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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAM
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Tuesday. November 9. 1993
5
Dusty Workman
STARTED AS A theater usher and spotlight man AND NOW
he wants to be
Wanted: by the Stars
The Topeka senior is designing the life he wants to lead as a part of the entertainment world
Dusty Workman would have died rather than listen to country music two years ago. Put to duty, country music in his blood.
"I would've laughed at the thought of putting on a pair of cowboy boots and a hat," the Topeka senior said. "But now, it's just a part of my life."
During his summer job two years ago, the country music Workman disliked quickly became a central part of his career. In only four weeks, Workman went from an ushering job in Branson, Mo., to working the spotlight on some of the country music industry's top recording stars - Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Clint Black, Vince Gill and others.
It was a week of laid-back life in the Ozarks that hooked Workman on country music.
The neon lights, the country shows, the restaurants and the shops in the Las Vegas-like countrymusic boom town flabbergasted Workman during his 1991 spring break trip. While walking down the famous theater-crammed 76 Country Boulevard, Workman took a particular interest in the "help wanted" signs in the windows of the concert halls.
On a whim, he applied for a summer job at the Willie Nelson Theater.
"I ended up being an usher in the theater, which wasn't exactly glamorous." Workman said.
But, after four weeks of taking tickets, a storybook opportunity came up.
Right before a Willie Nelson performance, word came that the spotlight operator could not make it to the show.
Ten minutes later, with butterflies in his stomach and sweat pouring from his brow, Workman was up in the spotlight booth about ready to get fired.
Or so he thought.
"Ijust took the chance," he said. "They asked me if I had any experience running a spotlight. I said 'sure,' and the next thing I knew I was up there running the spotlight on Willie in front of a whole crowd — without any idea as to what I was doing."
After the show, Workman was promoted to spotlight operator and stagehand.
Workman liked his job because he was right in the middle of the action. He also liked the perks that came with it.
Before long, he was out with Nelson and crew members on a plush, green golf course in Branson, driving, putting and talking with the country music legend.
Nelson characterized Workman as one of the most dependable and qualified crew members he knew during the summer of 1992.
"Dusty has some real initiative and leadership qualities," Nelson said. "I'd recommend him to anyone—but I'd gladly take him back."
Workman said he never would forget those 18 holes of golf.
"Willie was my first real interaction with a star," Workman said. "The one thing I noticed was he someone like you and me. Celebrities don't want to be treated any different than anyone."
Susan McSpadden / KANSAN
So began Workman's introduction to life in the professional entertainment industry.
20 YEARS OF ENTERTAINING
Dusty Workman had no trouble fitting in with Branson's entertainment atmosphere. He already had almost 20 years of experience in entertainment and public relations.
As a child, the blond-haired, blue-eyed neighborhood terror could have been the prototype for Calvin, in Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes cartoon.
Photo courtesy Dusty Workmar
Workman got his first job in the Willie Nelson Theater as an usher but advanced to spotlight operator within a month.
I don't see now my mom and dad put up with me," Workman said. "I mean I had all of this energy, and I never knew what to do with all of it."
Linda Grill, Workman's mother, said their Topeka home was the hub of neighborhood activity.
"I didn't want to limit his creativity in any way," she said. "Our house was open for all kinds of things. We had a haunted house every year until he graduated from high school."
David Uhler, a 21-year-old theater director in Denver, Colo., and a childhood friend of Workman's, said the best years of his life were spent creating magic shows, baseball diamonds and haunted houses with Workman.
"I know I wouldn't be as extroverted as I am if it weren't for Dusty," Uhler said. "My older brother would have waited for someone to come outside to play — but Dusty taught me how to go up and knock on doors. He's a credit to my success."
Steve Workman, Dusty Workman's father and an avid golfer, recalled that his personal collection of golf tronhies began disappearing.
Uhler remembers best the three-hole golf course his friend created. For neighborhood tournaments, it had to be played six times to complete 18 holes.
As a 10-year-old, Workman started playing the drums and waking up the neighborhood. He would go into his room, open the window, blare Top-40 tunes and try to copy the pro's lightning quick precision moves, hoping that one day he would turn professional.
Dusty Workman, Topeka senior, displays drumsticks autographed by various country stars. When Workman finishes his communications studies, he plans to become a professional drummer or an entertainment agent.
"Dusty would give out my trophies to the neighborhood kids," he said. "I can't say I was amused by it, but I knew he always felt like he had to make everyone happy."
In the sixth grade, Workman tagged along with the members of a Topeka band, Code 22. He set up equipment and ran errands for the band members. The group saw his interest, and before long Workman had his own Code 22 jacket that said "Roadie."
Throughout junior high and high school, Workman made it a point to practice every day. He was playing drums in Topeka bars and high schools his junior year when he organized a rock band, Sanctuary.
