Lupfer has been described as a commonsensical voice of reason and a vigilant keeper of history and tradition.
Illustration by Chris "Honeysuckle" Ellis.
Bright, funny, kind, patient, and a perfect gentleman. This is a small but representative sample of descriptive language used to describe Dr. Michael Lupfer. He was a teacher, a world traveler, a family man, a theater lover, a friend to many, a past chair of the psychology department at the University of Memphis, a sometimes scoutmaster, and a paragon of local leadership and volunteerism. Lupfer, who led a busy life, died peacefully at home in October last year. He was 81 years old, and those whose lives he touched aren’t shy about professing love or enumerating the finest of many fine qualities.
“Neither of us were any gift to the art of dance,” recalls friend and cast-mate Marler Stone, highlighting one notable and shared character deficiency. In 1978, the choreographically challenged Stone and Lupfer were both cast in a musical review at Theatre Memphis. Ambitiously titled The Decline and Fall of the Entire World as Seen Through the Eyes of Cole Porter, it pitted the considerable talents of a small local cast against a challenging collection of Porter’s lesser-known masterpieces.
“I strived all week as did Mike, but he had the great advantage of his tap-dancing wife, the wonderful Shirley Lupfer,” Stone says, promising that both men rehearsed their hearts out, working as diligently on their steps “as any two guys with [two] left feet could.” But for all of their efforts to improve, when it came time to stage the show’s big tap number, Theatre Memphis’ storied artistic director, Sherwood Lohrey, placed Stone and Lupfer as far upstage as possible, with their feet behind a platform where they could not and would not be seen by the audience. Stone describes Lohrey’s decision as being “good for the dance world,” but hard on the ego for both performers.
Raised in Alabama, Lupfer made a home in Memphis, where he graduated from Rhodes College in 1959 with a B.A. in Psychology. After a Ph.D. sojourn at the University of Miami, he joined Memphis State’s psychology department, where he remained active for the next 47 years. Interest in ethics and perception led Lupfer to study the psychology of religion; interest in Stephen Sondheim musicals led him to Theatre Memphis where he appeared in A Little Night Music by Sondheim, Company by Sondheim, Side by Side by Sondheim, and even a few comedies and musicals by artists other than Sondheim.
As a past board president for Theatre Memphis, Lupfer has been described as a commonsensical voice of reason, and as a vigilant keeper of history and tradition. “When I first arrived at Theatre Memphis almost 15 years ago, Mike was the first to offer his assistance,” says Debbie Litch, Theatre Memphis executive producer, who describes him as passionate, knowledgeable, generous, and “one of the most detailed individuals” she’d ever met.
“This was extremely helpful to know so that decisions could be made about the future,” says Litch, who joined Theatre Memphis in 2004 and guided the East Memphis playhouse back to stability following a brief but consequential period of decline at the turn of the last century. “Mike Lupfer was an extraordinary Renaissance gentleman, and he is already missed more than words can express.”
From its very first year of existence (1984), Lupfer was a judge for the Ostrander Awards, co-sponsored by Memphis magazine and ArtsMemphis. The Ostranders honor the best of Memphis theater, and Billy Pullen, another long-serving judge, remembers Lupfer’s “uncanny sense of integrity,” adding that “Michael was on the forefront of supporting new, original work.” He also served on the executive committee of TheatreWorks, where so many new plays originating in Memphis are born, and where so many young directors and performers hone their craft.
The best teachers don’t always know when they’re doing their best teaching. Dabney Ring grew up down the street. “Mr. Lupfer and I would just sit on his front porch for hours,” he says, “and he would spend time talking to me about current events, politics, and all kinds of subjects.” Today, Ring works as an intergovernmental coordinator for the City of Memphis. “His patience and teaching moments — while not on specific subjects — have stuck with me for all of this time.”
Florence Foster Jenkins, a flamboyant performer of the early twentieth century still famous for having been the world’s worst opera singer, was at least a little self-aware. “People may say I can’t sing,” she is alleged to have said, “but no one can ever say I didn’t sing.” The same principle applies to Mike Lupfer, who accomplished so much in life, but still managed to spend at least a little time kicking his heels just outside the spotlight. So what if nobody ever claims the man could dance? Not a soul alive can ever say he didn’t.
Theatre Memphis will host a memorial event for Michael Lupfer on Saturday, January 19th, at 3 p.m. His family has requested donations to Theatre Memphis, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Planned Parenthood, Rhodes College, MIFA, or a charity of your choice.)
