December 20, 2017 The Skanner Page 9
cont’d from pg 7
I thought it was spiders
in my ears, but I would
just deal with it. It’s been
tough, but acting is what
I do here on Earth. I am
not going to sit around
and wait for death. I am
having as much fun as
possible.”
Thomas was slated
to perform the roles of
Capulet and Ensemble in
2018’s Romeo and Juliet,
and was to take part in
his third Black Swan Lab
— OSF’s primary play de-
velopment incubator.
  Thomas also worked
at A Contemporary The-
atre (ACT) in San Fran-
cisco, Seattle Children’s
Theatre, Bathhouse The-
atre, Seattle Group The-
atre, Empty Space The-
atre and Pioneer Square
Theatre, and served on
the faculty of The Johnny
Carson School of Theatre
and Film at the Universi-
ty of Nebraska, Lincoln.
He is the winner of two
Seattle-based
Gregory
Awards:
Outstanding
Actor in a play (2013) and
Outstanding Supporting
Actor in a play (2016).
In addition to his acting
accomplishments, Thom-
as had a passion for mu-
sic and took part in three
seasons of the OSF Green
Show. In 2014, when he
performed “a musical
look at the influence of
Blues and R&B” on his life
with a group billed as “G.
Val and Friends,” Thom-
as shared these thoughts
in his Green Show biog-
raphy: “Black Americans
brought forth Blues mu-
sic from the experiences
they went through and
were going through. The
music it became had the
strength to hold the en-
tire country on its shoul-
ders.”
Gregory
Valmont
Thomas was born Dec.
15, 1959, in Nuremburg,
Germany; the family
moved a great deal due
to his father’s military
career, and Thomas
spent his teenage years
in Washington state. He
received a bachelor’s
in Theatre Arts from
Western
Washington
University and an MFA
in Directing for the The-
atre from Pennsylvania
State University. He is
survived by his daugh-
ter Aria Thomas; son
Langston Thomas; broth-
er Raymon E. Thomas,
sister-in-law
Deborah
and their child Blair; sis-
ter Bronwyn K. Thomas,
her children Morgan and
Zachary, brother-in-law
Jay and two great neph-
ews. Thomas was pre-
ceded in death by his par-
ents, Henry R. Thomas Jr.
and Kathryn C. Thomas
(nee Hollingsworth).
Founded by Angus
FILM cont’d from pg 6
Bowmer in 1935, the Ore-
gon Shakespeare Festival
(OSF) has grown from a
three-day festival of two
plays to a nationally re-
nowned theatre arts or-
ganization that presents
an eight-month season of
up to 11 plays that include
works by Shakespeare as
well as a mix of classics,
musicals, and world-pre-
miere plays and musi-
cals. OSF’s play com-
missioning
programs,
which include American
Revolutions: the Unit-
ed States History Cycle,
have generated works
that have been produced
on Broadway, through-
out the American region-
al theatre, and in high
schools and community
theatres across the coun-
try. The Festival draws
attendance of more than
400,000 to approximate-
ly 800 performances ev-
ery year and employs ap-
proximately 575 theatre
professionals.
OSF invites and wel-
comes everyone, and
believes the inclusion
of diverse people, ideas,
cultures and traditions
enriches both our in-
sights into the work we
present on stage and our
relationships with each
other. OSF is committed
to equity and diversity in
all areas of our work and
in our audiences.
OSF’s mission state-
ment:
“Inspired
by
Shakespeare’s work and
the cultural richness
of the United States, we
reveal our collective hu-
manity through illumi-
nating interpretations
of new and classic plays,
deepened by the kaleido-
scope of rotating reper-
tory.”
Just in Time for Christmas: Education Law
Requires Easy Access to Report Cards
OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BY PETE SOUZA
Thomas
News
Transparency in Education Improves
Parental Engagement, Experts Say
President Barack Obama hugs students during a visit to a pre-kindergarten classroom at the College
Heights Early Childhood Learning Center in Decatur, Ga., Feb. 14, 2013.
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Contributor
T
he public reporting require-
ments of the Every Student Suc-
ceeds Act (ESSA) offer greater
transparency about school qual-
ity, according to experts and educa-
tion advocates who also predict that
the new law will empower parents
and make them more informed part-
ners in the education process of their
children.
President Barack Obama signed
ESSA into law on December 10, 2015.
“Public reporting is going to be very
important, because state systems,
like what goes into [calculating] let-
ter grades for schools, are incredi-
bly complex,” said Phillip Lovell, the
vice president of policy development
and government relations for the
Alliance for Excellent Education, a
Washington, D.C.-based national ad-
vocacy organization that’s dedicated
to ensuring all students graduate
from high school, ready for success in
college and in the workplace. “States
are aware of and working on how to
communicate information on school
performance clearly.”
Brenna McMahon Parton, the direc-
tor of policy and advocacy for Data
Quality Campaign, one of the nation’s
leading voices on education data
policy and use, said that everyone
deserves information, which is why
ESSA requires that report cards are
easy to understand.
“To date, states haven’t focused on
parent needs and, as a result, report
cards are difficult to find and use,”
said Parton. “As states develop new
report cards, they should be sure that
parents will have a one-stop-shop
that provides information they need
about how students and schools in
their community are performing.”
ESSA reauthorized the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act (ESEA),
See EDUCATION on page 10
‘Roman J. Israel, Esq.’
horns of an ethical dilem-
ma. Should he abandon
his morals to keep a roof
over his head? That is the
question at the center
of Roman J. Israel, Esq.,
a compelling character
portrait written and di-
rected by Oscar-nominee
Dan Gilroy (for Night-
crawler).
The legendary Den-
zel Washington is quite
convincing as well as
moving, here, as a be-
leaguered soul afflicted
with Asperger’s syn-
drome. His powerful
performance might very
well be remembered at
Oscar time, given the
Academy’s recent his-
tory of rewarding thes-
pians playing impaired
characters,
including
Eddie Redmayne (2014)
for Stephen Hawking
(who has ALS); Colin
Firth (2010) for stut-
tering King George VI;
Geoffrey Rush (1996) for
mentally-ill David Helf-
gott; Tom Hanks (1994)
for developmentally dis-
abled Forest Gump; Tom
Hanks (1993) for AIDS
patient Andrew Beckett;
Daniel Day-Lewis (1989)
for Christy Brown, the
celebrated author who
had cerebral palso; and
Dustin Hoffman (1988)
playing an autistic sa-
vant in “Rain Man.”
Win, lose or draw, “Ro-
man J. Israel, Esq.” de-
serves accolades aplenty
in its own right for its
touching treatment of
such a sensitive subject.
Excellent HHHH
Rated PG-13 for violence
and profanity
Running time: 129 min.
To see a trailer for Ro-
man J. Israel, Esq., go to
TheSkanner.com
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