His girlfriend, Jennifer Hodges, Topeka senior, was the lead singer.
"They let me go places with them, and when they would take breaks, they would hand the drumsticks over to me. So there I was in front of the crowd, this sixth grader beating away at 'Wipeout,'" he said, failing his arms on an imaginary drum set.
"Dusty's happy, and he's constant energy — always," Hodges said. "He encourages me to pursue my singing career, and I encourage him to do his school work."
Workman, a communications major, juggles his school work at the University of Kansas with his ambition to entertain. Two to three times a week he finds the time to disc jockey Karaoke in Topeka, Kansas City and Lawrence.
But his ambitions run further than Karaoke and spotlighting.
WORKING WITH THE STARS
He used the experience he gained at Branson to get a job last fall at Kemper Arena and Arrowhead Stadium, in Kansas City, Mo., where he ran the spotlight and did stage work for professional acts such as Metallica, Ice-T, Guns 'N Roses and U-2. His favorite experience was meeting Garth Brooks.
Workman wasn't satisfied with aiming a spotlight at Willie Nelson.
"He said he was busy but he'd be back in 15 minutes to hook me up," Workman said. "I'd have never believed it, but there he was. Now how many stars are going to take the time to find a peon floor boy again? I was amazed."
He was disappointed when Brooks denied him an autograph. But he felt a tap on his shoulder 15 minutes later.
When Brooks stepped off his charter bus at Kemper Arena, Workman decided that was a good time to ask for an autograph
Workman used the work experience at Kemper Arena and the Willie Nelson Theater to build a resume, which he used to apply for a 1993 summer job at Branson's Grand Palace.
"I think it's one of my most-prized possessions, just because of the circumstances it was given to me," he said.
The $13 million Grand Palace theater resembles a great white antebellum-style mansion taken out of "Gone with the Wind." The marble and velvet theater, with its $14,000 chandelier, is Branson's largest theater, seating 4,000.
Kenny Rogers, Barbara Mandrell, Glen Campbell, Kathy Mattea, Vince Gill and The Oak Ridge Boys performed regularly at the Grand Palace.
Two weeks before Mandrell's show opened, Workman spent up to 15 hours a day helping Mandrell coordinate the lighting and spotlight affects. Mandrell designed her show with the input of the Grand Palace crew members.
Workman got to know Mandrell and her sisters, Louise and Irlene, better than other country musicians. Mandrell designed the show for her 80 Branson performances.
"She would talk to each of us and ask for suggestions or tell us what she wanted differently," he said. "It was a good experience because it was a group effort when we put all together."
During Workman's last show of the summer, Mandrell looked up at him and wished him success at KU in front of a crowd of 3,500 people.
"Barbara is the most laid back, down to earth star I know," Workman said. "She's genuine, and friendly to everyone."
Whether shining the spotlight on Mandrell or another country star, Workman said he sometimes still felt a rush sitting 250 feet up in the spotlight booth, head phones on, waiting for cues and looking down at the velvet seats filled with spectators craning their necks to get a better view of the stars.
"It's just a feeling you get that's hard to describe," Workman said. "You have to love entertainment, performing and music. And they've all been a part of my life for a long time."
DESIGNING HIS FUTURE
"Hated it," Workman said. "I'd always ask him how in the world he could stand listening to it, because it
When he was a young and aspiring drummer with a sincere interest in rock music and rock music only, he remembers his dad listening to country music.
At KU, Workman is designing a job proposal to present to Ron Jet, Grand Palace general manager, this summer. If accepted, the proposal would make Workman a liaison between professional entertainers and Branson agents. The entertainers then would have someone to address their concerns and problems to when they were in Branson.
was all honky-tonk and twang."
Jet said that Workman's proposal was a real possibility because Workman was just the kind of person the stars would enjoy working with. Workman has the characteristics that make him a commodity in the entertainment industry, Jet said.
"If Dusty maintains this level of professionalism, I see him in a management position after he gets his college education," Jet said. "Dusty is one of those young, ambitious college kids you love to work with. He's one of the few people we have working for us that the stars have commented on. He's smart, sincere, dependable, and he catches on fast."
But working in Branson with country entertainers changed his perspective. And he said that he now had arespect for the new era in country music called "young country."
"Now I hear songs on the radio, and I can say, 'Hey, I saw that performer play that song in Branson, or I know that performer.'" he said. "It makes the music that much more enjoyable."
Workman travels to Branson one weekend a month to stay on as a crew member at the Grand Palace.
story by Chesley Dohl
What Branson means to Workman is invaluable experience and a career direction. The 21-year-old knows he has the means to become an entertainment agent or a professional drummer. He said that now it was just a matter of getting there.
"All my life I've been designing the life I want to lead," Workman said. "Someday I want people to look back and say, 'I read about him in the Kansan when he was a light boy — just look at him now.'"
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