A memorial service is being held at The Colony Theatre Saturday, March 29th at 2:00pm to celebrate the incredible life of Barbara Beckley. Barbara was the Artistic Director Emerita and founding member of The Colony Theatre, as well as a theatrical icon, mentor, and friend to so many. You can RSVP to the service here: https://invite.social/barbarabeckley
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.
