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It is with an extremely heavy heart that we must share with all of you that our beloved, Artistic Director Emerita and founding member of the Colony Theatre, Barbara Beckley, has passed away.
Barbara was a Los Angeles theatre icon, mentor, and friend to so many. She made a home for thousands of theatrical artists and theatre lovers. Her legacy will live on forever. There are no words to describe how much we will miss her.
A memorial service to celebrate her incredible life is currently being planned.
“Barbara Beckley 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 was a board member of Burbank Arts for All and served on Burbank’s Cultural Arts Commission.”
Thank you, Barbara, for everything. We will keep the torch lit for you, dear friend.
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