After 28 years, the longest running show at The Theatre Arts Guild has closed. Matrimonial Magic โ The Real Wedding of Esther Green & Bill VanGorder opened at TAG on June 6, 1998. Bill VanGorder, who played The Groom, passed away on September 6, 2026.
Without one of the principal characters, this show cannot go on. But other shows will, as Esther, who played The Bride, will continue to work in the theatre she calls home.
Almost 35 Years as a TAG Volunteer
Bill was a fixture at TAG for nearly 35 years. He served in almost all the positions on the Board, directed (his first love) ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด, ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ, ๐๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด, ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐๐ต๐ข๐ณ, ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ & ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ, and ๐ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต.
He was also an actor in ๐๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ & ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ, and ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง…๐๐ป?
Bill produced numerous productions and loved the technical side of theatre. He was an accomplished lighting and sound designer.
Bill VanGorder will be greatly missed by all of us here at TAG. Every player has their exit, but some leave an indelible mark upon the stage. You can view Bill VanGorder’s obituary here.
