows like "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," "Smokey Joe's Cafe" and "Oscar and Felix," each of which bore the indelible stamp of Nickelson's creative input and passion. I spoke with Jeffrey before the debut of "Twilight's Last Gleaming," the first production of the theater's youth program in Aurora. In addition to his own work, he was a true theater conoisseur – I'd constantly run into him at other productions in the metro area
At every interaction, and at every show, the man's almost palpable love for the stage, for the power of drama and the potential of theater carried its own inspiration.
It served as an infectious brand of inspiration. In posts he'd send on facebook – whether encouraging me when I'd announced I quit smoking or offering words of inspiration when I posted a status update that said I hadn't been chosen for a fellowship I'd applied for – he offered a similar brand of encouragement.
With his booming voice that seemed designed for a stage, and his earnest manner that seemed to demand a response, Nickelson carried his compelling love for his craft in all that he did.
It was a passion that was evident even when he spoke with some bitterness and frustration about his departure from the theater company he founded.
Underlying the anger was the same concern for the craft, the same ardor that drove him to handle the myriad duties of founder, executive director, artistic director, producer, public relations manager, theatrical director, artistic director, actor, youth outreach coordinator, payroll administrator and groundskeeper.
It was a fervor I feel privileged to have seen firsthand, from a man I feel lucky to have considered a friend. His passing last week came far too soon, but his contributions to the cultural landscape of Denver, Aurora and the entire region will not disappear anytime soon.
In my first interview with Jeffrey in 2005 about the production of "Paul Robeson," he offered insight about the significance of the title role.
"I was impressed by the way (Robeson) used his status as a performer to communicate the harshness and racism in America," Nickelson said. "We need more people to be advocates, to communicate with a mass number of people."
In his passion for the stage and for its power to educate, Nickelson played that role admirably.
