I realize I’d only been covering theatre for a fraction of the 35 years that Rose Pickering was with the Rep, but I will miss her a great deal every time I go to the Quadracci Powerhouse Theatre.
It’s so difficult to know what to say . . . she was such an overwhelming talent onstage. Anyone who has been onstage for that long carries a kind of intensity . . . but Pickering could bring such an intense gravity to the stage that she didn’t even really have to be speaking lines to upstage nearly all the rest of the action spinning around beyond her.
My wife had been out of town the past couple of days. She was leafing through today’s daily this morning. She noted that there was a picture of her on the front page. We shared a moment thinking about her and then the realization hitthis was a picture of her on the front page. Oh. Wow. She was only 64.
My deepest condolences go out to family, friends and colleagues. She will be missed a great deal..
