About Us
Crown City Theatre Company in Pasadena and Los Angeles California was founded in 1995 under the name La Petite Musicale to produce live theatre from musicals to Shakespeare from classical to contemporary. Its mission then and now is to create theatrical productions that use music as an integral part to tell the story or enhance the play. It all started in 1985 when William Reilly and Gary Lamb collaborated on a musical they wrote that received a grant for a workshop production in Ireland and then was produced in Chicago. FION THE FAIR (starring Steve Carell) was and still is the longest running show to play at the Coronet Playhouse. Then they wrote a new score for MARAT/SADE that was heralded as “brilliant” by the Chicago Tribune. The two started producing shows in Chicago including a production of ROMEO AND JULIET at the Ivanhoe Theatre. When they moved to Los Angeles they formed La Petite to produce their musical version of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (starring Joe J. Garcia and Angela Pupello), which won 5 Dramalogue awards. Their production of THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE was nominated as best production of the year by the L.A. Weekly and their GODSPELL (starring Rodney Hicks) broke new ground when they removed the clown make-up and moved it to the inner city skid row. Before these musicals, Gary started performing with Nevada Shakespeare in the Park (just outside of Las Vegas in Henderson, Nevada) playing roles such as Benedick in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING and Macduff in MACBETH. When La Petite took over the producing of Nevada Shakespeare they produced THE TEMPEST, TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, HAMLET (starring Bill Mendieta and Gregg Daniel), ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, OTHELLO (starring Jane Longenecker) and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (starring Bruce A. Young). During one of these productions they hired Matthew J. Williamson and started a collaboration with him playing Cassio in OTHELLO and Puck in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. When La Petite took a break from producing for the Arts Council of Henderson, Matthew took that opportunity to invite La Petite to help him produce a Shakespeare Festival in Pasadena, where they produced THE TAMING OF THE SHREW and renamed the theatre company Crown City after the old name given to Pasadena many years ago. Included in the company is their long-time Assistant Director and Stage Manager Kimberly Bullock who has been with the company since 1998, Dean Cameron who started designing for the company in 1999, and Gary’s wife Joanne McGee, who he met when they played twins in TWELFTH NIGHT in 1994.
