Bill Chott Interview

10 l 100 Years Edition l The Pepper Box A shining star from Ritenour

Actor and Ritenour alum Bill Chott (Class of ‘87) visited with Ritenour High School students in the media and drama classes on Aug. 26. He was in town to receive the “Missouri Legends Award” at the Missouri Book Festival. Chott is better known for his time spent on film hits, such as “Dude, Where’s My Car”, “Galaxy Quest,” and “The Ringer.” He could also be found staring in Disney’s TV series “Wizards of Waverly Place,” as Principal Laritate. He is a great friend to Ritenour, having been inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010, and a supporter of our Media program. The following interview was done by Danielle Haynes, a member of both the Pepper Box and KRHS.

Q: What was your favorite memory from high school?

A: I was involved in a lot of extra curriculars; I did a lot of musicals, plays, radio, and worked on the Pepper Box. But I think one of my most favorite memories was one day of my senior year when someone dared me to get on the table and dance like Elvis because I was known for doing an Elvis impression. So I got up on a table in the cafeteria, and you know there is the upper level in the cafeteria, and you know sometimes things would go on downstairs that would create a bunch of commotion, everyone gathered on the balcony to see what was going down. In this case it was just me dancing, swiveling my hips, doing this whole Elvis thing. It felt like performing at a rock concert, it got me an entire audience. I had a lot of audiences doing plays- and stuff like that, but never for something so spontaneous, so it makes sense that I went on to do improvisation.

Chott was inducted into the Ritenour Hall of Fame in 2010. Q: How do you feel the school has changed since you’ve been here?

A: It’s a lot more high tech. School safety is a completely different thing, usually the only problem we had to worry about was football players fighting each other. Now, obviously the situation is a little more serious in terms of student safety. I’m so proud of all the advancements that have happened at KRSH (old station name), and in the theater, it’s like stepping into a professional studio, and sometimes even more so, because its kept a little bit cleaner here.

Q: You mentioned you were involved in Pepper Box and radio, how do you feel like that had an impact on you becoming an actor?

A: I love doing anything that allows me to share my voice with other people, whether it is literally singing and sharing my voice, or sharing my opinions. Sometimes my opinions got me in trouble. One of the articles I did for the Pepper Box was a little bit satirical in nature, but it was because they had an autodialer. My grandmother was getting all these messages about me missing school, and they were all excused absences, so I did a satirical article about it and I kind of got called to the carpet for that. Sometimes I tend to overcommit myself, but I’m thankful that I did because there were so many avenues for me to do other things and explore myself. Not just doing classwork, but doing things that were giving me real life experience with the things I wanted to do later in life.

Q: What is your favorite memory of the Pepper Box? A: My gym locker, mysteriously the lock disappeared. I had to come into the gym teachers office and he started reading me the riot act about the autodialer letter I had written because either his wife or someone he was involved with had developed that autodialer system and now I was attacking their integrity. He was going to make me pay for a new lock on the locker, and when it came to my graduation I had to pay for that lock before I could get my cap and gown. Having that emotionally charged conversation with him about something that I had written, that was pretty impactful. You look back on it and it is such a minor thing, but at that time, to know that I was upsetting some level of authority on any level felt good.

Q: The new auditorium was built 33 years after you graduated, how do you feel about the new space?

A: Talk about Ritenour Pride, the first time I saw that, it is just as professional as any college theater or professional venue or arena that I have performed at, and I’ve performed at a lot of them. When I was here, we would put up shows in the North Gym on that little stage there. That was it in terms of a theater for this school. But to come back and see this, basically professional venue, it lets me know that the kids coming up here have an opportunity to feel more comfortable in that environment, so that when they are in a professional environment all they are dealing with are the day to day new things that are coming to surprise them.

Q: Do you ever struggle with the day to day elements of acting?

A: Yeah, I do, as a matter of fact just before we started this interview I was telling you about how I have ADHD, I was just diagnosed last year. People always say “life is hard.” Life is extra hard when you have ADHD. Sometimes half my day is spent

Actor and Ritenour alumni Bill Chott stopped by the KRHS studio on August 26 for an interview. He was in town to receive the “Missouri Legends Award” at the Missouri Book Festival.

trying to remember where I placed something, and it can be right in front of me. I can multitask, but its gonna take me three times the time that it would for someone who is neurotypical to get through that task. I struggled with a lot of executive function issues where it came to choir, where it came to Pepper Box, where it came to KRSH. I think it prepared me to go out in the world and allow me to be a professional level, entertainer, creator, despite that setback.

Q: What was one of your favorite musicals you did during your time at Ritenour?

A: Freshman year was “Brigadoon.” Sophomore year we did “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” Junior year we did “Sugar,” and senior year was “My Fair Lady.” There is something about “My Fair Lady” in that it was such a classic, and that I grew up knowing it because it was a big part of my dad’s life. My dad did a lot of musicals and theater when he was in school. He did the part of Colonel Pickering, which was exactly the part that I was cast in. I think it was that family bond and a sense of pride for my dad to see me doing the same part that he had done so many years ago. I had the most pride in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” I got cast in that role based on my performance in my first year in choir. Mr. Byers, who was the choir director at the time, announced when the auditions were going to be and I came down with chicken pox so I couldn’t come into school. My dad said, “well here’s what you’ll have to do if you really want to be in this play.” So I wrote a letter letting him know how badly I wanted to be in it, what part I wanted to be in it, the part of JP Bigly, the president of the company. My dad delivered it and let Mr. Byers know how much choir meant to me and I wound up getting cast in the role without ever even auditioning for it. That was the first time that had ever happened. It’s only happened a couple of times professionally, too. It’s always an accomplishment and it is also a good shot in the arm.

Q: Who are some of the teachers who made the greatest impact on you?

A: I think it is a tie between Alan Byers and Alan Mitchell. Byers was a tough guy. He was a marine who served in the Korean War, and he expected a lot of his students. There was a lot of discipline and a lot of energy. Through his example is where I’m able to find my energy and find my joy and stage voice. I think, from a creative, rebellious, journalistic and communications edge, that would be Alan Mitchell, who has since passed away. He had worked professionally in radio and he came back and was the director at KRSH. He knew what I wanted to do for a living, so he knew that it would take those professionals standards and conduct and ethics. He expected that of me, and that was exactly what he got. He called me to carpet because I was editorializing in the news, even though it was something I felt I needed to speak out on. At the time there was Apartheid in South Africa, and there was a resort called Sun City and a bunch of entertainers were still performing there despite the fact that people were trying to speak out against it and boycott performing there. I made a joke about Frank Sinatra and some other older entertainers who were performing there. He said “I understand your point of view and you’re coming from a good place, but that’s not the job of a journalist.” I think part of the problem with broadcasting today is that there is a really blurred line between what is journalism and what is actually editorial. Although he agreed with my point of view, he also told me that is not where you make an editorial. I appreciated that lesson and I carry that with me. I’m not a journalist, but it is what I expect of journalism.

Q: What was it like to be on a show like “Wizards of Waverly Place?”

It was a lot of fun. Oddly enough I was living back here in St. Louis. I had bought a house here, so I was splitting time between St. Louis and LA. I was doing more voiceover work. I was doing the doorman in “Curious George”, and I had made a promise with my agent that I would always fly back out there for auditions. I had auditioned for this movie called “All About Steve” with Sandra Bernhardt. I didn’t book that, but I booked the Disney audition, which was for Mr. Laritate. I thought it was just a one time thing, but it turned into a recurring job for five years. It was truly a dream job because I had never had a recurring role on any show before that, I had just been on shows and made one off appearances.