In room 221 of the Wolfe Center for the Arts at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), the walls are adorned by posters of a multitude of theater productions and Playbills.
Books and binders line the shelves surrounding the desk of someone clearly sentimental if a little scatterbrained; A creative thinker and proud cat owner with an affinity for theater and baseball.
The occupant of that office is one James Stover, a seasoned BGSU theater professor who bridges the worlds of professional acting, directing and writing to life on campus.
With decades of experience as an actor, director, writer and producer, James Stover has navigated a career in some of the country’s large cities – including New York City (NYC) – before he arrived at the hallowed halls of BGSU.
Stover, a sandy-haired bespectacled man, was born and raised in Ashtabula, a small manufacturing city in the northeast corner of Ohio on Lake Erie. Stover enjoys all things baseball (particularly the Cleveland Guardians), spending time with family and maintaining a strong network from his various theater connections through the years.
He credits his initial involvement in theater to his local barber, a man called Chris who Stover stated was an influential figure in his life.
“When I was 14, I started doing theater because my barber was involved in it and I’d seen a couple of productions at the local theater, one of which he was in. He was producing and directing a production of ‘Godspell,’ the musical, at a church,” Stover said.
Stover spent his adolescent summers watching and performing in productions at the same local theater he watched Chris in – the Ashtabula Arts Center.
After attending high school, Stover attended Otterbein College (now Otterbein University) in Westerville, Ohio. Stover noted that at the time of his attendance, Otterbein was known for its strong and competitive musical theater program.
“They had, at the time, a nationally ranked musical theater program, which I was lucky to get into. I had spent some time working at a theater in Utah as an apprentice. And then I got hired to go back there as a young actor to do a couple shows. Basically, there was like two years where I was either living in Columbus, living in Utah or I was on a Children’s Theatre tour,” Stover said.
Then, Stover did what many young theater professional hopefuls dream of – moving to NYC. Stover moved to NYC with one of his friends after college to pursue theater, spending six years there participating in theater and accomplishing a list of personal and professional goals.
“Then I moved to Philadelphia and spent a couple of years acting and directing there,” Stover said.
When asked what some of the most exciting things are that he’s experienced throughout his career, Stover spoke of career highlights, favorite projects and a surprising connection to a Marvel superhero.
Stover was in a play called “The Eclectic Society” at the historic Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Though this was his second play there, he was particularly proud to be in ‘The Eclectic Society’ because of one very special audience member: his grandmother, a seasoned subscriber for the theater.
From that play, there were many people who Stover said have gone on to become famous.
“The guy who played my best friend in the play became a top ranked UFC fighter and is now a commentator for MMA, UFC stuff. His name is Paul Felder,” Stover said.
Stover has met many other celebrities through his involvement with projects throughout the years, such as “The 24-Hour Plays” benefit on Broadway.
“The first time I did it, there’s a guy named Anthony Mackie, who’s now Captain America. I just went up to him and was like, ‘Hey Anthony, I’m James, one of the assistant directors. My friend and classmate was just in a film that I saw with you that you were great in,’” Stover said. “…he became my pal. I’m walking up to a party at this big fancy club after the performance, and Anthony Mackie walks up and is like ‘Hey James!’ and gives me a hug.”
Another year, “Lord of the Rings” star Elijah Wood was in Stover’s piece.
“So he and I were, the whole day, just like, hanging out,” Stover said.
One of Stover’s career goals was to be on an episode of “Law and Order,” as he was a big fan of the show and of the actor Jesse L. Martin while growing up.
“Being on the set of ‘Law and Order’ and having a scene with Jesse L. Martin was surreal for me. He was in the original production of ‘Rent,’ which was my whole world,” Stover said. “Being on the ‘Law and Order’ set with Jesse Martin only three feet away from me, about to perform a scene together was just one of those things that as a kid I said, ‘I want to get to do that,’ and I got to do it.”
Stover has written several original short plays, a short film called ‘Teacher Fight,’ and a full-length play called “Wilkes” about John Wilkes Booth’s best friend.
‘Wilkes’ was published in 2020 by Eldridge Plays and a monologue from it was included in Smith & Kraus’ ‘Best Men’s Monologues 2021.
“That’s probably the thing I’m most proud of. I spent a lot of time working on it when I lived in Philadelphia, and there was a lot of people helping with it, helping to develop it,” Stover said.
It was while living in Philadelphia when Stover found out that Chris, his hometown barber that inspired him to take on this career path, had passed away.
