Staff
Barbara
Beckley, (Artistic Director Emerita) grew up in New Rochelle, NY, attended
Middlebury College in Vermont, and graduated from New York's
Neighborhood Playhouse where she studied with Sanford Meisner. Shortly
after relocating to Los Angeles, she co-founded The Colony Theatre in
1975, and has since produced most of the company's mainstage
productions. In 1993 she received Women in Theatre's Outstanding
Contribution Award, and was the keynote speaker at ShowBiz West's 1994
West Coast Theatre Expo. She has served on the Peer Review Committees
of the Pasadena Arts Council and the L.A. County Arts Commission. For
three years she served as President of the Board of Theatre LA (now
L.A. Stage Alliance). In 1999 she received Theatre LA's James A.
Doolittle Ovation Award for Leadership in L.A. Theatre. In 2000, she
led The Colony to its new home, a 270-seat Equity theatre created for
it by the City of Burbank. Starting in 2003, the company has appeared
every year in the Encyclopedia Britannica Almanac on its list of "25
Notable U.S. Theatre Companies," and in 2006 was voted by the readers
of LA Daily News "Best Live Theatre in Los Angeles." She is a board
member of Burbank Arts for All and serves on Burbank’s Cultural Arts
Commission. |
Heather Provost (Producing Artistic Director) is a Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Drama League
Award-nominated producer. Critically acclaimed hits on Broadway include
Reasons To Be Pretty by Neil LaBute (three Tony nominations including
Best Play), and the musical [title of show] (Tony Nomination for Best
Book of a Musical). She produced the hugely successful Under My Skin
segment of 'The Pink Campaign' on Broadway for which all proceeds went
to the Susan G. Komen Foundation and she also produced and directed the
California Theatre's acclaimed productions of Driving Miss Daisy and
Love Letters. Provost produced the short film Harmony starring Jason
Alexander and the feature film Racing Colt which she produced and
co-directed. Provost was the creator and executive producer of the TV
show Reality Check, creator of the new Who Knew?...The In-the-Know
Travel Show, is an accomplished comedy writer and book doctor for live
shows, and is in development on the edgy drama Lakeview. She is
currently producing the Broadway-bound play Coffee Stains and the
musical V-V-Voice. She also produced the It's Showtime series at The
Colony Theatre this year and was the Creator/Camp Director of Camp
C.R.E.A.T.E. at The Colony this summer for which she was recognized by
the California Legislature for her service. This fall she directed and
produced Driving Miss Daisy at The Colony Theatre starring Donna Mills.
Current feature films include Among and Coffee Stains. Other credits
include Penelope P.C.S.A., Page To The Stage, History of Musical
Theater, Chix 6, and Associate Producer on the feature film To The
Beat!. She and writing partner, Scott Damian had the Hallmark film, A
Joyous Christmas, air this season and another in development airing this
coming summer. She is founding partner at Provost Entertainment Inc., a
proud graduate of The Florida State University, and was on the faculty at The Commercial Theater Institute
in New York City.
|
Brenda Ramirez-Kalcoff
(Operations Manager) comes to The Colony from a background in
hospitality and transportation. At the Hilton Hotels Corporation and
Hilton Garden Inn she supported the Senior Vice President of Brand
Management, as well as the Vice Presidents of Marketing, Operations,
and International Training and Brand Culture. Prior to that she worked
for the Departments of Transportation of the cities of Pasadena and Los
Angeles in a wide variety of positions. She is delighted now to be
combining her love of the arts with the skills developed in those
fields. A Los Angeles native, she lives in Burbank with her artist
husband George, son Tomas, and daughters Penny and Paulina.
|
Brad Brown (Webmaster) has been working on computers and the
internet since the dawn of the Computer Age, enabling him to develop
the skills to create and manage websites including The Colony Theatre,
high-end restaurants, and a number of wineries, among others. Along the
way Brad also spent many years voicing and producing promotional radio
spots for one of the prominent NPR stations in Los Angeles (when not
also running board operations and fund drive pitching for dollars), as
well as creating software for public and private entities, designing
legal forms, and even practicing law.
BOARD CHAIR
Michael David Wadler (Board
Chair) was a founding member of The Colony and technical
consultant on the design of its 270-seat theatre in Burbank,
when the company moved in 2000 from it 25-year home in Silver
Lake. He is currently Artistic Adviser, member of
the Board of Trustees, and the company's videographer.
As a director, he staged the Colony productions of
Incorruptible,
Lost
in Yonkers,
The
World of Ray Bradbury,
To
Culebra,
To
Forgive, Divine,
On the
Verge,
Holy
Ghosts (Drama-Logue Award),
Talk
Radio,
A
Day Out of Time, and
Lenny
(Drama-Logue Award). He also restaged the revival of
The
Martian Chronicles (3 LaWee Awards), as well as directing or
co-directing The Odd Couple (Female Version), The Only Game in Town,
Private Lives, Two Marriages, God's Favorite, and David’s Mother.
Outside The Colony, he directed
An Evening on Mars with Ray Bradbury
at the Pasadena Playhouse, with an all-star cast including Charlton
Heston, and
Enter
Laughing at the Cast Theatre, starring John Larroquette.
As a stage manager, he called the first three "Bradbury shows" (
The
Martian Chronicles,
Fahrenheit
451, and
Dandelion
Wine), and the award-winning
Grapes
of Wrath. In addition, Michael has stage-managed for The
Bethune Ballet Company.
As a designer, he created the video projections and co-created the set
for
On
the Verge (Drama-Logue Award), the lighting for
Lenny,
the sound for
Peccadillo,
The
Front Page,
Ring
Round the Moon,
Talk
Radio,
The
Suicide,
Lenny,
and Waiting for the Parade, as well as the set for
Black
Comedy and The White Liars, and
Enter
Laughing. His latest design is his wife Jude’s web site,
www.HeyJudeArt.com.
As an actor, he appeared as Charley in Death of a Salesman, in featured
roles in
The
Grapes of Wrath,
Galileo,
Black
Comedy,
The
Grass Harp, and
Tarboosh!,
and on the television series
Law
and Order, with Paul Sorvino.
As a writer, he contributed the lyrics for The Colony’s
Tarboosh!,
and has assisted over the years as dramaturge on a number of original
productions, including
Aftershocks,
The
World of Ray Bradbury, and
Dandelion
Wine. Michael is credited with one optioned screenplay,
rewrites on four film scripts, and published humor of various sorts,
including The Colony Chronicles a history of the first five seasons,
which appeared in the Daily Variety Annual. Parody lyrics are his first
love, having re-authored numerous songs, including the score to Square,
The American Musical Yuppie Hairpiece. His latest work is the
full-length play, An Accident of Blood, which is about free speech and
celebrity justice in Colonial America.
Michael received his literary and dramatic training at Philadelphia’s
Central High (National Merit Scholarship), Drexel University (Creative
Writing Award), Temple University (with Paul Randall and Max Wylie),
and the Hedgerow Theatre School (with Rose Schulman). He is a member of
Actors' Equity Association and the Dramatists Guild.