As incoming artistic director at Lamb’s Players Theatre, Colleen Kollar Smith has been “thinking a lot about what role theater might play in this quickly evolving world and landscape.”
Her takeaway: “Theater is the original shared reality. It’s a shared experience.”
This truth, she said, invites exploration.
“What does it mean to be in a community?” she asks. “How can we extend the work externally? Are we artistically connecting to a community or a conversation that’s happening in a way that can build an audience that might be new to theater?”
Kollar Smith, whose long history with Lamb’s includes acting in, directing and choreographing productions there, heads a new leadership team that officially begins its duties on Jan. 1. It also includes Mike Bradford as incoming chief business officer and Jennifer Bradford as incoming chief philanthropy officer.
They’re succeeding five do-everything theater artists (Robert Smyth, Deborah Gilmour Smyth, Kerry Meads, Nathan Peirson and Christian Turner) who over the course of more than 40 years grew Lamb’s from a company housed in a converted church building in National City to a producing institution in Coronado.
The longtime artistic leadership team at Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado are preparing to retire at the end of 2026. They are, front row from left, Associate Artistic Director Deborah Gilmour Smyth, Producing Artistic Director Robert Smyth, Associate Artistic Director Kerry Meads. Back row from left, Art Director Christian Turner and Production Team Director Nathan Peirson. (Dave Rumley)
The outgoing leadership’s final production will be the musical “Godspell,” playing Jan. 6 through Feb. 21. Robert Smyth will direct.
A fresh start
Lamb’s Season 56, the first under Kollar Smith’s artistic direction, launches in March with the regional premiere of the swing-music tribute to veterans “Bandstand the Musical.” That will be followed by a stage adaptation of the film “Clue,” the world-premiere “Come Sail Away: A Yacht Rock Experience,” Josh Logan’s Tony Award-winning drama “Red” about abstract painter Mark Rothko, and, for the holidays, the musical “Million Dollar Quartet Christmas.” Tickets for the new season will go on sale in October.
“I’m excited to build seasons that have a little bit of taste for everyone,” said Kollar Smith. “Seasons that have diversity of genre and storytelling but are all rooted in the Lamb’s mission statement ‘To Tell Good Stories Well.’”
The new leadership team for Lamb’s Players Theatre beginning Jan. 1, 2027, are, left to right, Chief Financial and Operations Officer Mike Bradford, Chief Philanthropy and Administration Officer Jennifer Bradford and Artistic Director Colleen Kollar Smith. (Michael Pearce)
Those stories will remain in line with that mission statement’s emphasis, too, on “the spiritual dimension of the human experience” and championing the “moral imagination.”
“These are stories that ask questions like ‘What’s a person worth and what does grace look like and what do we owe each other?’” said Kollar Smith. “You can find the values that have always been at the core of Lamb’s which have been to take care of each other, to forgive each other, to look at what we have in common more than what sets us apart. Those are deeply core values to any faith.
“The programming will continue to reflect things that ask those questions.”
On the business side, “The company is being handed forward with intention,” said Mike Bradford, most recently executive director of programming and operations at Moonlight Stage Productions in Vista. “Robert (Smyth) has been planning this transition thoughtfully. It’s very rare for us to have this long period of time to learn from each other.
“We know that we have incredible partners both in the arts community in Coronado and in the greater San Diego area,” he said. “We’re having conversations with them on how we can work together in new ways to be able to help each other. Maybe shared infrastructure. Part of my background is in analytics, so I’m looking at how the data is shaping attendance, how we’re going to pivot in terms of marketing and maybe effect ticket sale in different ways.”
Jennifer Bradford, formerly executive director of the Moonlight Cultural Foundation in Vista, agreed that the previous leadership has given this one “a gift of time. Relationships don’t transfer with a press release. Having the opportunity to meet people in person who’ve had those relationships with Lamb’s over an expanse of time helps start us out on the right foot. Ideally in January people who are connected to the theater or care for it are not looking at strangers.”
“Aligning with other organizations that are doing great work in the community is a goal. We make ourselves and others stronger when we’re collaborating. We plan to build in one specific community partner per show and support the work that they’re doing.”
The incoming leadership team also recognizes the priority of attracting younger audiences to theater.
A cast photo from Lamb’s Players Theatre’s 2011 production of the jukebox musical revue “Mixtape.” Pictured front and center in the red blouse is then-Lamb’s ensemble member Colleen Kollar Smith, who will take over as Lamb’s artistic director on Jan. 1, 2027. (Lamb’s Players Theatre)
That begins, Kollar Smith said, “with programming, marketing and education.” Remaining as she is executive artistic director of the Campus Performance and Events Office at UCSD, Kollar Smith emphasized that “There is a very excited group of young theater-makers and -goers and artisans” out there. “We’re going to see what they’re interested in and what they’re connecting with, using the tools of the day (such as social media). Part of it is bringing those folks into the conversation.”
