Daily Inspiration: Meet Mac Pirkle

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mac Pirkle.

Hi Mac, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in Nashville. Loved music and help start a band when I was in junior high school. That did not become the stepping stone to musical stardom as I had hoped. But soon after I discovered theatre, a logical step for someone who loves to perform. I met two teachers while in high school who loved theatre and I auditioned for a play. I got a role and then continued to do theatre in high school. One of those teachers, Terry Holcomb, was especially enthusiastic about theatre and that energy inspired me. I eventually tried out for a play at UT, where I was a marketing major, and from there my life began to change, spending all my spare time at the theatre. In 1974 I helped start The Play Group, a small theatre ensemble made up of theatre students at UT. We partnered with a small congregation near campus to renovate the interior of their church in return for use of the space as our theatre home. The Laurel Theatre, as if became known, was home to the Play Group as well as a popular venue for folk and bluegrass music and is still active today as a performance space. The Play Group became part of a network of alternative/experimental theatres across the country. During that time we collaborated with songwriter and activist Si Kahn, John O’neal, founder of the Free Southern Theatre in New Orleans, toured the country for the bicentennial and performed at the Kennedy Center for Jimmy Carter’s Inauguration, at the Knoxville World’s Fair, and at the opening of the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

Which starts the next chapter of my life. I moved back to Nashville around 1982 and started a theatre – Southern Stage Productions, a for profit theatre with aspirations to provide a living for myself and a number of theatre artists I knew from Knoxville days along with other artists already in Nashville. Effort transformed our lives. What started with a gathering of artists committed to working together became the impetus for the Humanities Outreach Tennessee program partnership with TPAC, Martha Ingram and the Tennessee Department of Education. And, consequently, the founding of a second theatre – Tennessee Repertory Theatre, now the Nashville Rep. That company has flourished for 40 years now. During that time Southern Stage would occasionally rise up, as it did with a production of Love Letters with Jennifer O’neil at the Belcourt, and the 2012 production of Nutty Professor the Musical with Jerry Lewis, Marvin Hamlisch and Rupert Holmes.

My career took a major turn in 2000 with a shift into the film/video business. I partnered with David Earnhardt and his Earnhardt and Company production house, which eventually became Earnhardt Pirkle Productions in 2005. In 2011 I started Creative Communications, and video production and communications firm. The work of Creative Communications spans a remarkably diverse set of clients, combining cause-oriented work with non-profits and branded content for major companies and education institutions in the Nashville area.

At present I continue the work of Creative Communications and spend more time with my wife, my three daughters and four grandchildren.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Whew…thats a loaded questions. No life journey is without struggle, and mine is no exception. Let’s just say that I have reinvented myself more than once. And, life brings great sorrow with the passing of parents, relatives and lifelong friends. Yet, all of this contributes the richness of one’s life.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have been blessed in my life to tell stories – in plays and musicals and through countless interviews with people across the region. In that process I have learned of the generosity and humanity of people. People with great success, people of incredible struggle and courage, and people with immense talent. This has given me hope for the future, for my grandchildren.

What makes you happy?
A great conversation with my wife or children.

A day without worry or the nagging pain of a body growing older.

The beach.

Writing a poem that I like.

Having conversations about our community.