THE BROADWAY CONNECTION
S
anta Barbara’s Hollywood connection is well known and
well documented. Santa Barbara was one of the original
homes of the movie industry. Remnants of the “Flying
‘A’ (American Film Manufacturing Company) Studio still stand
on Mission Street. Founded in 1912, Flying A produced nearly a
thousand films before bowing to the dominance of its southern
neighbor, Hollywood, in 1918.
But there is another connection that in many ways rivals that of
Hollywood and the movie business: Broadway. Over the years, actors,
actresses, singers, and dancers, have been and continue to be groomed
and tutored by some of the most talented mentors on the West Coast.
Having grown up in this artistic outpost hanging at the edge of
the western world, I have never ceased to be amazed at the exports of
creative talent who launched their careers here and who now impact
the Broadway stage in numbers that belie the size of this little burg.
On a recent trip to New York City, their cumulative impact was
driven home to me. New York City, as the creative cauldron that it
is, demands the highest level of passion, talent, and expression from
its artists, and since I was overdue to refuel my mind and soul, and
reignite my own creative muse, I set out to New York for a heavy dose
of inspirational ‘battery charging.’
Once comfortably settled in Manhattan, I surrounded myself
with visual art and theatre, and that is when the fact of Santa Barbara’s
outsized influence on the Great White Way smacked me in the face.
The Santa Barbara-Montecito connections to the life of this vibrant
city are endless.
Jeannie
and
Pimm Fox
and their precocious ten-year-old daughter,
Lila
, hosted me in their West 54th St. apartment overlooking New
York’s Museum of Modern Art’s garden. Lila is an accomplished visual
artist whose gallery-worthy works adorn many of the walls of the
Foxes’ home. Lila made her modeling debut in
Oprah
magazine
at the
ripe age of one
.
Jeannie – a talented graphic artist – grew up in Santa
Barbara and was Access Theatre’s designer in the ‘80s. Her Santa Barbara
company, Sprecher Design House, supported many area non-profits
including Dream Foundation, Planned Parenthood, Contemporary Arts
Forum and my company, Access Theatre. She continues this generosity
Mr. Lathim, a fifth-generation Santa Barbaran, is the founder of Access Theatre. He is also an accomplished playwright, director, and producer. His
next big project is overseeing promotion and curriculum development for a three-hour documentary mini-series on the California Channel Islands
titled “West of the West.” He will produce the world premiere screenings at the Arlington Theatre March 5 and 6, 2016, and the series will be aired
across the country via PBS shortly thereafter.
BY ROD LATHIM
28
winter
|
spring
(from left, rear)
Michael Douglas, Billie Burke Perkins,
Rod Lathim, John Fink, and Val Lamar,
(front)
Katie
Voice, and Thom Rollerson salute Access Theatre’s
Listen
For Wings!
at Center Stage Theater circa 1993
