Kelly McTaggert

August 2020 will mark 33 years that Saint Augustine has been a part of Kelly McTaggart. He loves it so much that he moved here twice- originally in 1987 with his wife and oldest son, and again in 2011, after a brief sojourn back to this boyhood home of Jackson, Tennessee.

It was in Jackson where Kelly first acted in community theater. Kelly wanted to woo a pretty theater major who was attending Lambuth College in Jesse Byrum’s renowned theater department. To have more in common with the girl, Kelly tried out and was cast in the ensemble of The Robber Bridegroom, a musical with a bluegrass band on stage. That led to being cast in the community theater production of Annie as Rooster Hannigan to the subject of his affection being cast as Grace Ferrell. Kelly didn’t get the girl but got the acting bug. Probably better for all concerned.

Kelly’s first role in Saint Augustine was in 1988, as Raul, the rapist, in Extremities, produced as a social services fundraiser, performed in that building on the corner or King Street and Riberia, across from the Methodist Church. Next, part of an ensemble cast in D.J. Lee’s adaptation of Eric Bogosian’s Sex, Drugs, Rock n Roll, played in the St. Augustine Art Association building. Interesting roles in funky venues has become a theme in Kelly’s acting engagements: Dr. Michael Pierce in Roger Rueff’s world premier of The Imperative, directed again by D.J. Lee at the Limelight Theater, Palatka attorney, J. V. Walton in historian Michael Gannon’s, My Friend Zelma in the Limelight’s Black Box, Dr. Lyman Sanderson alongside Mr. Jason Woods, Lou Agresta, Larry Hession, Linda Hall, and Rosemary Dann in Harvey, at the Limelight, Norton Baskin to Nancy Grote’s Marjorie Kenan Rawlings in Deborah Dickey’s world premier of Crossroads: Marjorie Kenan Rawlings and Norton Baskin in Unguarded Moments (a role shared with Ashley Carter) performed in the Flagler Ballroom of the former Ponce De Leon Hotel, President Theodore Roosevelt in Deborah Dickey’s world premier of Threads of Silver and Gold: Women of the Panama Canal, alongside Chelsye Ginn, Jan Beach, and Carmel Rowley, performed in the former Pioneer Barn at the Florida Museum on San Marco Avenue in North City, Man, alongside Julie Grayauskie and The Writer, alongside Elizabeths Myers and Haverty in An Evening of Tennessee Williams One Acts performed in the LINCOLNville Community CENTER, several years running as The Doktor at Gaineville’s Hoggetowne Medieval Faire with the historical edu-tainment troupe, Double Trouble, and most recently as Tom Buggle in Amy Lauer’s ShrinkRap performed in the Beaches Art Gallery.

“The theatre scene, once you’re in it, in Northeast Florida is one of the most dynamic, exciting and adventurous you’ll find anywhere.”