Their Greatest Roles

By VIVIAN LETRAN

June 1, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Laguna Woods couple Lee and John Childress know what it’s like to fall in love. They did twice. The first time with each other. The second time with the theater.

Married for 57 years, the Childresses spent nearly half those years diving in and out of local theaters, looking to spotlight talented teens just to say, “Bravo!”

“We’re big fans really,” said John Childress, 86. The Childresses are the founders and driving force behind the MACYs, the Music and Art Commendation for Youth awards. The program honors high school students and is to them what the Tony Awards are to Broadway--a competition honoring outstanding stage performers.

The couple live and breathe theater. Between them, they know all the lines to all the popular musicals. More than a decade ago, they performed in shows together, including starring roles in “The Music Man” at Saddleback College and “The Ballroom” at Laguna Playhouse.

Each year, they spend four months attending as many as 35 high school productions, mostly in Orange County. They choose a small group of theater professionals to help them judge the performances, offering critiques to students and teachers. Schools pay $100 for the service, a fee that does not completely cover the cost of the trophies and scholarships--the Childresses make up the difference.

They’ve kept that tradition of giving for 30 years.

“We’re really nuts, dear. Really nuts,” said Lee Childress, 83, in a velvety voice and with a sparkle in her eye.

The Childresses spend approximately $10,000 each year to produce the ceremony. On June 4 at the Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton, the MACY Awards will showcase 5 hours of performances from participating high schools. This year’s event is the biggest ever, with a record 379 MACYs to be handed out.

The show will feature a special opening dance in the style of Bob Fosse and musical selections presented by a 50-piece student orchestra after intermission.

“It’s like the Academy Awards for us. I wear a gown and John wears a tux,” Lee Childress said, showing off her closet of sparkling, sequined evening wear. Just like Swifty Lazar at the Oscars, the Childresses have hosted post-MACY parties at their home for students, directors and parents.

MACY honorees often return as special guests at the event. Broadway actor Kevin Odekirk of Irvine won the MACY best supporting actor award for his performance in “No, No Nanette” at Woodbridge High School in 1995. He graduated in 1996 and has returned to perform twice at the MACYs.

“In high school, when you heard that the MACY judges were coming, it always added a bit of excitement and gave extra energy to the performance,” said Odekirk, 23, who now lives in Manhattan and is an understudy for a lead character in “Les Miserables” on Broadway.

Last year, Odekirk drove more than 600 miles from Brigham Young University in Utah to the MACY event in Fullerton for a surprise performance. He sang one of Lee Childress’ favorite tunes, “This Is the Moment” from “Jekyl and Hyde.”

This year he’ll sing “Empty Chairs, Empty Tables” from “Les Miserables.”

He praised the Childresses for encouraging his Broadway dreams.

“The support they give to high school students in the performing arts is invaluable,” Odekirk said. “It helps keep you going. High school theater programs in Southern California would be less without the recognition from the MACY award or the support of the Childresses. I owe them a great deal of gratitude and thanks.”

The MACYs began 30 years ago in Los Angeles, where the Childresses lived. In 1969, Lee Childress urged Mayor Sam Yorty to support the performing arts in high schools. The mayor gave his nod of approval and a year later, Hollywood High School received the first award.

Casting Calls

Lee Childress recalled her high school years in Los Angeles at an all-girls school, where etiquette was a required course. She caught the acting bug because many of her peers were privileged children whose parents worked in the film industry.

With the looks of Lana Turner, young Lee Childress attracted the attention of modeling and movie agents, director Howard Hughes, and executives at 20th Century Fox and MGM Studios.

Lee modeled lipstick and mascara for Maybelline and Revlon. She also worked for the William Morris Agency as a publicist to stay in tune with the stars.

In the 1940s, she landed a role in a movie called “Dancing Ladies” with MGM Studios. Her parents disapproved of her Hollywood dreams and nixed her opportunities to star on the silver screen; she was offered three other movie contracts and turned them all down.

At the time, she was studying psychology and theater at UCLA Extension and dating William Holden before his memorable roles in “Sunset Boulevard” and “Bridge on the River Kwai.”

