Rick McVey is thrilled to be working with his Barter family again. A 17-year member of the Resident Acting Company at Barter Theatre, Rick retired from working full-time in theater at the beginning of 2020.  Since then, he directed Barter’s 2024 production of Over the River and Through the Woods, performed in numerous Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights readings, and helped with video production during Barter’s outdoor performances at the Moonlite Drive-in during the pandemic. He has also participated in numerous film and television projects including – most recently – a lead role in the 2024 release, Searching for the Elephant, and roles in two other award-winning feature films, an acclaimed web series, and several short films. Rick was honored to be chosen as a 2022 recipient of the Arts Achievement Award from the Arts Alliance of the Mountain Empire in Virginia.  Rick is a graduate of East Tennessee State University where he was awarded the Bud Frank Award for Excellence in Theater.  Rick was inducted into the ETSU Department of Communications Alumni Hall of Fame in 2010. A native of Southwest Virginia, Rick and his wife, Lola, have three children with wonderful spouses, and seven terrific grandchildren. He is Vice-chair of the Board of Directors of the Symphony of the Mountains, serves on the Northeast Tennessee Committee of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves and is a deacon at Euclid Avenue Baptist Church.