Board Changes Announced At A Classic Theatre

With the Fall season, change is in the air and A Classic Theatre announces the retirement of its founder, Jean Rahner, and Technical Director, Tom Mangan from the Board of Directors.

Jean Rahner founded A Classic Theatre in 2005 with a reading of the little-known "Marat/Sade" at the Cultural Center which was located at that time at St. Augustine Beach. That reading set the stage for her vision of creating historic, classic and original theater offerings for residents and visitors of St. Augustine.

Fast forward to 2019 and fourteen years later, ACT had become a full-fledged Florida non-profit 501(c)3 organization with over a hundred productions under its belt. Jean had fulfilled her vision of bringing remarkable original productions as well as many historic and true classic plays ... even some contemporary shows onstage.

Too many outstanding productions to name here, among them were the world premiere productions of "My Friend Zelma: Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings on Trial" by Dr. Michael Gannon (2010), "The Imperative" by Roger Rueff (2010), and the musical "Sweet Emmaline: The Musical Journey of Debbie McDade" by Deborah B. Dickey (2016).

Although Jean has formally retired from the Board of Directors, she is keeping connected with ACT by creating and chairing the ACT Advisory Committee. She is also on the board of First Coast Opera and is involved with the arts group that is working toward building a performing arts center in St. Augustine.

Tom Mangan joined ACT in 2014 and quickly became the man who created the light and sound magic. He loved the challenge of making that magic in the variety of locations ACT produced their shows. In those days, ACT was known as 'the nomad theater of St. Augustine' and it was a challenge indeed.

Tom became a member of the ACT board in 2016. Although his "day job" was with a huge entertainment company located here in Florida, Tom always found time to create the lighting effects for ACT shows. He took it upon himself to travel to Las Vegas to attend a lighting training seminar and he became a certified lighting designer. His day job has become more demanding and takes him to New York City on a regular basis. We will miss Tom greatly but wish him well in his demanding position in the 'real world.'

For more information visit: ClassicTheatre.org

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