{"id":38078,"date":"2017-07-30T08:52:51","date_gmt":"2017-07-30T14:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=38078"},"modified":"2018-09-21T08:54:06","modified_gmt":"2018-09-21T14:54:06","slug":"anne-cullimore-decker-adlibs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/anne-cullimore-decker-adlibs\/","title":{"rendered":"Anne Cullimore Decker: Adlibs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A<\/span>nne Cullimore Decker\u2019s home on the East Bench of Salt Lake City is a lot like Anne Cullimore Decker herself: elegant, gracious, artistic. One of Utah\u2019s premiere dramatic artists, she\u2019s worked in theater, opera, television, and film. Decker\u2019s life is an inspiring journey through a commitment to art, family, and community.<\/h4>\n

Decker has been a mainstay of the Utah theater scene as an actor, director, and teacher. Countless students at the University of Utah learned their way on the stage from her. Now in her 70s, she is still one of Utah\u2019s most active, prominent, and beloved actors. It\u2019s surprising to learn, then, how relatively late in life she took up theater.<\/h4>\n

The Cullimores were a family that loved the arts. \u201cMy mother was very influential in seeing that we had good experiences in attending the arts,\u201d Decker remembers. \u201cWe lived three doors off the BYU campus, and we went to all the concerts and performances.\u201d Her first performance was when she was about 2 months old, portraying the baby Jesus in the family Christmas portrait. Though Decker had a lovely singing voice, she never thought about going into theater when she was growing up. \u201cI wasn\u2019t one of those actors who said, I have to do this,\u201d she explains. \u201cI loved the arts, but I didn\u2019t have to be onstage.\u201d In fact, she says she was shy and her first experience with the stage was traumatic. When she was 8 or 9 years old, her mother volunteered her services in a play. Decker went to the first rehearsal and came home crying, saying, \u201cI don\u2019t want to do this.\u201d So her older sister filled in for her.<\/h4>\n

In high school, she was the theater reviewer for the school newspaper. \u201cI was very critical, even though I had never been in a play,\u201d she laughs. \u201cThen we had a cute, young new drama teacher come in. So I took my first drama class.\u201d Max Golightly, her drama teacher, liked her and prepared her for the state speech festival, where she did well. He continued to encourage her, saying, \u201cI think you have some talent, and you could pursue a career in theater, but if you would rather be married with kids, you would be a good teacher.\u201d Since she would sometimes go with her physician father on house calls, Decker had thought she would become a nurse, but the attention from her drama teacher \u201cwas flattering and gave me some direction,\u201d she says. \u201cI was being guided.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Although Decker wasn\u2019t thinking about an acting career as a girl, she was nevertheless soaking up a lot of theater. She recalls family trips to Salt Lake to see Judith Anderson in\u00a0Hamlet\u00a0<\/em>and Charles Boyer, Tyrone Power, and Agnes Moorhead in\u00a0Don Juan in<\/em>\u00a0Hell<\/em>. \u201cI went with my family to medical meetings in San Francisco, and we saw Charlotte Greenwood in\u00a0The Winslow Boy<\/em>,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI remember being very affected by the play. But I was not thinking, \u2018I would like to do that.\u2019 \u201d That changed when she and her older sister went to New York City for a week. \u201cWe stayed at the Edison Hotel, and paid $1.70 to see Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer in\u00a0Ondine\u00a0<\/em>by Giraudoux. We saw Deborah Kerr and Anthony Perkins in\u00a0Tea and<\/em>Sympathy<\/em>, and I was blown away.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Decker started college at Brigham Young University, where Katherine Pardoe told her she didn\u2019t have a voice for theater. So when auditions for\u00a0The Taming<\/em>\u00a0of the Shrew\u00a0<\/em>came up, Decker attended with plans to be on the crew. But everyone who showed up was supposed to audition. \u201cI got the part of Kate, and we toured around the state,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was the first full-length play I did. I wasn\u2019t good; I am overacting like crazy in the photos, you can tell. But it was a good start.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Although she liked being onstage, Decker didn\u2019t believe in herself as an actor yet. Because she wasn\u2019t completely happy at BYU (she disliked having to take religion classes), she transferred to the University of Utah. At first, she didn\u2019t audition for university productions; she just took acting classes. She loved her theater classes from C. Lowell Lees and Arch Heugley (\u201cHe was a Broadway actor and he was blind in one eye and very scary,\u201d she laughs). Decker credits legendary U. theater Professor Robert Hyde Wilson with \u201cdiscovering\u201d her after seeing a student production she was in. \u201cHe said,\u201d she recalls, mimicking Wilson\u2019s trademark growl, \u201c\u2018Who is that girl?\u2019\u201d Wilson cast her as Miss Madrigal in\u00a0The Chalk Garden\u00a0<\/em>and her fellow student Jon Jory (the nationally renowned theater artist known for his work at the Actors Theatre of Louisville) in the role of Maitland. \u201cSo Jon Jory and I started our careers together at the U,\u201d she says with a smile.<\/h4>\n

