Lawrence Haworth comes from a long line of Gilbert & Sullivan performers. His grandfather played Ko-ko in 1922. Laurie played Pish Tush in a 1946 high school production of The Mikado. He also played Ko-ko in Sudbury's 1962 production. I asked Laurie what his favorite Gilbert and Sullivan production is, and as you may guess, he said The Mikado.

Laurie Haworth devoted 20 years to the Savoyards, starting in 1961 by playing a juryman in Trial by Jury. That year, as can often happen, he almost ended up singing the part of Edwin due to the lead developing laryngitis. The next year, he did get a lead as Ko-ko.

By 1967 he was ready to take on the Director of Dramatics position, which he did for the next seven years. Where can you go from there? Well, Laurie found more things to volunteer for. In 1974 he produced and did the set design for Trial by Jury and HMS Pinafore. He tackled Set Designer, set construction, chorus, more stage director, more set design, and, in 1979, he did them all! Somebody should have given him the t-shirt that says "Stop me Before I Volunteer Again!"

In 1980, Laurie's job with Raytheon moved him to Rhode Island, so he commuted up to Sudbury for the 1981 production of The Pirates of Penzance. Unfortunately, that was his last year with the Savoyards. Laurie was also involved during many of these years with the Sudbury Players, some years acting as their President. His brother, Robert, was also involved with them. Laurie's first wife, Marge, and his second wife, Carolyn, were also part of the Savoyards.

Laurie was transferred to Florida to run Patriot Programs in Orlando. He took early retirement, and still lives in Florida with his wife, Patty Worthington, who is also involved in theater. Patty is an actress and a member of SAG. Laurie is doing some choral singing and is on the board of the Orlando Opera Guild. When we spoke, he was very pleased to hear how thriving the Savoyards are, how profitable we are, and that we are still an entirely volunteer organization. However, he told me that after 40 years of never getting paid for his involvement in theater, he finally got his first paying job! He was in the chorus of the Orlando production of The Flying Dutchman and performed 6 shows in two weeks.

Laurie regrets not being able to be here, but sends his best wishes to everyone and hopes to travel up next year to see "Pirates."

Donna Roessler 2003