She first heard of John Childress when Holden auditioned for a new MGM movie titled “Golden Boy” (1939). Also starring Barbara Stanwyck and Lee J. Cobb, the film’s Clifford Odets screenplay centered around a young boxer.

Studio scouts were searching college campuses for a handsome, charismatic male lead. John Childress, a star athlete and quarterback at UCLA, fit the bill but had no acting experience.

“Hollywood seemed beyond the realm of possibility,” John Childress said. “I was never exposed to it.”

He took his chances and auditioned. In the end it came down to Holden and John Childress.

The studio chose Holden, but Lee Childress opted for John and he became the star in her life. The two were formally introduced by a mutual friend at Santa Monica Beach and a romance as big as the Hollywood sign soon blossomed.

“He had a great build, three rows of curly eyelashes, dark black hair and a beautiful voice,” Lee Childress said.

They married in April 1943 and for a time their Hollywood dreams were relegated to the backstage. John Childress worked as a high school football coach and served four years in the Navy during World War II. He returned to coach high school sports and the girls’ drill team.

Lee Childress gave birth to their only child, Cathe, in 1947.

The Childresses were happy with their offstage life, until years later, when they heard the curtain call that brought them back to show business--this time in a supporting role.

Comeback Kids

In the 1960s one of John Childresses students invited him to a high school performance. The musical was “Flower Drum Song,” performed by a student cast with a 50-piece orchestra at Venice High School.

“We weren’t enthusiastic about going at the beginning, but by the end of the show, we were just blown away,” Lee Childress said.

As a coach, John Childress knew that students who received the most attention were athletes with scholarships or kids in trouble. But after seeing “Flower Drum Song,” he wanted to shine the spotlight on his favorite subject.

“We didn’t realize until then how underappreciated the students in the performing arts were and how much hard work they put into a production,” John Childress said.

The Childresses became active theater-goers and supporters. Even after they moved to Orange County in 1977 they continued the tradition they began in LA.

Besides the MACY Awards, the Childresses also offer $500 to $1,000 scholarships to students in need who are interested in the arts.

And although they still pour money, time, energy and love for the arts into their greatest project, the MACYs’ days might be numbered.

Organizing the awards is becoming more difficult each year, said Lee Childress, who suffered congestive heart failure in 1997 attributed in part to the stress of the MACY event.

Still, with what strength she can muster, Lee Childress knows the show must go on.

“We’ve given up holidays, vacations and new cars to honor these kids who give up their social lives to practice, rehearse and put on these productions,” Lee Childress said.

“Sometimes I regret the fact that we’ve given up so much but it’s made a difference to the lives of students who want to go into the arts. We’re all they have,” she said.

BE THERE

The MACY Awards begin at noon Sunday at Plummer Auditorium, 201 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton. Tickets are $5 and are limited; about 30 are available on a first-come basis at the box office. Call (714) 870-3739.

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MACY’s Awards

For 30 years, thousands of high school theater students have received the Music and Art Commendation for Youth award, better known as the MACY. It’s highly coveted among participants in Orange County High School musicals. Here are a brief look at the award:

* A record 379 MACYs will be awarded this year. Each costs approximately $50.

* The MACY tradition began in Los Angeles. Hollywood High School received the first award during the 1970-71 school year.

* Past recipients include Metropolitan Opera soprano Lynette Tapia of San Clemente; Broadway actress Rachel York of San Clemente; and, Broadway actors Eric Kunzel of Vista and Kevin Odekirk of Irvine.

* The MACYs will have a different look this year. Previous trophies stood up to 3 feet tall with marble tiers. College-bound winners said they had to cut the trophies down to size to stow in their travel bags. This year the trophies will be under 2 feet tall.

MACY 2000 participating schools and productions:

Academy for the Performing Arts: “A Chorus Line”

Aliso Niguel High School: “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”

Brea-Olinda High School: “Pirates of Penzance”

Canyon High School: “The Boyfriend”

Capistrano Valley High School: “Into the Woods”

El Dorado High School: “Once Upon a Mattress”

El Toro High School: “Pajama Game”

Esperanza High School: “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”

Estancia High School: “The Wizard of Oz”

Foothill High School: “Nights on Broadway”

Fullerton High School: “Fiddler on the Roof”