From the very beginning -- the very first production of The Keegan Theatre -- both George and Gloria Lucas have been there for the company, working tirelessly behind the scenes and steadfastly supporting the work we do. George and Gloria have made a huge difference in the life of Keegan, not only in the outcome of individual productions, but in where we are today.
A career carpenter and home improvement contractor, George gave up the construction trades due to a long illness and subsequent liver transplant, for which he is forever thankful to his Donor Family. He now works as a freelance designer and artist-sculptor; his large outdoor works have been exhibited in numerous galleries and private collections throughout the eastern United States.
But to Keegan, George is most famous for his fabulous and imaginative set designs, and his beautiful wife Gloria is as famous for rolling up her sleeves to help out in any way she can as she is for her delicious brownies, which are highly sought out by cast and crew alike on each production.
The amazing set designs –which Keegan audiences have now come to expect– are most often the brainchild of George. Who else could send specs for a set for A Streetcar Named Desire across the Atlantic to be built by actors on a loading dock in Ireland? Who else could design a set that would fit perfectly onto nine stages the designer has never seen –some small black boxes and some huge auditoriums? Who else could design a set that could be taken down in a couple of hours after a show by a group of exhausted actors, packed into an Enterprise rental van, jostled back-and-forth across miles of narrow winding roads, unpacked, and then rebuilt in five hours by the same road-weary actors? None other than George Lucas.
And what woman other than Gloria Lucas would pull carpet tacks out of flats for an hour, then don yellow plastic gloves to disinfect a dressing room, only to move on to picking up loose screws from a stage where a set is being disassembled, and then, as the workers are starting to get cranky, cheerfully appear with a tin of carefully packed homemade cookies and bottles of ice cold water to refresh, delight and revive the striking crew?
Core supporters do not get more core than this pair, whether attending a production meeting in a church basement on a Saturday morning at 10 AM, striking a set at 11 PM a couple of nights before Christmas, or attending every Keegan show. They are also the parents of Keegan co-founder and artistic associate, Eric Lucas; the parents-in-law of actor artist Kerry Waters Lucas, and the grandparents of Keegan Lucas, one of The Andrew Keegan Theatre’s beloved namesakes.
We certainly love George and Gloria too!
Begun in 2003, the annual
League of Washington Theatres Off-Stage Honors Awards are presented each spring in a ceremony and reception in Washington, DC.
The Off-Stage Honors Awards, also known as the "Offies," are presented to people nominated by League members for their remarkable contributions and dedication behind the scenes.
The work, committment, and efforts of these individuals, most often unseen by the public and unreported on by the media, provide essential support to the theatre community.
Carol Baker, Don Wright, Mark Rhea in 2003
