Page 26 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2019

PEOPLE coast character
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very great story has a beginning. Gulfport’s David Delk’s story begins with three little
words –— “your car is ready.” Delk said those were the first words he ever said on stage.
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“I did my first show in 1980 at the Gulfport Little Theater,” he said. “It was a musical called ‘Applause’ and I had one line, but I loved it.”
Those three words fueled a passion for theater in Delk that led to more than 100 shows in which he’s acted, directed or both. It’s a big leap for someone who described himself as “painfully shy” during his youth.
“I was a very shy child, can you believe that,” he asked. “I remember receiving an award during my senior year of high school and I
was so shy that I stood out in the hallway while it was presented.”
But Delk, who’s synonymous
with theater on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, said theatre helped him overcome his shyness. “I remember seeing a show at Gulfport Little
Theater and thinking, ‘I want to do that.’ And I auditioned as a singer and I got a part,” he said. “I loved
it because I was shy and awkward but people in the theatre didn’t care, they embraced it and it was creative and I made lifelong friends. It was amazing.”
He continued performing during the summers when he would come home from Southern Miss. until
he eventually decided to try his hand at acting. “I learned from a lot of great people like Chuck White
at Center Stage and all of these wonderful local people about details and lighting — that kind of thing,” he said. “Every project I tried to do turned out to be very successful and not because of me, but because of the team I put together.”
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story by Jeff Clark photos courtesy of David Delk
David Delk as Seymour in “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Performing as the beloved Charlie Brown at Center Stage Biloxi.