Welles lived in Woodstock from 1926-1934, a time critical to his professional development. He was born in Kenosha in 1915 and died in Los Angeles in 1985. His parents divorced and he shuffled between homes before settling into a Woodstock Boarding School – the Todd School for Boys where he met his mentor and teacher, Roger Hill. A member of the online resource Wellesnet remarked, “Welles became Welles at Todd.” In a 1960 interview that asked where “home” was for him, Welles answered, “I suppose in Woodstock, I went to school there.” Welles said Todd School headmaster Roger Hill was the most important influence on his creativity. Hill helped Welles career get started by funding the Todd Theatre Festival at the Woodstock Opera House in 1934. There Welles made his debut as a professional director. He also made his first film that year, “The Hearts of Age,” at Todd School. In addition in Woodstock that year, Hill and Welles published on the Todd Press Everybody’s Shakespeare, a series of texts designed to help students bring Shakespeare to the stage.

On May 16 and 17, a series of special events will mark the 80th anniversary of the Todd Theatre Festival. The program opens Friday night, May 16, appropriately at the adjunct to Woodstock’s historic Opera House – Stage Left Café. Todd Tarbox, Roger Hill’s grandson, will read from his new book “Orson Welles and Roger Hill: A Friendship in Three Acts” which transcribes wide-ranging telephone conversations between the two lifelong friends. Tarbox will then lead a discussion of these conversations with a panel of seven other Welles experts. An evening of period music from the ’20s and ’30s will follow. On Saturday, May 17, on the same Woodstock Opera House stage where Welles made his debut in 1934 as an American stage director with “Trilby,” the six Welles authorities will provide new insights on Welles’s life and legacy as they discuss his life and work during the ‘20s and ‘30s in Illinois, Wisconsin, Ireland, and New York. On Saturday night, the Opera House will feature a recreation of Welles’ radio broadcasts, “War of the Worlds.” Other events include book signings by the Welles experts, a walking tour of Welles’ Woodstock, an art and poster exhibit at the Old Courthouse Art Gallery, a vintage photo exhibit about “Life at Todd School” at the Woodstock Public Library, a Welles Film Festival at the Woodstock Theater and a pub crawl featuring Prohibition and Great Depression-era cocktails.