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The House that Geoff and Julia Built
How the co-producing artistic directors of A Noise Within are managing through the pandemic
By Marlena Becker
Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott. (Photo by Daniel Reichert)
This article is part of Stage Raw’s series on domestic partners who run Los Angeles-area theaters, on how they’re coping under a stay-at-home order, and what they envisage as a future, after the plague.
This particular interview is also part of the Z. Clark Branson/Stage Raw/Wallis Annenberg Center Grow@The Wallis Young Journalists’ Initiative, where the writer, Marlena Becker , is a Mentee.
A Study in Tenacity
A Noise Within’s production of ARGONAUTIKA (2019) Photo by Craig Schwartz
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Meanwhile, Geoff and Julia started what became a years-long, scrupulously well-organized capital campaign for the company to purchase its own building.
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Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott are married-with-children, and they are also co-producing artistic directors of the classical rep company they founded, A Noise Within. Their current state-of-the-art, 324-seat theater is located in Pasadena, and they understand how difficult it is to merge personal and professional relationships: Within the history of their company, they have seen multiple attempts by others fail, and they realize how fortunate they are to have navigated this blend successfully, particularly in disputes with other parties.
Founded in 1991, A Noise Within operated on a year-to-year lease in an upper floor of the Historic Masonic Temple in Glendale, where they staged performances for audiences of at first 60 people, then 99, then 145. In 1999, the Temple declined to sell the building to the theater and insisted on continuing the lease on a year-to-year basis. As a result, A Noise Within moved out of Glendale to the underutilized 1,150-seat Luckman Theatre on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles.
That arrangement did not go well. There were disputes over the price of tickets for competing youth outreach programs, as well as breach-of-contract issues over access to the Luckman’s facilities. In 2001, A Noise Within sued the Luckman and its then-Executive Director Cliff Harper for harassment and $50,000 in gratuitous expenses.
And so the company returned to the Historic Masonic Temple in Glendale. Meanwhile, Geoff and Julia started what became a years-long, scrupulously well-organized capital campaign for the company to purchase its own building, which led to the installment of their current mid-size theater in Pasadena, which they first occupied in 2010.
Since then, the company has 179 mainstage productions under its belt, a vigorous student outreach program, and critical accolades including the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle’s Polly Warfield Award for Excellence.
And then came the Coronavirus, and with it, the indefinite suspension of all live programming.
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Frederique Michel and Charles Duncombe’s City Garage, by Julyza Commodore.
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Challenges and Strategies
ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD (2018 )Rafael Goldstein, Paul David Story, and Kasey Mahaffy. (Photo by Craig Schwartz)
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“We’re more of a clipper ship than the Mayflower,” Geoff says. “… We really can attack [this situation] in a different way, fairly quickly.”
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Julia and Geoff have always been able to solve problems more quickly together than they could apart. And no situation has brought this to light more than COVID-19. Geoff shared how during this time, he is more appreciative than ever to have his partner by his side.
“Julia and I have been so used to working together for so long, which is definitely a strength,” he said. “Because I’m not going into it alone. That would be particularly scary.”
In compliance with quarantines and social distancing, A Noise Within has put a pause on live performances. “This is all so strange in that it really strikes at the core of what we do,” Julia elaborates, “because it’s all about being in a room together and feeling and breathing together… But we’re thinking forward.”
Geoff and Julia have strategized on a way to keep all of their administrative staff on payroll with full health benefits—not all theaters can do the same right now. Julia and Geoff host weekly Zoom calls with their executive committee and theater departments, they communicate frequently with their resident actors, and they organize online Happy Hours for their staff. In addition, A Noise Within has maintained its educational programs, hosting free virtual master classes with acclaimed artists and teachers. The couple announced their 2020-21 Season over Facebook Live, and they are optimistic that it will run as planned. However, they are also prepared to adapt if measures to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus continue into the Fall.
Despite the setbacks COVID-19 has caused, “we’re more of a clipper ship than the Mayflower,” Geoff says. “… We really can attack [this situation] in a different way, fairly quickly.” The couple believes there is no chance A Noise Within will sink. In fact, Geoff believes this crisis may actually increase awareness about the importance of theater. “There may be people who have a greater appreciation for theater, having lost it,” he said.
Geoff and Julia’s 18-year-old son, Jack, will attend North Carolina School of the Arts in the fall to study acting. Due to the virus, neither Jack nor his parents could visit the campus—“We hope to be able to do that before school starts,” says Geoff. Whether school will actually start on campus or be online the first semester is up in the air. However, Jack’s determination to pursue acting despite this crisis supports Geoff’s theory about the resilience of theater.
