Coshocton’s Susan Metz Guthrie inducted into Ohio Community Theater Hall of Fame

Susan Metz Guthrie, a longtime member of the Coshocton Footlight Players, received the Hall of Fame Award from the Ohio Community Theater Association.

The Ohio Community Theater Association is a statewide organization made up of community theater members. Coshocton Footlight Players has been a charter member since the 1950s when it first started. Community theaters around the state of Ohio are the members. They promote community theater and education during the year, and every Labor Day there is a state conference.

The community theaters are invited to come and do an excerpt from a show they put on that season. The judicators are three judges who give feedback, with awards given over the weekend.

“They have a Hall of Fame Award, and I was just shocked beyond belief to even receive that award,” Metz Guthrie said. “I just never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be considered for that. I have gone to the state conference for years.”

She went to her first conference in 1993 and has gone to almost every one since then.

“They usually induct from one to three people in the Hall of Fame,” Metz Guthrie said. “Usually, they are well-known people around the state and in the community that are honored. I was surprised to be considered. I think our theater, the Footlight Players, the board of directors and Shane Pyle spearheaded the nomination. It was a very big honor for me.

"Being involved in the Footlight Players in the late '60s when I was about 7 years old, we did the show ‘Gypsy,’ and I played Baby June. The director said I got the part because I was the only kid that could do a split on stage. She told me I did the best split of all the little girls that auditioned.”

Her favorite part of theater is working behind the scenes, but she has done about every job.

“It's been a lifelong passion for me,” Metz Guthrie said. “I just love it. It is very rewarding, and I guess that's why somebody thought I should be nominated for this award. It’s the OCTA Committee that decides who gets the award, and it's a great award. To be honored by your peers is a great thing because they know who does what. It's a special thing to be recognized by people who do the same thing, and it was a great night.”

She has been an OCTA regional representative and was elected and served as president in 2005.

“Being a member of the Hall of Fame is a pretty exclusive little club,” Metz Guthrie said. “All these years I sat through the award banquets and never in my life thought that I would receive it. It was a real surprise, and it was a good surprise. Everyone who is involved deserve a lot of accolades and a lot of credit. I have done just about everything in Footlight Players, big and small. I have directed, and I've done much smaller things to help as well. Where ever the need was, I have tried to help.

"I have been on the board of directors a couple of times. The acting part is not my biggest contribution. I don’t pretend to be a great actor. My strong suite is directing and behind the scenes. I think I was recognized for all the years I have been with Footlight Players and all the years with OCTA. I was very humbled and taken off guard.”

The Footlight Players has been a continuous member of OCTA since its founding in 1953, and member Roy Hall was an early OCTA president in 1958. The organization provides services and support to more than 100 community theaters in the state.

Metz Guthrie previously served on the board from 2001-06 including in the positions of first vice president and president. She received the Outstanding Delegate from the Southeast Region Award in 1999 and the Presidential Award for Outstanding Service in 2002. Metz Guthrie is the second Coshocton Footlight Player inducted into the OCTA Hall of Fame. The first was Bettsy Gauerke in 2018.