While there may be a sense of sadness leaving a job you have poured your heart and soul into for 44 years, there are also new possibilities to look forward to. The leadership team at Lamb\u2019s Players Theatre, made up of five individuals, recently announced they will leave at the end of this year to make way for a new group. But the adventure is not over for them, as they plan to continue to work on projects.<\/p>\n
The team of five is made up of Artistic Director Robert Smyth (joined in 1976 when he was 27), Associate Artistic Director Deborah Gilmour Smyth (joined the company\u2019s resident ensemble in 1979 when she was 22, and later married Smyth), Production Team Director Nate Peirson (started as an intern in 1982 at 28 years old), Associate Artistic Director Kerry Meads (joined in 1976 at the age of 23), and Art Director Christian Tuner (joined in 1972 at 20 years of age).<\/p>\n
Lamb\u2019s Players was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in Minnesota on June 7, 1971. The organization was created out of Steve Terrell\u2019s drama class at Bethel College in St. Paul. Seven members of the company moved to San Diego in 1972 because the street theatre season was limited in Minnesota.<\/p>\n
The theatre first operated out of a Quonset hut in El Cajon, then opened in National City in 1978. After a while, the shows\u2019 popularity forced the group to look for a bigger space. They found one in Coronado at the Silver Strand Theatre in the 1917 Spreckels building. The space had been used for storage for many years, and most people didn\u2019t realize it was there or had forgotten about it. John Spreckels, who built the whole block, loved music and had included a theatre. The space had not been maintained and needed a lot of work. \u201cWe did a $3 million capital campaign and brought it back to its original intended purpose,\u201d said Smyth.<\/p>\n
The idea of stepping down had been on Smyth\u2019s mind for some time. In fact, he first thought about it during COVID. \u201cI had been thinking for a while that I have a lot of friends who are artistic directors, and a lot of them are my age. I started to notice that someone was starting to come up from their boards\u2026[and say] \u2018you know it\u2019s time for you to go\u2019 and I thought I don\u2019t want anybody doing that for me. I want to decide when I go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He discussed his idea with the rest of the team before bringing it to the board. \u201cThrough all our conversations, we came to the understanding that it would be wise to leave all at the same time, and it would be at the end of the year,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
While a new team of three will take over, it doesn\u2019t mean the five will retire completely from Lamb\u2019s Players. \u201cWe don\u2019t\u2026see it like retirement. All of us still have a lot in us\u2026you\u2019ll be seeing us around,\u201d said Smyth.<\/p>\n
The five will have emeritus status, and they plan to be around, lend a hand, and they\u2019ll be invited to do projects.<\/p>\n
Meads agrees with Smyth about going out all together. \u201cAs Robert said, I\u2019m very much in agreement, with all five of us that have worked together for over 44 years\u2026 a chosen family in a sense, and when you create together there is something really special and bonding about that. I think it\u2019s only right that you go out with them, and for the people coming in for them to find their own voice\u2026the mission stays the same,\u201d she said. Meads doesn\u2019t like to use the word retirement. She is excited she\u2019ll have the time to work on projects that she never had time for. \u201cThere is a sense of freedom to explore some other kinds of things, but my heart will always be with Lamb\u2019s,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Gilmour Smyth explained that the team has discussed the possibility of doing a show here and there in the future on the Lamb\u2019s stage. She has worked with a few other theatres over the years and plans to continue doing that. \u201cI, like Kerry, feel very similar with the word retirement. I never had any aspiration for that. It\u2019s been 3\/4 of our lives we have been here\u2026it\u2019s a unique experience right now because it\u2019s unprecedented, because we have never been here before, discovering it day by day; how does it look? It\u2019s been an interesting process,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
A few years ago, Gilmour Smyth started doing film work, and two years ago she won an Emmy for an acting role in a short film. She also acted in another short film coming out soon.<\/p>\n
Overall, Smyth said that running a nonprofit theater company teaches you about patience, hope, and prayer. \u201cWe\u2019ve been fortunate to come through some really difficult times, recession, COVID, other things that made it bumpy earlier,\u201d he explained. He is also grateful for what he calls \u201cgrassroots supporters.\u201d While the theatre does not have big benefactors, it has been lucky to have an audience that has adopted Lamb\u2019s as its theatre home, and helped it get through some hard times.<\/p>\n
Smyth said he took a long time to decide who he would suggest to the board of trustees for a new team. \u201cI made a list, and there are a number of people that have real gifts that we know,\u201d he said. One person at the top of the list was someone he knew, but he wasn\u2019t sure she could take the job because she held a very high position at another organization. That person is Colleen Kollar Smith, who worked with Lamb\u2019s for 10 years. Fortunately, she said yes and also chose her leadership team: two other individuals she has worked with. Kollar Smith will serve as artistic director, Jennifer Bradford as chief philanthropy and administration officer, and Mike Bradford as chief financial and operations officer.<\/p>\n
