Update: The memorial service for Murray Ross will be at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Gallogly Events Center.
It is with great sadness that I share the loss of a pillar of our campus community.
Murray Ross, 74, founder and artistic director, Theatreworks, died Jan. 3, 2017, following a short illness. A campus memorial service is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater in University Hall.
Murray joined UCCS in 1975 and is considered the founder of Theatreworks, the professional theater based at the university, as well as the academic theater program. He produced classic and contemporary plays in classrooms, buses, warehouses, basements and the Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater. Among his credits are directing, adapting and creating more than 100 works for the stage including the original scripts “Monkey Business,” “The Last Night of Don Juan,” “The Lady of Camellias,” “Dar-al-Harb” and “I Am Nikola Tesla.”
He also wrote stage adaptations of classics such as “Huckleberry Finn” and “A Christmas Carol.” His most recent adaption of “A Christmas Carol” was successfully staged this December. His first love and greatest passion was always Shakespeare, and his 1984 production of “The Comedy of Errors” in a circus tent started a tradition of outdoor summer productions that continues to anchor the Theatreworks season today. In 1988, noted scholar Stephen Booth wrote in Shakespeare Quarterly that Murray’s summer production was “The Best Othello I Ever Saw.”
Theatreworks received a Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1994, a Henary Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 2013 as well as numerous local accolades. The program celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2015, the same year UCCS marked the 50th anniversary of its founding. Murray directed four plays in 2016, and during his recent days in the hospital Murray was making active preparations for his next production.
In addition to his work with Theatreworks, Murray was a respected teacher and scholar. He taught theater as well as English literature. Murray and his wife, Betty, were fixtures of the Colorado Springs arts community. They were ardent supporters of the arts and the development of the under construction $70 million UCCS Ent Center for the Arts which contains a space named in their honor.
Murray worked with thousands of students, artists, actors and staff and left an impression on each. He was funny, smart, a bit of an anarchist and a great lover of life. Adventures, storytelling and spirited debate filled his life.
Murray earned a bachelor’s degree from Williams College, a master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and also pursued doctoral studies at UC Berkeley, where he began directing. He served in the National Guard from 1963-1969, and taught and directed at the University of Rochester before joining UCCS.
Survivors include his wife, Betty, his sisters Susanna, Christina and Kit, and his sons Felix, James, Orion and Matthew.
Please join me in offering condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Murray Ross. Notes may be sent to the family in care of the Office of the Chancellor, 401 Main Hall. At the request of the family, donations can be made to the Murray Ross Artists Endowment Fund with the CU Foundation. To donate, click here.
Respectfully,
Pam Shockley-Zalabak, Chancellor
May Murray rest in Peace. We both joinged the UCCS Faculty during 1975 and shared office space in the little house on the hill behind the campus. Murray was a free spirit who was always open of a “heated discussion” on everything from politics to world events. Our discussions were always entertaining and then when we both moved into Dwire Hall, as Dean of the Business College, I would ZAgain share space with him and his many Theaterworks productions. His was a life well done. Respectfully, Bob