With Kimberly Akimbo opening this coming weekend, I am afforded the opportunity to think of the great support so many members of this community have given The Malibu Stage Company. Graeme Clifford, giving his time to produce and direct this piece. Kathryn Ross putting in her time to star in the play. Bev Craviero, Geoff Ortiz, Carla Bates, Maggie Luckeroth, and many others. Dick Van Dyke, Ozzie Silna and Trish Van Devere have helped a lot as have Eric Roth, Clark Cowan, Pepperdine University and many others.
However, when I think about who has done the most work to make the theatre the great success it has become I need look no further than Jackie Bridgeman. For many years she produced every show and from the beginning she beat the bushes to get the support we needed from this community and she did the leg work to get our building and our seating and our lighting. She converted The Shepard By the Sea Lutheran Church into a theatre and built our relationship with Actors Equity, Samuel French and the Los Angeles Stage Alliance.
She put Malibu Stage Company on the map and was the face of the theatre for nearly 20 years. If she couldn’t raise money, she gave her own. She used her home to house directors/actors/producers and board meetings.
Now I sit in the artistic director’s seat. A seat that would not exist without the efforts of Jackie Bridgeman. We all owe her a big pat on the back!
Richard Johnson