Scott Campbell is just where he belongs at Mickee Faust Club

Marina Brown – Special to the Tallahassee Democrat

The Mickee Faust Club, where gender is not exclusive, whacky skits are the norm, where musicals and Shakespeare live together — this is Scott Campbell’s “home.” In a lifetime, not everybody finds their “tribe” — that place of acceptance, camaraderie, where one can be his authentic self. But with your “tribe’s” support, you may step into arenas you would have never dared go alone. And when that happens, you may even come out singing!

That seems to be the life-arc of a man named Scott Campbell. Campbell will celebrate his 50th birthday in a few days. He is a normal looking fellow, born in Portland, but after third grade, a Floridian through and through.“I graduated from Florida State with a Computer Science major,” he says. Currently, he works as an IT developer at the Apalachee Center.

Chatting with Campbell at the Black Dog on Lake Ella, he seems the archetype of the “IT guy,” quiet, certainly articulate, precise, and in his buttoned-down checked shirt, discreetly blending into the slow-motion activity of the café. You don’t immediately visualize this Scott Campbell wearing make-up and perhaps a glossy wig. But he has. And he will. And much, much more as one of the integral members of Tallahassee’s longest-lived theatrical entities, The Mickee Faust Club.

The Mickee Faust complex of adjoining theater spaces is located in the Railroad Square Art District. The Schnittman Theatre, a black-box-like area, is attached to the Faust Theatre, which holds nearly 70 people and opens to a fenced yard where refreshments are sometimes served and into which actors and action frequently spill. What happens on the stages of Mickee Faust may range from the radical, silly, naughty, and very, very tongue-in-cheek to serious plays that Scott Campbell calls, “cerebral and moving.”

Terry Galloway, the company’s founder and prime mover, is its artistic heart, says Campbell. “But everybody has the opportunity to write skits, perform in musicals and straight plays, and even direct.” Campbell has flourished in Faust’s encouragement of chance-taking over his 22 years in its theatrical world. But “pounding-the-boards” was certainly not at the top of Campbell’s youthful priorities. “Yes, I was actually in a high school play or two, but I certainly didn’t take it seriously.” Learning lines may have been one thing, but having to sing and dance — that was not yet a contemplation.

Still, there had been something tempting about the theater that had hovered in the back of his mind across the years. And when he was 28 years old and a friend suggested Campbell “read” at the Mickee Faust Theatre, he willingly cleared his throat and accepted the challenge. “There are no real auditions,” says Campbell, who now knows the process well. “You read, and the writers and directors will help find a place for you to perform.” Corresponding with Faust’s Ethic of Accommodation, people with disabilities, seniors, and those of lower economic circumstances are all welcome.

And Campbell found his own place. “I was nervous at first. But the company around me was so supportive, there was so much laughter, so much acceptance of whoever you were… that I loved it.” His first role was in a political skit where he played the part of then-mayor, Scott Maddox. “I played him like a demented 5-year-old,” confides Campbell with a smile.

As time went on, Campbell began to experiment with other theatrical opportunities. He began to write skits — one about Fox TV auditioning animals for their “Animals Attack” show, and another about parents competing to give their kids the most vitamins. Later he began to direct as well as act. Sometimes he even dances and sings duets and solos. “The safety net is so wide and strong here,” he notes, “chance-taking is just normal.”

Within the theatrical community that is Mickee Faust, the question of gender-selection doesn’t really come up. Sometimes, there are men on stage wearing female wigs as part of the comedy, and visa versa. New regulations have, however, made for changes. “Now we must card everyone at the door to make sure they are 18 or older.” If an actor, who is in an alternate-gender costume on one side of the theater needs to move to the other side off-stage, say a man in a female wig — Faust has decided they all must use a special discreet entrance. Yet Campbell says he refuses to let the fun be taken from Mickee Faust’s skits and send-ups. Monty Python is still funny, he points out.

During June’s Pride Month, the company will celebrate its 16th year of Summer Cabaret performances. This time, “Queer As Faust Sweet 16: License to Drive You Queer” will bring on the fun. And Scott Campbell has taken advantage of every theater opportunity he could find. He will be a writer, actor, and director in half of the 15 sketches in which themes of queer life are turned into skits and songs. “No one is relegated to one thing,” he smiles. “Everybody helps everyone else here.”

With what seems a sigh of pride, Campbell calculates that he has been in nearly 200 of Mickee Faust’s skits and major productions. And he nods that he has indeed found his “tribe.”

“There’s no doubt that Faust is my social group and so much more. This is a place you can do and try new things—a place where any shame gets burnt away. A place where you can grow and where you can flourish!”

Learn more about Queer as Faust Sweet 16 Cabaret.

Read the entire article in the Tallahassee Democrat.