The legacy of Ron Spencer and Theatre on the Square

<p dir="ltr">The cultural and theatrical life of the Hoosier capital suffered two huge losses during the third week of September 2020. Within the space of three days, <strong>Indianapolis</strong> learned of the death of two of its most creative, boundary-pushing directors: <strong>Ron Spencer</strong>, founder and artistic director of <strong><a href="http://tots.org/">Theatre on the Square</a></strong> (TOTS), and <strong>Bryan Fonseca</strong>, who co-founded the <strong><a href= "https://www.phoenixtheatre.org/">Phoenix Theatre</a></strong>.</p> <p dir="ltr">We hope to cover Fonseca and his work in theatre on a future show, but for now we turn our attention to the life of Ron Spencer, who grew up in <strong>McCordsville</strong> but attended high school in Indianapolis. </p> <p dir="ltr">Ron Spencer's long life on the stage began as a child and extended all the way into his final years in Puerto Vallarta, where he moved after retiring from Theatre on the Square in 2014. And while he was well known as a director of shows at TOTS, he also made his mark as an actor, singer, and playwright. </p> <p dir="ltr"><img src= "http://hoosierhistorylive.org/images/Theatre-on-the-Square.JPG" alt= "The home of Theatre on the Square on Mass Ave. from 1993 until it closed in 2018." width="339" height="341" align="left" />Among Ron's writing credits: <em><strong>Dearest, a Mommy Musical</strong></em>, based on the tell-all book written by <strong>Christina Crawford</strong> about her tumultuous relationship with mother, actress <strong><a href= "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001076/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Joan Crawford</a></strong>. </p> <p dir="ltr">The camp, over-the-top production of <em>Dearest</em> - directed by Ron for the <strong><a href="https://indyfringe.org/">Indianapolis Fringe Festival</a></strong> and a follow-up TOTS production - was emblematic of his love for Hollywood stars of a certain age and their camp-classic films. </p> <p dir="ltr">Under his leadership, TOTS held a "film noir" series which re-imagined revered (