Mike and Jennifer Bradford, who have three sons and a daughter-in-law working regularly on San Diego theater stages, also were at the forefront of Moonlight Stage Productions’ thriving Moonlight Youth Theatre.
“Education was our gateway into the theater,” Jennifer Bradford said. “Our kids got involved in youth theater. That’s what brought us to where we are now. When you have students involved it’s easier to get their parents to come. Lamb’s has had an education program and we want to reignite that. Mike and I both have a lot of experience with youth theater and we’re excited to bring that to Lamb’s.”
There could be younger theater artists coming to Lamb’s productions, as well.
“The benefit of me being tied to UCSD and having relationships with SDSU is that we have some of the most exceptional students creating art, design and more,” said Kollar Smith. “Part of what we’re looking to do is formalizing some of those relationships with master’s students. To do that is certainly a priority for us.”
Season 56
Season 56 will feature “a balance” of artists well-known to Lamb’s audiences as well as new faces.
“We have a lot of opportunities across the entire season to get new artists into the fold,” Kollar Smith said. “It’ the way to keep building that associate artists pool. There certainly will be familiar faces, which is true of a lot of theaters in the region because we have such a beautiful theater ecosystem.”
Kollar Smith’s insights into her first season of productions as Lamb’s’ artistic director:
• “Bandstand the Musical”: “This was the first certifi.d show through the (veterans service organization) Got Your 6 Network for its depiction of veterans. Being in Coronado and San Diego as a region I wanted to do something to connect with the military community in a way that honors them. It’s a story that is hopeful and healing and speaks to Lamb’s’ tradition of having actor-musicians onstage,” said Kollar Smith, who will direct and choreograph the show. March 10-April 25.
• “Clue”: “I come from a generation that loves the (1985) film. This adaptation is tied to the film. It’s been touring but hasn’t had a professional production in San Diego. Geno Carr will direct the non-musical play. He’s such a brilliant comedian himself and won’t let any comedy go unmined.” May 12-June 27.
• “Come Sail Away: A Yacht Rock Experience”: “Jon Lorenz (co-creator with Kollar Smith and Taylor Peckham) and I have a history of creating work together, including ‘Mixtape,’ our homage to Kerry Meads’ and Vanda Eggington’s ‘Boomers.’ This comes from a place of us really experiencing the phenomenon of yacht rock. Patrons will feel like they’re boarding a cruise line. It’ll be a fun night out with some of the best smooth sounds of the ‘70s and ‘80s.”Kollar Smith will direct. July 14-Sept. 12.
• “Red”: “San Diego has such a remarkable visual arts community. Part of my thinking has been about art, about the legacy of art and because we’re in this transition of our own and a time where a legacy is being passed, looking at this piece and examining it from a different lens. I felt like it resonated for this moment for us in a way that made it right for this season.” Delicia Turner Sonnenberg will direct. Sept. 29-Nov. 7.
• “Million Dollar Quartet Christmas”: “We’re doing so many new things that I wanted something familiar to folks who’ve been such loyal patrons. They can look and say ‘Lamb’s is going to carry the past with them into the future.’ It’s a fun show that has all different songs (from ‘Million Dollar Quartet,’ which enjoyed a lengthy run at the theater in 2022) and a different feel. It’s a festive experience.” Kerry Meads will direct. Nov. 24-Dec. 26.
It’s premature of course for the new leadership team at Lamb’s Players Theatre to be thinking about leaving a legacy there as their predecessors have left before them, but the Bradfords and Kollar Smith are embracing the future as well as the present.
“We have big shoes to fill,” said Jennifer Bradford. “It’s a blend of showing how we honor those who came before and trying to build on what they’ve created while pushing forward into the future, bringing our own experience and what is unique about us. We’re like a spoke in a wheel, a continuation of what these amazing five people started with and what we bring to Lamb’s.”
Added Mike Bradford: “Hopefully however long we are at Lamb’s we’ll be able to stand on that during our tenure here. Most of all we want to continue and maintain a part of that legacy, which is taking care of the people who are employed at Lamb’s Players and that come here. I would like the stories that we tell to change with what’s happening in the world at the time, and then sometimes just give people a great time to come together at the theater.”
Given the precarious survival circumstances around the arts, including theater, Kollar Smith desires to “lead the way to what it looks like to be an adaptive organization. I’m excited to work with people and to explore and experiment in a way that could have a lasting impact.”
“I want to explore new ways to find sustainability that we might not have thought of yet. The (theater) industry as a whole is ready to have that conversation. We have an obligation as an industry to figure that out together.”