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About Circus Theatricals

Circus Theatricals is a nonprofit theatre company with a studio ensemble of actors, directors and playwrights who develop and perform in Circus Theatricals main stage productions, second stage productions, and workshops, as well as participate in weekly studios. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Jack Stehlin, the ensemble includes an active membership of working professionals from stage, film and television.

As a recent graduate of The Julliard School, Jack Stehlin founded Circus Theatricals in New York in 1983. The company’s notable NYC productions include Shakespeare’s Macbeth Off-Broadway at the Classic Stage Company and Danton’s Death at the Rapp Arts Center. In 1995, Circus Theatricals moved to Los Angeles, where Jack met and partnered with Jeannine Wisnosky (who married two years later).

In LA, Circus Theatricals was in residence at The Hudson Guild from 1995 - 1999, (with award-winning productions of The Job, Hedda Gabler) and the Odyssey Theatre from 1999 to December 2005 (with award-winning productions of Hamlet, Richard III, True West, Tartuffe, The Cherry Orchard).

From 2006 – 2008,Circus Theatricals presented a string of critically-acclaimed world-premiere and classic productions in our studio theatre in the Wilshire district including John Bunzel’s Complexity, Chuck Rose’s Safe, The Heiress, and The Women. Productions of Shem Bitterman's Iraq War companion pieces Man.gov and 2008 Pen USA Award winning play Harm's Way were presented both in LA and Off-Broadway. Circus Theatricals is pleased to back in residence at the Odyssey Theatre.

The Circus Theatricals Studio Ensemble is the engine of our creativity and the source of our talent. Concentrating on the artistic and professional growth of the actor, Circus Theatricals offers studios in performance technique, scene study, Shakespeare, on-camera TV & film workshop, and Jack Stehlin’s master class.

Circus Theatricals has garnered awards and nominations from the LA Drama Critics Circle, Back StageWest, the LA Weekly, LA Stage Alliance Ovations, and Dramalogue.

Our plans
As we’ve grown throughout the years, our goals have grown along with us. We moved into our new home so that we can have the room to make our theatrical dreams a reality. As a producing entity, we will present a season of four main stage, four second stage, and four lab productions each year. We will continue to develop new works with established and budding playwrights, expand our community outreach programs, develop a subscription audience, continue to develop the Circus Theatricals Studio Ensemble, start a children's program, and enhance the quality of training in The Circus Theatricals Studio for Actors.

How can you help?
There are many ways to help us grow. The easiest way is to join our Email Club, and support us by attending our productions. Of course, you can also become a founding donor. Your tax deductible contribution will be most welcome, and will help us make improvements, pay artist wages, and hire additional staff, among other things.

How to become Artistically Involved
Circus Theatricals has so much to offer. Now is a great time to come aboard and join our company. We are a creative a home for actors, directors, playwrights, screenwriters, producers, designers, you name it! Are you full of ideas? The possibilties are unlimited! Give us a call or EMAIL our team, and find out how you can be a MEMBER of Circus Theatricals.

THE CIRCUS THEATRICALS STUDIO ENSEMBLE
The Circus Theatricals Studio Ensemble is an elite ensemble of actors, directors and writers. Artists collaborate in the production of new and classic plays, develop and present lab productions, as well as participate in a weekly studio. The Studio is designed to further all aspects of the theatre art. Under the direction of Artistic Director Jack Stehlin, members seek to create an atmosphere of collaboration towards the development of a common working language. Steeped in the tradition of Stanislavsky, The Studio focuses on acting, technique, voice, speech, movement, text, and the development of new plays.

THE CIRCUS THEATRICALS STUDIO FOR ACTORS
The Circus Theatricals Studio for Actors offers serious training for the professional actor who wants to develop or refine his or her skills. Participation in our classes is by audition/interview. This season, we'll offer: Jack Stehlin's Advanced Scene Study Workshop with Performance Showcase, Alfred Molina's Shakespeare Workshop, Robert Cicchini’s On-Camera TV & Film Workshop, and a 10 Week Shakespeare Workshop with Geoffrey Owens.

About our Name

Con Colleano performs his world-famous wire act photo courtesy of Kitty Stehlin

Jack Stehlin founded Circus Theatricals in New York in 1983. Looking for a unique name, he decided to honor his family, who happen to have been very famous circus performers through much of the 20th century. His great-grandfather, (who's actual last name was Sullivan) was an Australian "take all comers" fighter at the turn of the century. Sullivan trained his nine children to be a traveling Australian circus act. Known as the "The Colleano Family Circus," they eventually moved to the United States. Quickly signed on the the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the Colleaos performed center ring as tumblers, acrobats, and jugglers (and like every family, they even had a clown!)

Stehlin's grandmother Kate "Colleano" was exceptionally strong. One of her specialties was balancing a ten foot ladder on the bottom of her bare feet. Her sisters would then climb the ladder and do acrobatic tricks on the top. Stehlin’s Aunt Winifred is in the Circus Hall of Fame for her unique trapeze act. Uncle Con Colleano was the most famous of all. Billed as "Con Colleano, Wizard of the Wire," Con is in the the Circus Hall of Fame and the Guinness Book of World Records for performing the first toe-to-toe forward somersault on a wire. His famous wire dancing and forward somersault are legendary.

Jack Stehlin's mother Kitty O'Donnell "Kitty Colleano" was part of the second generation of Colleanos to join the famous circus act. Performing under the moniker "The Juggling Colleanos," Kitty performed a juggling and tumbling act with her two brothers and two sisters. Besides traveling the United States, they were often seen on popular television programs such as the Ed Sullivan Show. Kitty officially retired from the circus shortly before Jack’s birth.