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Source: La Crosse Tribune, Wis.儲存倉Sept. 30--Greg Parmeter didn't always envision himself an actor, let alone the artistic director of a community theater.Instead, the 33-year-old native of Thermopolis, Wyo., expected a career teaching history, maybe coaching a little high school football.Life, it seems, had other plans.Theater always interested him, Parmeter said, he had performed in plays all throughout high school and even as he started college at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D., but it was only a hobby."It was never something I looked at as being a legitimate career option," Parmeter said. But by his junior year, he had decided that theater, in one capacity or another, was where he wanted to work.He even met his wife, Mandy, on stage.The couple were cast as husband and wife in a play Parmeter's freshman year. But it wasn't quite a fairy tale encounter."Her character was dead and mine was crazy," he said, "It's not as romantic as people might think."After finishing graduate school in Lincoln, Neb., the now married couple were headed out to the Virginia Shakespeare Festival in Williamsburg, Va. After that? Who knew?"We didn't know where we were going," Mandy said.Parmeter wanted a career as a professional actor. He wanted to be able to work consistently enough that acting would be his sole work.But, in the meantime, there were bills to pay.That was when Mandy was offered a job at the La Crosse Community Theatre. It was only supposed to be a temporary thing until they could find other employment."I had no intention of doing community theater," Parmeter said, "The thing about being an artist is that you are looking for fulfilling work to do."As far as he was concerned, that fulfillment could only be found on a professional stage."That's part of the stereotype of community theater," he said. Many people have the idea that community theaters lack the quality of professional work.The, about the time the drive to move the LCT to its current location got started, Parmeter landed his current job of artistic director."It didn't take long before I fell in love with the people and the community theater," he said.Parmeter learned that the fulfillment he was looking for was right here."We don't diminish the quality of work we do by saying it's only community theater," he said, "American theater is community theater."David Kilpatrick, executive director of the LCT agrees. "Professional is about an attitude and a commitment."Kilpatrick said that Parmeter brings every bit as much enthusiasm and energy as he would to a professional venue. The two- or 迷你倉最平hree-year pitstop in their careers has turned into seven years. The couple have a 3-year-old son, Benjamin, who was born in La Crosse.Parmeter is in his sixth season with the LCT, and, in addition to his duties as artistic director, he directs about four shows a year."This year it's only three," he said. But four seems to be the golden number, especially as the theater expands its season from seven shows a year to nine this year.Finding employment in community theater isn't the only departure from his original plans."Primarily, I'm an actor," he said -- yet now he spends most of his time directing.He still finds time to get on stage, too, filling in for actors in a few spot situations and even in a show at the Pumphouse.He played the wizard in a performance of "The Wizard of Oz" for the LCT a while ago.Parmeter relishes these opportunities."I miss the physical doing," he said.Still, his role as artistic director offers him challenges that keep him on his toes."I'm still really learning the job," he said.That job is to oversee the artistic and technical quality of all the theater's productions.Essentially, Parmeter said, "My job is to find talented people and put them in a position where they can succeed."Regardless of whether Parmeter is still learning the job, he is good at it.Jennifer Nichols Wilkinson has worked as a choreographer on four plays Parmeter directed and one in which he was the assistant director."He's very easy to work with," Wilkinson said. "He gives you expectations, and then he kind of lets you go.""It's not the director's job to tell everybody what to do," Parmeter said.But if he doesn't like something, he's still completely honest with you, Wilkinson said."At the end of the day, it really is my job to edit the piece," Parmeter said.Greg and Mandy don't feel any need to move on either."It's such a transient world," Parmeter said of theater.But, he maintains, as long as he is enjoying his job and finding artistic fulfillment, "There's no reason for going to another place."Plus, he gets a bit more freedom than he might if he worked in a larger venue.He might be able to make more money elsewhere, but here he gets a say in picking the pieces he directs."That's worth a lot of money right there," he said.So while his career hasn't gone quite the way he planned, Parmeter is happy where he is."Community Theater," he said, "can be pretty damn fantastic."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, Wis.) 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