While still in college, Decker went to New York for two summers and took acting classes at the Herbert Berghof Studio under Uta Hagen. There, she watched talented actors going out on endless auditions without getting any work. \u201cI remember leaving class one day and thinking, I am so glad I love the idea of teaching.\u201d She loved the world of New York theater, but couldn\u2019t envision herself acting there. She ended up majoring in Speech and minoring in English (there wasn\u2019t a theater department at the U yet) and got a teaching certificate. Decker began teaching at East High School and took a role in\u00a0Tiger at the Gates\u00a0<\/em>at Kingsbury Hall with the film actor John Ireland. Around this time, a former roommate set her up on a blind date with a returned Air Force airman named Ashby Decker. When\u00a0Tiger at the Gates\u00a0<\/em>opened, he sent a bouquet of flowers to her dressing room. \u201cHere is someone who knows opening-night protocol!\u201d Decker remembers thinking to herself. \u201cI called to thank him and asked, \u2018So how did you like\u00a0Tiger at the Gates<\/em>?\u2019 and he said, \u2018I didn\u2019t come,\u2019 and I said, \u2018Why not?\u2019 and he said, \u2018Because I heard it was bad.\u2019 So I learned right then that he gives it to you straight.\u201d She and Ashby married, she quit teaching, and the couple had three sons.<\/h4>\n

Decker still acted from time to time. \u201cI was never one who did show after show after show,\u201d says Decker. But when she was working, \u201cAshby was fabulous and would take care of the kids.\u201d She had always assumed she would get an advanced degree, so she entered a master\u2019s program at the U when their youngest was in fifth grade, timing her classes so she could be home by the time her sons were home from school. \u201cI took four years to get my master\u2019s because I was not in a hurry and loved the classes,\u201d she recalls. The University of Utah\u2019s theatre department had previously offered a graduate degree in acting, but it had been eliminated by the time Decker was applying; instead, the department offered an MFA in playwriting, directing, or design. She decided to apply for directing. Decker earned her master\u2019s degree and started teaching, acting and directing at the University of Utah in the early 1980s. Decker continued to teach at the University until the mid-1990s, leaving in her wake many former students who cherish their time spent under her tutelage and with whom she still keeps in touch.<\/h4>\n

Since retiring, Decker has generously donated her time to the Utah Arts Council, Zoo Arts & Parks, Tier I Advisory Council, nowplayingutah.com, and the Salt Lake County Fine Arts Board. She and Ashby are avid supporters of the arts; they attend concerts five nights out of the week. This familiarity with the Utah arts scene has made her an expert advocate for the arts community.<\/h4>\n

