Former Denver actor Rhonda Brown gave Todd Webster and his wife a large box of chocolates for Valentine's Day this year. The card read, “Thank you for saving my life.”
That's what Todd was all about, Brown said this week: “He always saved the day.”
It was a pandemic. Brown was going through a tough time. She had just moved back to Denver and was looking to start over with her dog, Lola. I had school on weekdays. Weekends were spent hanging out and watching soccer with Webster, his wife Miriam, and his best friend Ed Cord.
“I was at the lowest point in my life,” said the isolated Brown. “Todd and Ed left me a voice message that said, 'You can keep blowing us away, but we're not going to blow you away. We'd appreciate it if you could call us back.' ”
She called back. she went there. She found her family.
“I was welcomed into that circle and saved,” she said.
That's the Todd Webster that most people in the Colorado theater community know.
In the late 1990s, Webster was taken in by an adjunct professor at the University of Denver who had just founded the Curious Theater Company. For the next 25 years, Chip Walton says, Webster gave his 100 percent.
“We always joked that Todd arrived 30 seconds late to the Curious establishment,” Walton said Saturday. “Over the years, Todd has literally contributed to Curious's growth and success in almost every way – as an artist, as a member of the company, as a staff member, and as a steadfast champion of our work. He has always been… He was competitive no matter what.
“I think it would be hard to find anyone who has contributed more to Curious over the last few decades than Todd. He has been such a central figure in everything we accomplished together.”
This week, the Curious family, and by extension the entire local theater community, was shocked by the news that Webster passed away on May 5 from sudden complications from sepsis. He was 46 years old.
Webster was born October 5, 1977 in Albuquerque to Tim and Debbie Webster. He moved to Colorado in his 1996 and studied theater at DU. Webster has a sister, Alison Webster, and dedicated a chair on the balcony of Curious's Acoma Center home to his grandmother, Helen King.
However, his Facebook family page also mentions his brother, Ed Cord. Not by blood. By board. They also played brothers in the 2005 world premiere of “The Dead Guy” by Curious. According to Cord, there they became true lifelong brothers. This bond was made public and permanent by Webster's heartfelt declaration on his Facebook.
Funny thing is, it was all an idea in code.
“Yeah, I was on a camping trip and I was drinking, and he made me turn into his brother on Facebook,” Cord said with a laugh. “It may have come as a surprise to his real family.”
In the early days of Curious, Webster served as an actor, corporate cameraman, marketing director, and everything in between, including more recently assisting with real estate design. These are all different things that actors hold in their hands as the play progresses. In 2005, Webster received a Denver Post Ovation Award for co-producing the accompaniment video for “The Dead Guy.”
As an actor, Webster's most notable roles in Curious included “Praying for Rain,'' “The Rest of the Night,'' “Fuddy Mears,'' and “Dead Guy.'' In 2004, he took part in a thrilling stage experiment called “columbinus”. This was a powerful collaboration with the visiting Washington DC-based American Theater Project, which explored both the Columbine High School massacre five years earlier and the pervasive mindset of disaffected teenagers. In just one week, Webster and his castmates memorized the entire first act and performed it perfectly.
However, Webster also appeared with other prominent local theater companies such as Germinal Stage Denver, The Avenue, Firehouse, and Paragon Theater, and appeared in Jez Butterworth's violent black British comedy; She took on perhaps her biggest acting challenge in the role of Baby, a deeply disturbed and sexually abused victim. “Mojo”
“I remember how effectively he played this playfully menacing villain and feeling like anything could happen,” said Garrett Glass, another brother on the board. Especially since the role was so far removed from Webster's true nature.
“It was impossible to let my guard down around Todd because he made things so easy for me,” Glass said. “I didn't have to impress him at all. Todd wasn't the kind of guy you became friends with over time. From the moment you met him, you joined the club right away. That's from Todd. It was T.
Cord and Webster co-starred in the Firehouse Theater Company's farce Red Herring in 2007. It was such an amazing experience that four members of that ensemble started their own theater company, his Uncorked Productions. “We all just wanted to continue working together,” Cord said.
They bowed out in 2008 in Patrick Marber's two-couple romantic drama “Closer.” That was Uncorked's first and only work. And the last time Webster performed on stage. He then focused on real-world responsibilities, specializing in marketing and design for various companies, including a performing arts center.
In 2017, Webster married Miriam Raina Webster, effectively creating a family unit with their children (two small mongrel dogs named Charlie and Bobby). They called them “Oodles”. A large poodle that looks like a living stuffed animal.
“He was very happy with Miriam,” Ms. Cord said. “She was definitely the love of his life.”
If there's one short anecdote that can sum up life, it's this one about Webster.
Brown was preparing to go on stage with Curious for a play called “End Days” in 2008, when nature took its course.
“Even though it was curtain time, there were no women's products of any kind in the building,” Brown said with a laugh. “Nobody had any idea what to do except Todd.”
Without hesitation, Mr. Webster began running toward a convenience store near Broadway. “And when he was leaving, I yelled to him in the parking lot, 'Remember, Todd: They have to be super-plus!'
Webster returned within four minutes and the show continued quickly, she said. We both laughed about it for years.
“Todd teased me by saying, 'Ronda won all the awards, but I saved the day!'” Brown said.
And that's exactly what he did.
The news of Webster's death spreading this week shows that “people who haven't seen him in 20 years are completely devastated,” Glass said.
They speak of his honesty, reliability, generosity, kindness and patience. “His crazy personality just lights up the world,” said Cord.
That Webster was an actual member of Denver's actual Optimist Club probably says it all.
But, like many people, continued struggles with alcohol and smoking were also part of Webster's story, and both undoubtedly played a role in his death. As a result, his friends are wondering what meaning to give to his shortened life.
“When someone dies like this, I think the message should be, 'Let's focus on what's important in life rather than a bunch of (bleeps),'” Coad said. “Because life is tenuous.
“I think we should all focus on how Todd cared for others and how much he enjoyed his life. If Todd could speak for himself, he would inspire all of us. would say, “Hey, just be nice to people, just be nice.”
Walton retired from Curious Theater a year ago. What he misses most now, he said, is that “Todd was a friend like no other to me.” He was always available for anything I needed.
“And to be honest, I'm still trying to imagine my world without him.”
A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday (May 15) at Fairmount Funeral Home, 430 S. Quebec St., followed by a reception. A gofundme has been started to help the family with medical and burial costs. Memorial donations to Curious Theater's Emergency Financial Recovery Campaign may also be made at curioustheatre.org/fundthefuture.