There are two major influences on Dave Landis’ career that have shaped his 35 years in Memphis theater. Those luminaries are Harold Pinter and Kermit the Frog.
If you know him as many area theatergoers do, you won’t be a bit surprised to hear this, and you’ll be delighted to know that he will receive the 2026 Eugart Yerian Award for Lifetime Achievement at the annual Memphis Ostranders awards show in August.
As the Associate Director with Playhouse on the Square (POTS), Landis deals with an array of artistic duties from helping out directors hired for various productions, to getting new associate resident company performers situated, to handling subscriptions. But what he’s most known for is acting and directing, in about equal measure.
“I don’t have an exact count, but I think I’ve directed around 95 shows and I’ve been in at least 90 shows,” he said. “So we’re approaching 200 shows, which is mind boggling to me.”
That’s a lot of playbills, but it’s also to be expected considering how well established he’s become in his niche. It started at age 14 in community theater in Des Moines, Iowa, where he worked with props and got to know the ins and outs of stagecraft.
He got his BFA in theater at Drake University in Des Moines and then went to the University of Texas at Austin for his master’s. He was hankering to be a director in grad school and likes to crack wise about that: “I always tell people I wasn’t smart enough to be a director, but I was dumb enough to be an actor.”
But he got choice roles in those three years in Austin and had the opportunity to audition for Jackie Nichols at POTS, which led to an offer of an internship.
Was Landis enthusiastic? Well, he came straight to Memphis and didn’t even attend his own graduation in Texas. He got to know artistic director Ken Zimmerman, one of POTS’ most prolific directors, right away and was immediately offered a role in Pinter’s The Birthday Party. Could it have been destiny? Because Landis’ thesis show in grad school was Pinter’s Old Times.
Connecting the old institution with the new was a delicious bit of serendipity, but what really impressed Landis about Playhouse was well beyond a coincidence. “Here’s this theater in Memphis doing Harold Pinter and doing Nunsense at the same time and I was not accustomed to that,” Landis said. “What drew me to Playhouse was the eclectic seasons that Jackie and Ken were putting together and continued for many, many years.”
Landis continued after his internship as a company member, a tenure interrupted for a couple of years by health issues. But when he was able to return, the opportunities just kept coming.
Jim Ostrander, the legendary local actor for whom the Ostrander awards are named, was having to deal with the cancer that would eventually take his life. It was particularly cruel for this performer who was singularly devoted to the stage, but who always gave his all. He was scheduled to portray Atticus Finch in a production of To Kill a Mockingbird, but was unable to voice it.
It was Landis who was called on to take the role. “But the beautiful part of that was that Jim actually was able to be in the show as Boo Radley,” he said. Ostrander was going to stay on the boards as long as he could, an inspiration to all. He died at age 53 in 2002.
Landis was also beginning to accumulate directing gigs. Zimmerman had decided to move on from POTS and Landis was there to pick up more helming jobs. He’s done them in all categories, from intimate plays to grand musicals, and has picked up multiple Ostrander awards for his efforts. He’s done singular productions as well as repeats, such a Captain Hook in Peter Pan, and performing in the Smoke on the Mountain/Sanders Family Christmas musicals.
There are memorable performances he loves to mention. “It was a privilege to do Amadeus, playing Salieri opposite John Maness’ Mozart and Courtney Oliver’s Constanze Mozart. It was one of those collaborative experiences, especially for the three of us, that was just magical. And there was the first Ragtime in 2003, which was a collaboration with Jay Rapp. You’d like to think that that happens with every single show you ever work on. It does not. But when it does, it’s just breathtaking.”
The production of Hair, which also was a collaboration with Jay, and with Carla McDonald was our music director was profound. “We were in rehearsals when 9/11 happened. We were supposed to meet that night, and we decided we would at least gather. We wound up singing one song before we left, but we just basically let everybody share because there were people in that room who had people in New York and were not able to reach them because it hadn’t even been 24 hours. That experience bonded the hell out of that cast.”
For Landis, the theater is the very expression of life. “I love storytelling and it’s one of the things I’ve always loved about doing theater. I love the community aspect of it. I am not a one man show. I believe in collaboration. I strongly advocate for that and I always say a little prayer, especially the show that I’m in performing is like, just let us touch one person out there, get them to think a little differently or maybe if they’re having a bad day that we lighten their spirit or something.”
It’s important to him, “because we’re the storytellers, and because I was in those darkened audiences for a great deal of time before I actually got into acting.”
Landis has gained deep respect of the theater community and that is a reflection of the respect he has for the art and the people who do it. “It all really comes down for me the experience of being in the rehearsal room with those people, collaborating with those people. My goal in directing is making sure that I am that supportive person to help them foster and grow within the rehearsal process, making their own discoveries. I’m not one of those directors that while I always like to think I have a vision, there is enough give and take that vision can shift depending once again, either on the universe or on what they bring to the table.”
And what about Kermit the Frog? A performer once brought a Kermit doll to rehearsal and, Landis said, “It became a thing that I’d ask if Kermit could sit with me at the director’s table. I firmly believe Kermit’s presence helped to keep the rehearsal room a little bit lighter during the creation of a rather dark story.” Kermit kept showing up at rehearsals and has been part of the collaborative team at most of Landis’ director’s tables since 2018. “He’s even snuck onto a few sets for some occasional performances every now and then.”
