THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 23, 1994 TAG: 9406220172
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940623 LENGTH: Medium
Pritchard, of Kingsway Court in Suffolk, is captain of the AEGIS destroyer at Nauticus, the new tourist attraction in downtown Norfolk.
{REST} His experience as an actor helped him land the seafaring role.
``I was Antonio, a sea captain, in `Twelfth Night' at the Virginia Beach Little Theater a few years ago,'' said the 57-year-old Pritchard. ``Four years ago, at the Smithfield Little Theater, I portrayed Capt. Brackett in `South Pacific.' ''
Pritchard spent 14 years with the Smithfield Little Theater, where he is now vice president.
He has worked with other Hampton Roads theater groups and has done television commercials, including some for Kline Chevrolet.
``Nauticus had an open audition, like little theater,'' Pritchard said. ``Except this time I get paid.''
He gets $10 an hour for adding excitement and color to a Nauticus show that gives its audiences the opportunity to make decisions in the heat of simulated battle.
Pritchard and three other actors alternate as captain. Four others take turns being the lieutenant.
The two-member crew is chosen from among those waiting in line for the $2.50 show.
The crew members' script, with their handful of lines, sits on the computer each faces. They are told to stick to the script, and speak loudly and excitedly.
The curtain goes up on the 20-minute show 35 times a day - from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. - six days a week in the 40-seat theater.
``We started rehearsal in early May,'' Pritchard said. ``The audiences are usually enthusiastic - impressed.''
All the audience members get involved in the act, working with mockups of mounted, five-inch naval guns and missile launchers.
There is one monitor for each two seats. The audience follows the action on the monitors and on a large screen above the stage, tracking unidentified objects as they approach the ship.
When an enemy aircraft is sighted, audience members must make a swift decision: launch a missile to defend the warship, scramble a fighter to intercept the enemy or take evasive action.
The majority rules, after listening to Pritchard's breathless description of the action.
``This,'' he intones as the enemy aircraft approaches, ``is a very real threat.''
When the ship takes a hit, the audience knows it. The seats rock, the room fills with smoke, lights flash and dim, red emergency lamps come on.
There is, naturally, a happy ending. The audience has helped protect ship and crew.
Adventure at sea is fun for Pritchard.
But adventure in space was work.
Before retiring two years ago he managed NASA's 10-man Evolutionary Definition Office at the Langley Research Center in Hampton.
Pritchard was ``level four'' in NASA's senior executive service - the equivalent of a two-star general in the military.
In 1982, he was in Washington, as part of a task force determining the need for a space station and studying its architecture.
He has been recognized often for his work - receiving NASA's Exceptional Service Medal, First Shuttle Flight Achievement Award and special achievement award for support of the Viking Mission.
The engineer-actor joined NASA after receiving his bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from Virginia Tech in 1959.
These days, Pritchard is putting his experiences and thoughts in print, sometimes during breaks from his AEGIS action.
``I stroll, read or work on my book,'' he said.
by CNB