The Savannah Disputation
by
by Evan Smith

Director Scenic Design Costume Design Lighting Design Sound Design Properties Design & Set Dressing Production Stage Manager Public Relations Technical Director Assistant Director Dialect Coach Production Crew Light Board Operator Sound Board Operator Stage Crew Key Art Production Photography

Cameron Watson Stephen Gifford Kate Bergh Jared A. Sayeg Becca Kessin MacAndME Gil Tordjman David Elzer/Demand PR Robert T. Kyle Katie McDonough Susan Larkin Watson Bradshaw, Sean Kozma, Dustin Maberry, Christopher Rivera Kathryn Horan Brian Cordoba Andrea Dean, Heather Waters Doirean Heldt Michael Lamont

Mary Melissa Margaret Father Murphy

Anne Gee Byrd Rebecca Mozo Bonnie Bailey-Reed Josh Clark

This spring we mourned the loss of a member of our Colony family, Jude Wadler.

Jude curated our gallery for many years,and was responsible for the wonderful exhibitions our audiences have enjoyed. Those who knew her would describe her as generous, funny, kind, smart,warm, enthusiastic, helpful, headstrong,mischievous, honest, luminous, and passionate.

Twelve adjectives. But there is only one noun to describe her: Artist. There was artistry in everything she did.

Her major passion was painting, which was when she was happiest. She was a truly gifted painter. Her works were often whimsical, full of life, and deep. The more you look at them, the more you see – and feel. When asked why her giraffe was green and her tiger blue, she replied: “I paint animals the colors they should be, not the colors they are."

Another example of her artistry: For weeks she worked with her husband Michael (one of the founders of The Colony) hanging over a hundred of the production pictures you see in our lobby and gallery. Michael insisted that they had to measure and calculate, to make sure that the job was done right. Nonsense, she said. Let's just start here and work our way around. He reluctantly agreed. But after a while, she got tired of working chronologically, from our earliest shows onward, and decided to move to our latest show, work backwards, and meet in the middle. As they continued, Michael worried every day about what would happen when they either wound up with a huge gap in the middle, or with a dozen extra pictures and no place to hang them. But in the end, there was no gap and no overlap; the two tracks met precisely. Jude had a knack for making things turn out exactly right.

Painting is a solitary affair, whereas theatre is by definition, social. Jude loved meeting actors, directors,and other theatre artists.She referred to them as“quality people,” and was always grateful to us for introducing her to this art form.

She leaves behind a wonderful legacy at The Colony, as well as family and friends who adored her, a standard of excellence and perfection that inspired those who knew her, and extraordinary works of art.

We have named our Gallery after her to honor her memory. She was not only an artist – she, herself, was a glorious work of art.

Barbara Beckley
Artistic Director