Early on, Lamb\u2019s Players created a family, a gifted ensemble that could make a living through art. An ensemble meant there was no star, but a group of actors supporting and serving one another to tell the story, including designers and technicians. \u201cThe largest ensemble we had at any moment was 13, and from the time we opened the theatre until 2013 we had a professional group of actors on our staff; that\u2019s pretty crazy nowadays. Mostly, theatres don\u2019t do that anymore,\u201d said Smyth. The ensemble model ended after the great recession because it was no longer feasible. While Smyth grieved the loss of the ensemble, he looked around and realized there were 100 associate artists in San Diego. That became the new ensemble, bringing on people the team knew, had worked with, and were talented. That\u2019s one of the reasons Lamb\u2019s Players Theatre attendees often see some of the same actors return on stage time and time again.<\/p>\n
Gilmour Smyth said it\u2019s hard to pin down what she\u2019ll miss the most, noting the intimacy of the relationships with each other, the audience, all of the staff, and the theatre community in San Diego. She will also miss having the luxury of being generous to other theatre companies and letting them use their rehearsal space.<\/p>\n
Meads is grateful for how Coronado embraced the theatre. Long-time supporters with whom they have created relationships, those who have been ticket holders from way back, the sense of engagement with the style of theatre. \u201cPeople talk about how they love the stage, [how they feel] wrapped around the stage, the intimacy that comes into that, so connected\u2026 A committed audience that comes and wants to hear the story has been pretty faithful,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The three of them have worn different hats \u2014 directing, acting, and creating over the years. Smyth said, \u201cIf I had to choose, I\u2019m first a director, Deborah first an actor, Kerry first a playwright,\u201d he stated. Smyth added that one positive aspect is being able to change hats and reach audiences in different ways, while also developing a deep understanding of what it means to be an actor, a director, or a playwright. He added that Gilmour Smyth is also an amazing composer and Meads has written many scripts.<\/p>\n
One of the gifts of being in charge is that if you get an idea, you can make it happen, Meads pointed out.<\/p>\n
Mishaps and funny stories are part of performing. Smyth recalls when Gilmour Smyth vanished from the stage during a rehearsal of \u2018You\u2019re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.\u2019 \u201cI was sitting in the audience and watching a rehearsal; all of a sudden Debbie has a brilliant idea, and she gets up and runs across the stage to tell another actor something. When I look at the stage, suddenly my wife has vanished, and in her place is a mailbox,\u201d Smyth said. The flip trap had not been locked, and Gilmour Smyth seemed to vanish. \u201cIt was magical, humorous\u2026 It was terrifying; now it\u2019s funny,\u201d he said<\/p>\n
Gilmour Smyth recounts another mishap during \u201cSteel Magnolias\u201d when Meads slipped and fractured her wrist. The play was paused, and she had to ask if there was a doctor in the audience. Meads\u2019 wrist was set with a program before the EMTs even arrived.<\/p>\n
Over the years, when the ensemble was still part of the theatre, Lamb\u2019s actors performed at other venues around San Diego to keep everyone working. For that reason, Lamb\u2019s has produced full-stage productions in 16 different San Diego venues, including the Lyceum, California Center for the Arts, Moonlight Theatre, US Grant, and<\/p>\n
East County Performing Arts. \u201cWe were fortunate because almost always our audience would follow us when we went somewhere else,\u201d said Gilmour Smyth.<\/p>\n
Smyth has directed 175 of 385 productions, and Gilmour Smyth has performed in 175 of them. Meads wrote 21 original scripts for the annual Festival of Christmas and co-created four full-scale musical celebrations with Vanda Eggington.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been so blessed to be on stage with so many people. To have been able to raise a family within the theatre, because one of Robert\u2019s visions was that the theatre would be a place for artists to stay and raise their family, it\u2019s a tough business in terms of that,\u201d said Meads. One of her special memories will always be being on stage with both of her sons. She said that while her sons decided not to be actors, they developed an appreciation of the profession.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on what the team leaves behind as a legacy, the number one is love for the theatre. \u201cWe have infected\u2026 hundreds of thousands of people with the love of live storytelling. That\u2019s something I\u2019m happy about,\u201d said Smyth.<\/p>\n
VOL. 116, NO. 33 – Aug. 19, 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While there may be a sense of sadness leaving a job you have poured your heart and soul…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442392,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[3810,3211,74,76,75],"class_list":["post-442391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-coronado_home_and_business","tag-coronado_island_news","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}