cameo by B r i t t a n y F o u n t a i n photography by A l l i s o n P o t t e r give my regards to broadway Ben Wright Ben Wright bowed out of a Broadway, TV and film career, saying goodbye to the bright lights and relocated to Wilmington, NC, with his wife Amy to begin their family and Ben’s second career. With more than 13 years’ experience as a financial advisor, he is now the owner and president of Dye Creek Capital. This has provided a wonderful opportunity for Ben to combine two facets of his life he feels strongly about: the stewardship of money and heightening community awareness of people with intellectual developmental disabilities. Along with the registered support staff, Dye Creek Capital employs eight associates with IDD. Ben and Amy have been married for more than 21 years and are the proud parents of four children. Last month Ben traveled to Los Angeles to appear as Jack, one of the featured performers in a reunion of original cast members of “Into the Woods.” The LA Times reported: “Ben Wright, who originated the role of Jack, still has a dapper voice, though he left showbiz to become a financial planner, investing the golden eggs of giants rather than smuggling them down beanstalks.” Q&A What brought you to Wilmington? Amy’s parents moved here in the mid-90s from the Chapel Hill area, and at that time we had been married for five years and were living in New York City. We didn’t want to start our family there, so we did a tour around the United States and ended up visiting her family here and we loved it; that was in 1996. Describe one of your earliest memories in Wilmington? I hadn’t had a car for a while, we didn’t need one in New York City, so when we moved down here I got matching his and hers Honda Accords. They were parked in a cul-de-sac during a hurricane and the street drain clogged and both flooded. We had only had the cars for about one week. Does Wilmington have a best-kept secret? The multitude of adults living with intellectual developmen-tal disabilities in this area who need to be brought out of the woodwork to be a part of our community. They need to be drawn out and valued and shown that they are vital to the help of the community. What is your proudest professional accomplishment? Opening Dye Creek Capital. Describe yourself in five words or fewer. Optimistic, family oriented, despise bigotry. What is your favorite day of the week? I love a Friday. Do you have a go-to karaoke song? “Moon Glow.” If you could go back in time and witness any historical event, what would you choose? I would love to have been there for the moment when the first person was born with Down syndrome. I would want to see how the parents handled it. Before there were any precon-ceived notions about what it means or what it doesn’t mean, when it just was. What quote or verse do you live by? That changes a lot as I read a lot and get different perspec-tive. Right now I really love the notion of being like water. Not as ice or as steam, but water in its liquid state. Water is always present and conforms to whatever place it’s in. There is no mistaking it. It’s all about trying to be truly present with people and not be distracted. december 2014 68 WBM
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