“I called the people who ran the theater in the Ashtabula Arts Center, and I said, ‘Can I do a production of ‘Godspell’ as a tribute to Chris? And they said yes,” Stover said. Then, when I directed that show, I worked with a bunch of college students, and I said, ‘I should go back to school and become a college professor.’ That was the moment where I was like, ‘Oh yeah, this is what I’m supposed to be doing.’”
Stover decided to enroll in the Theater Performance Pedagogy MFA program at Virginia Commonwealth University – a program he said was specifically for people who worked in the industry who wanted to transition into teaching college.
After making that transition, Stover taught at Purdue University Fort Wayne and The University of Toledo before coming to BGSU, according to his bio on the Department of Theatre & Film webpage.
Senior musical theater student Grace Whetstone described Stover as a dedicated and creative professor and recounted his arrival to BGSU.
“He is professional while also not afraid to have fun in class. [Stover] arrived my sophomore year, and he started off with a bang by helping out with voice studios and teaching classes, including Acting Principles,” Whetstone said. “He made everyone feel welcomed and held thoughtful conversations with students and gives great insight and advice, especially to me, when figuring out what to do after graduation and how to navigate the industry.”
Third-year musical theatre and public relations student Alejandro Alvarez said that Stover is a caring and dedicated professor who cares deeply about the professional and personal growth of his students.
Alvarez also emphasized the environment of classes with Stover at the helm.
“Being in James’ class is being ready to grow as an actor and being ready to experience things that you may not understand as an actor. He’s very optimistic about every student and their ability and always willing to work with everyone no matter who they are, their background, their work ethic,” Alvarez said. “He makes you feel like you’re important and wants you to grow in theater, so he talks about the hard conversations that no one else wants to talk about.”
Stover acknowledged that theater artists do not always get to decide what show to do, but that he loves to champion projects that are socially relevant.
“I loved doing ‘Yank!’ which is a musical about a squad of guys in World War II and the two of them are in a gay relationship. At the time, when I was first in it, ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ was still the law, and so it created a lot of really good conversations,” Stover said.
“I directed a play called ‘The Amish Project’ in Philadelphia, and right before we started rehearsing for the second run, the shooting in Sandy Hook happened. [The play] is about a shooting at an Amish schoolhouse, and so it was just very prescient, but some people said, ‘Maybe you shouldn’t be doing this right now.’ And I was like, ‘Well, no, we need to have this conversation,’” Stover said.
Stover is drawn to shows with culturally or socially significant themes because he says they resonate and prompt people to have conversations about real-world issues.
“People are going to walk out of this play and talk about these issues. People are going to walk out of the ‘Amish Project’ and talk about gun legislation. And people are going to come out of ‘Yank!’ and talk about LGBTQ+ rights. That’s the kind of thing, it doesn’t always happen, you know what I mean? Not every play that you get to do can create those conversations, but I’ve always looked for those opportunities,” Stover said.
Stover has directed numerous productions including a show called “Million Dollar Quartet” about a night Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash spent together, and, notably, BGSU’s production of “Heathers: The Musical” last Spring.
“If I’m going to spend a long period of time working on something, hopefully it’s something that addresses social issues. I mean, yes, I like to go to the theater and have fun and I like to be in shows that are fun. And so, if you could do that sometimes, but also find your way to projects like ‘Yank!’ and ‘The Amish Project,’ it makes you feel like you’re really doing something as opposed to just putting on a show or being an entertainer,” Stover said.
He said that that is one of the reasons he enjoyed directing “Heathers” at BGSU.
“With ‘Heathers,’ there’s all these social issues happening on this campus that this play is addressing,” Stover said.
Whetstone played the role of Ms. Fleming in “Heathers” and spoke to what it was like to be a part of a Stover production:
“As a director, I would say [Stover] definitely runs things like the real world and the theater industry outside of Ohio,” Whetstone said. “I had a pleasant experience with the production. Although I played that character before, [Stover] helped me navigate a new objective for the role and helped me make Ms. Fleming the best she could be.”
Alvarez, who was also in the cast of “Heathers,” corroborated this sentiment about Stover.
“He runs things very professionally. He’ll be like, ‘This is what we have to do,’ but within the context of you being who you are,” Alvarez said. “He’s going to let you shine in theater the way you’re meant to shine. And he’s very caring, but he definitely does push everyone to be the best version that they can be.”
Stover’s next directorial endeavor is “The Legend of Georgia McBride,” a musical about drag queens.
“I’m really excited about ‘The Legend of Georgia McBride’ coming up. I get to learn about drag performance, a culture that I’m not directly a part of, but can become versed in, and then share that with the campus,” Stover said. “I just really wanted to do some kind of LGBTQ+ play, and one of my colleagues recommended this, and it’s just a beautiful play.”