When asked to list some of her favorite roles, it\u2019s no surprise that Maria Callas in Terence McNally\u2019s\u00a0Master<\/em>\u00a0Class<\/em>, a role she portrayed to great acclaim in 1998 and 2009 at Salt Lake Acting Company, is at the top of the list. As theater writer Celia R. Baker wrote in a 2009 Salt Lake Tribune profile of the actress: \u201cDecker is onstage and in command throughout the show: rattling off torrents of Italian, setting up cues for the small parts that surround hers, singing snatches of operatic roles, and timing intricate interior monologues perfectly against tapes of Callas\u2019 arias\u2026Decker\u2019s competent and solid performance in scenes with opera students gives way to something more profound when the sound of remembered arias initiates a flood of memories for Callas.\u201d Decker says,\u201cthe role was hard to put to bed. Maria lived with me a long time.\u201d<\/h4>\n

She mentions other favorite roles, such as: Golda in\u00a0Fiddler on the Roof<\/em>, Margo Channing in\u00a0Applause<\/em>, the sculptor Camille Claudel in Utah playwright Aden Ross\u2019s\u00a0K-Mille<\/em>, and \u201cB\u201d in Edward Albee\u2019s\u00a0Three Tall Women<\/em>. Decker can think of only one role she wishes she could have played: \u201cI have an enormous sadness for turning down\u00a0The Lion in Winter<\/em>, the role of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Ariel Balliff asked me to play that and we had a family vacation planned, so I said no, and I would have loved to have done it.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Decker retired from directing some years ago. \u201cAs you get older, the sense of responsibility becomes overwhelming,\u201d she explains. \u201cYou are in charge of everything and everyone, and as you get older, you think, I am not up to that. I want someone else to tell me what to do.\u201d As she\u2019s grown older, she\u2019s grown to love acting more. \u201cMy experience at the Utah Shakespeare Festival [in 2004] was so great, because it was the first time in my life that, 24\/7, my job was to focus on acting. I was reviewed and evaluated and appreciated by people who didn\u2019t know me. So I backed off of directing. Now, my problem as an actor is that I shouldn\u2019t try to direct when I\u2019m acting. I am not sure I am always successful.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Decker has done a number of film roles, including the recent independent film\u00a0Darling Companion<\/em>. \u201cThat was one of my better experiences with movies, because the actors were very interesting people off-camera,\u201d she says. \u201cKevin Kline, Richard Jenkins, and I had some very interesting conversations. And the director, Larry Kasdan, was great.\u201d But generally, Decker isn\u2019t crazy about film or commercial work. \u201cYou don\u2019t get the same creative juices going. The camera and editor are doing the work. The residuals are great, but it isn\u2019t as rewarding. Decker believes it is the creative process that drives actors. \u201cPeople don\u2019t understand; they think the sound of applause drives us, which is rewarding \u2014 when your creative process gets the right responses from an audience \u2014 but it is the process of putting it together with other creative minds. That is what keeps us going.\u201d Another bonus of the collaborative process is the bonding that happens with fellow performers and directors: \u201cThe relationships stay, even years later. My friendships are the people I have worked with in the arts. They really are.\u201d<\/h4>\n

Now, each time Decker takes on a project, she thinks it might be her last. \u201cWhen you\u2019re my age, there are fewer roles,\u201d she says. \u201cIf I can have any form of involvement that is great. I have a love for all of the arts, and I am grateful that I have had a life where I could both participate and appreciate them as an audience member. And I have a husband who also valued the arts. It doesn\u2019t get better than that.\u201d<\/h4>\n

This article originally appeared in the Artists of Utah publication\u00a0Utah\u2019s 15: The State\u2019s Most Influential Artists<\/em>, published in 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anne Cullimore Decker\u2019s home on the East Bench of Salt Lake City is a lot like Anne Cullimore Decker herself: elegant, gracious, artistic. One of Utah\u2019s premiere dramatic artists, she\u2019s worked in theater, opera, television, and film. Decker\u2019s life is an inspiring journey through a commitment to art, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":860,"featured_media":38079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","category-theatre"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/2014-01-23-Anne-Cullimore-Decker-for-Utahs-15-1828-1968-final-edit-AdobeRGB1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 00:12:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/860"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38078"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38080,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38078\/revisions\/38080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}