The couple are currently quarantined in their home with their son. “We are fortunate in that we have a comfortable home to shelter in place in-as opposed to many who do not,” Geoff says. He then adds, “We are both grateful and well aware that many people are really struggling. Truth be told we are cherishing this time with Jack knowing he will be leaving soon. Empty nesters for the first time!”
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David Melville and Melissa Chalsma’s Independent Shakespeare Company, by Ezra Bitterman
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Origins and Endurance
1991, the ensemble of ANW’S inaugural production (HAMLET)
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“I went back to my acting class and I told my acting teacher that I wanted to work on a Shakespeare monologue, which I did,” she recalled. “And when I was done, he laughed. He laughed, and he said ‘You know, Julia . . . this is really not for you.’ And now I’ve come to realize that [what he said] was code for ‘As a woman of color, this is not the world for you.’”
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Julia, born in Cuba and raised in Miami, discovered her love for classical theater at the University of Florida, when the Royal Shakespeare Company visited the campus to perform an evening of Shakespearean love scenes. The performance was particularly inspiring for her. “I went back to my acting class and I told my acting teacher that I wanted to work on a Shakespeare monologue, which I did,” she recalled. “And when I was done, he laughed. He laughed, and he said ‘You know, Julia . . . this is really not for you.’ And now I’ve come to realize that [what he said] was code for ‘As a woman of color, this is not the world for you.’”
Clearly, Julia would prove him wrong.
A Kentucky native, Geoff also found his passion for theater in college at the University of Kentucky, after seeing a performance that would prove to be transformational. Soon afterwards, Geoff transferred to the University of Florida to study theater, where he would meet his future wife.
Both Julia and Geoff went on to study acting at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, famous for its rigorous training in classical texts. Afterward, the couple moved to Los Angeles and worked in film, television, and commercials. Still, they felt something was lacking.
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Jack Stehlin and Jeannine Wisnosky Stehlin, and their New American Theatre; by Steven Leigh Morris.
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“We had trained at ACT where language-based plays were everything . . . We dreamed to perform classical works, but we had no opportunity to do that [in LA],” Geoff explained. “So we decided to put our money where our mouth was. We had $3,000 in our savings account, and we pulled it out.” With those funds, and with their collaborator Art Manke, they produced their inaugural production for A Noise Within in 1991, a bare-bones Hamlet.
Driven by their mutual determination and passion, Geoff and Julia devised a way to share the stories they loved—together, and on their own terms. Their performances were intimate, with minimalistic and imaginative sets. A Noise Within continued, and the couple managed to navigate all the issues that arose due to their theater while raising their two children, Allison and Jack.
A Noise Within remains committed to producing classic theater in an intimate setting. The couple consciously use the term “classic” over “classical,” for classic works of theater reflect universal human experiences, no matter what year they were written. “True yesterday, true today, true tomorrow,” says Julia. This not only allows for a greater range of theater to be presented at A Noise Within, but also challenges audience members to reinterpret their preconceived notions of a theatrical piece.
A Noise Within upholds a rotating repertory model, where several shows alternate throughout a performance week. These shows are performed by a core of resident artists who collaborate with one another year after year, often on multiple shows at a time. “There is incredible value in having a group of artists that . . . embrace the company’s goals and core values,” Julia explained. “Beyond what they do on stage, they are part of the community and support our education programs. To have these types of artists in our core group of people makes us that much stronger.”
“We tend to think alike in terms of the work that we like…the work that we think is authentic, and honest, and powerful, and vital… We have disagreements, but we almost always end up being on the same page,” said Geoff. “We’ve always been able to [co-direct], because we simply think in the same way. We’ll be in different parts of the room watching a scene or a production, and when we compare notes they’re generally the same notes in the same moments. And that’s a very fortunate thing.” Julia added, “and beyond having that simpatico, we’re energized by each other’s input in a rehearsal room. When you’re a director, you often feel very isolated and alone, as if you need to know all the answers. And to have a partner in the room that you can bounce ideas off of is invaluable. But I know I couldn’t do this with anyone else.”
Geoff and Julia christened their theater “A Noise Within” after the Shakespearean stage direction, but also to highlight the creative impulse that surges within artists. If this crisis imparts anything, it is how this couple will not let anything silence their noise within.
