MORE ABOUT US
The People Who Bring You The Hermosa Beach Playhouse

JAMES A. BLACKMAN III
Executive Director/Producer
Attending Aviation High School in Redondo Beach and graduating in 1973 and getting his first job at “The Kettle” in Manhattan Beach in 1974 for starters James’ accomplishments are wide and varied. James embarked on a career path that eventually brought him to our Nation’s Capitol. Living in a neighboring community, he became an elected official for Prince Georges County, Maryland. Among his major accomplishments was the creation of an
historic district to preserve about 500 pre- and post- Civil War homes. He also helped in the creation of a $140 million judicial center. Later, he came into the service of Ann Lewin, the founder and the
original creator of the Children’s Museum of Washington, D.C., which has been duplicated across America. Just before James left to come home to Los Angeles, he took a position with the White House to restore the USS Sequoia and to bring it back to presidential service. After returning to Los Angeles, James went to work with the Blind Children's Center, taking care of some of the center’s immediate fund raising needs. He became the managing director of the resident company at the Pasadena Civic and then was wooed away to Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera. While there, James decided it was time to be his own boss and opened Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities in August of 1991, which is now Southern California’s largest producing civic light opera. James is very pleased that he has created something that all the people of the Los Angeles and South Bay can be proud of. Other accomplishments include lecturing at the USC Entrepreneur Program and working very closely with The City of Redondo Beach on the expansion and complete renovation of The Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center dedicated in January 2003 by the first lady of theatre Carol Channing and the person who also handed James his first Ovation Award for best musical in 1999. Hermosa Beach Playhouse gives James the and the CLO artistic team opportunity to show off all their other production talents to create plays in an imamate setting which give the theatre goers a way different experience from the huge musicals which rounds out the full performing arts live theatre experience with thanks to the Hermosa Beach Arts Foundation and the City of Hermosa Beach we are proud to their resident production company. And now as we turn 18 years old the theatre renovation in Redondo Beach is completed the lobby is beautiful and we just closed a huge box office hit with Miss Saigon placing the bar to a new height for our company to achieve again in the future.
J. DOUGLAS McPHERSON
Chief Financial Officer/Director of Operations

BRENDAN ROME
Director of Public Relations & Development
MARTHA THOMPSON
Accountant
THEODORE ESCOBAR
General Manager
CHRISTOPHER BEYRIES
Associate Producer/Technical Director
COLSTEPHANIE A. COLTRIN
Associate Producer/Production Manager
JAMES RODRIGUEZ
Subscription Manager
KEN HARTER
Subscriber Relations
FRANK PRATER
Subscriber Relations

JANET HAGOPIAN
Audience Development

 
STEVE RIVERA
Audience Development

CAROL TOVAR
Audience Development
 

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© 2008 The Hermosa Beach Playhouse. All rights reserved.