C.L. "Kip" Holloway

Clifford “Kip” Leslie Holloway died July 14, 2024, after a truly remarkable life of community service to Shreveport-Bossier City and the surrounding area. A celebration of his life is being planned for later this year. 

Kip was born in Houston, Texas on September 19, 1942, to William Eugene Holloway and Evelyn Clinton Buel. As a toddler, he and his brother pronounced his name “Kippord” instead of “Clifford.” Thus, he was nicknamed “Kip,” a moniker that stayed with him the rest of his life. 

Kip was a “rough and tumble” young man, growing up in Houston’s 5th ward and wrestling at the local Boys Club. While at John H. Reagan High School, he took a job at Jones Hall, a theatre and entertainment venue, and got his first taste of working live performances. 

After graduating from high school in 1960, he took odd jobs such as painting the Sunshine Bridge in Baton Rouge and cleaning out the tanks on cement trucks. Fortunately, a good Samaritan funded his education at Lon Morris, Jr. College for two years. He did well and earned a scholarship to the University of Texas, Austin. There, he earned a BA and Master of Fine Arts in theatre. After graduating, he was hired by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) in Ashland, Oregon. For the next few years, he would ride his motorcycle from Houston to Ashland to work at the seasonal festival. One season he met Robert Buseick, whom he would later bring to Shreveport. 

In 1968, he was hired as Technical Director at Centenary College of Louisiana’s Marjorie Lyons Playhouse (MLP) in Shreveport, Louisiana. This assignment would have a profound impact on Kip’s life and the lives of people throughout the Ark-La-Tex. A short time after Kip arrived at MLP, the heads of the department (the Cory’s, a husband-and-wife team), left the college. Kip tapped Robert Buseick to apply for the job. 

For the next eight years, the two worked together at MLP, reshaping theatrical possibilities and expectations for area theatre. Between Kip’s creative sets and lighting and Buseick’s direction, MLP became known for exceptional theatre with productions such as Marat/Sade (’69), Romeo and Juliet (’71), Celebration (’72), Desire Under the Elms (’73), and Vivat! Vivat Regina (’74), to name only a few. 

In 1976, while Kip served as President of the Southwest Theatre Conference, he accepted a job with the Permian Playhouse in Odessa, Texas, but less than two years later, he was back in Shreveport, hired by Shreveport Parks and Recreation (SPAR) as Superintendent of Cultural Arts. For the next ten years at SPAR, Kip played a pivotal role in many city arts initiatives too numerous to name, but including Concerts in the Park, the Veteran’s Park Amphitheatre, Shreveport Regional Arts Council and, of course, the Red River Revel. In each case, he was far more than the city’s representative. He was deeply involved in creating, developing and sustaining these jewels of our community. 

In 1987, the Red River Revel board was searching for a new director. Nearly 50 people from across the country applied and the board chose Kip, no doubt based largely on his unrivaled commitment to the arts in our community. Kip took the Junior League’s gift to the city from a fledgling festival to an eight-day powerhouse of art, music, food and culture, attracting artists and festival goers from around the country. 

Key to the Revel’s success was Kip’s belief in the quintessential importance of volunteers. In a prescient comment in a 1987 Shreveport Times article, Kip then said about his new job at the Revel, “One of the things I will have to do in this job is to encourage volunteers to strive to their level of expertise and abilities.” That quote encapsulates how Kip treated the army of volunteers who came from the Junior League and the community at large. For the next quarter century, Kip was equal parts Drill Sergeant, General, confidant, and friend… but always “Encourager in Charge.” 

Perhaps that’s one reason why in 1988, the Revel won the prestigious President’s Volunteer Action Award from President Ronald Regan – one of many awards and accolades under his leadership. He was at the center of developing other events such as CORK, BREW and the Farmer’s Market in Festival Plaza. He also served on the board of The Louisiana Partnership for the Arts from ’92 – ’98 and was instrumental in restoring state arts funding, which had been cut. 

Throughout his professional career, Kip kept his hand in theatre as a supporter, actor and director. He was an excellent, powerful actor and a kind, steady director. Two of his many memorable roles as an actor were Tye in Vieux Carre (MLP ’80), and Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (MLP ’81). He directed many productions, including The Fantasticks (SLT ’81), Lu Ann Hampton Laverty Oberlander (SLT ‘83) and Hair (MLP ’05). Kip’s loyalty was not to a particular theatre company, but always to the craft. 

After retiring as Director of the Revel, Kip enjoyed his time with family and friends. Always with a mixture of fun and work, he loved “Wino Wednesday” with friends, walking the Camino de Santiago and the Borders Abbey Walk and doing mission work in Mexico, Cuba and locally. He was a very active member of Asbury Methodist Church. If that wasn’t enough, he also worked for Rose-Neath Funeral Home as a funeral assistant, once again serving people in their time of need, because he wanted to do so. 

Kip was preceded in death by his parents, brother William Buel Holloway and sister Darlene Holloway Knighten. Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Linda Harrison Jones Holloway, daughter Kelli Holloway Tonn, husband Kelton and their daughters Kathleen and Kennedy Tonn; Allison Reed, husband Jeff and their children Austin, wife JoJo, Zach, and Madeline Reed; Denise Colle, husband Trace and their children Madison, Avery, Kennedy and Grayson Colle and Jeremy Jones. 

Of course, his loving family is just the beginning of the people who will always cherish his memory. Kip Holloway did so much for this community for so long that, in a way, he belongs to all of us – to those of us who knew him and those who never met him. He believed in us, he loved us and he poured himself into the very spirit of our community to such an extent that we are now and forever will be, inseparable. Surely, he belongs in the Pantheon of people that exemplify the best of us and the best in us. 

His family wishes to thank the caregivers at Savannah Grand in Bossier City for the care provided to Kip during the last few years. Also, thanks go out to the many friends who provided support to us during these times.

Memorials may be made to the Red River Revel, the Mission Team at Asbury Methodist Church in Bossier, or the arts organization or charity of your choice.