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Renaissance Theatre Biographies

Our Artistic Director, Bob Baker

Bob has worked in community theater for over 28 years, directing his first play with Twickenham Repertory Theatre, Inc. He moved on to direct for Huntsville Little Theatre (now Theatre Huntsville), Lee Deal Productions, and University Playhouse. Along the way he has won several awards for his work in directing, set design, and set dressing. In 1996 he joined a group of investors and incorporated the now defunct professional Theatre 'Round the Corner. He worked there for over 18 months but left after board policy changes ended the productions of SecondStage Theatre. He is originally from New Richmond, Ohio.  His introduction to theater was as a singing Bluebell in kindergarten, then a Hambone dancer some years later.  He made his stage debut appearing as Mr. Smith in Meet Me In St. Louis in the early 1960's, where he discovered his latent ability to set dress!   While at TRTC he developed both old and new scripts, directing for the MainStage such hits as "Murder at the Howard Johnson's" and "Della's Diner". For the now defunct SecondStage Theatre, he directed "Steel Magnolias", "Beauty and the Beast", many one acts, "Suddenly Last Summer" and WYRD Theatre.    He set dressed many shows including "Driving Miss Daisy", "Lion In Winter", "Dracula", "Sunshine Boys" and others. Some of his most memorable sets include "Light Up The Sky" (HLT), "Trip to Bountiful" (Lee Deal Productions), "Visit To A Small Planet" (UP), "Suddenly Last Summer" (UP & SecondStage), "Le Dangerous Liaisons" (HLT), the original and continuing "A Christmas Carol" (Fantasy Playhouse), "Showboat" (HCC) and "Night of the Iguana" (TH). At Renaissance Theatre at Lincoln Center, his work continues and so far includes set design and dressing for Ars Nova's productions of "The Medium" and "The Gift of the Magi". His most recent projects also include "Molly Sweeney", "Mill Stories", "Altar Boy", and "Hatch", which he wrote, designed and directed, and also "The Glass Menagerie" and "Master Class".    For the Burritt Museum on the Mountain, he designed and directed the original play "TimePiece", which ran for 5 seasons.  When not at the Renaissance Theatre you will find him busy at Alpha Estate Sales.     In 2001 his production of "Master Class" placed 3rd at the Southeast Theater Conference (SETC), with Natalie Rushing being nominated for Best Actress.  In 2002 he took Widows and Children First to the conference, winning a Judges Award for Set Design.  Renaissance Theatre has represented the State of Alabama three years in a row with Renaissance Theatre productions at SETC, winning Best Show for Holy Ghosts directed by Lane Hosmer in 2000.     In 2001 he was presented a Wings award for his set work on Noises Off and Natalie Rushing was awarded Best Actress from his production of Master Class.  In 2002, he won another Wings award for his set design for his production of The Tempest, which was also nominated for lighting and costumes.  Also that same year, his production of The Last Rose of Summer was awarded Best Supporting Actress with it going to Sherri Smith.  He is a recognized playwright with numerous citations for his original plays.

Our Production Manager, Gary Lee Knight

Gary is a native of Madison County, Alabama. He left the area in 1970 for a career in the United States Air Force, and after many years of continental and world travel, returned to the Huntsville area to live in 1990. The first play he went to see was "The Fantastiks" in the 1970's and was so impressed that he decided to get involved. Gary's theatrical experience spans over 25 years and includes all aspects of theatre from Stage Hand to Director and everything in between. He has performed locally for Theatre Huntsville, Fantasy Playhouse, Huntsville Community Chorus, Theatre Round The Corner, Burritt Museum, and of course Renaissance Theatre, in various roles including the Spirit of Christmas Present in "A Christmas Carol", King Henry the Eighth in "Anne of the Thousand Days", Charlie Anderson in "Shennandoah", Harry Mitchell in "The Sum of Us", Mancell Dean in "Second Samuel", and Kris Kringle in "Miracle on 34th Street", just to name a few.    He was also Technical Director for such shows as "Play it Again Sam" for Theatre Huntsville, "The Foreigner" and "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged" for Theatre Round the Corner, and "Mill Stories" for Renaissance Theatre, plus others. Gary has directed many types of theatrical productions from comedies to serious dramas. Among some of his most recent are "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" for Huntsville Community Chorus, "Jeffrey" and "Torch Song Trilogy" for Renaissance Theatre, and "The Glass Menagerie" for Renaissance Theatre.  Gary has won several nominations for Wings awards for his acting skill.  He has appeared most recently as old Arnold in Torch Song Trilogy (2002 Wings Nomination for Best Actor) and George in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.  He recently directed Land of the Dragon for Fantasy Playhouse and appeared in RT's production of The Lion In Winter as King Henry in 2004. In 2010, he directed the award winning Wedding Belles receiving a Wings Award for Best Set Design and Best Lighting Design.  Click on the following thumbnails to view set.   As Renaissance Theatre's Production Manager, Gary would like to extend a personal invitation to everyone to come down to our quaint little theatre and experience something truly magical. And as always Renaissance Theatre would like to thank our loyal audience members and sponsors for their continued support.

 

 

Telephone

256-536-3117 11AM until 5PM Tuesday Through Saturday

Postal address

1214 Meridian Street, Huntsville, Alabama 35801

Electronic mail

General Information: renaissanceplays@gmail.com

 

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Last modified: 01/14/12