Celebration Theatre debuts new leadership at awards event

Acting Artistic Director Brittney S. Wheeler and Board Chair Justin Jones share vision for queer storytelling, announce Co-Artistic Director search 

Los Angeles, CA, April 4, 2023—Celebration Theatre, one of the nation’s longest-running LGBTQIA+ arts organizations, recently presented its first live fundraiser since 2019, as part of a new partnership with the Los Angeles LGBT Center, a prime opportunity to introduce new leadership and to share their commitments to the Los Angeles theatre community—and the queer community at large. 

During the “Celebration Honors: Del Shores” awards gala on March 11, acting Artistic Director Brittney S. Wheeler (she/her) shared her inspiration for her first artistic selection, a gender-expansive reimagining of the Finn & Lapine musical A New Brain, stressing the desire to offer “non-binary, gender-variant, and/or female-identifying folx from all walks of life […] a chance to be seen and heard, to bring out nuances that may have not been felt or seen before in this work”. Considering her new artistic position underway, Ms. Wheeler adds:

“My aim in this role is to bring visibility to the invisible. To delve deeper. Producing art from every facet of our community, to curate and foster a voice not only the artist can be proud of, but to tell the stories and hear the perspectives that the mainstream theatre and entertainment industry keep unheard because of societal constraints and oppression. We must never lose the heart of art; without it, we are nothing. Our mission thrives as long as love and belonging remain at the core of who we are and what we do.”

Board Chair Justin Jones (he/him), a performing artist and marketing executive who found Celebration Theatre as a company member during the pandemic and ascended to a governance role in December as well, shared with attendees:

“We are here to provide people, young and older, with their first moment in a theatre seeing a story that represents their lived experience. Not just in words, but in productions that reflect them. In performers and in creative collaborators that are them. We are here to innovate and reimagine well known shows in the queer canon and premier new stories that equally serve our mission to ‘entertain, inspire, and empower’…To make that mission a reality, our board will expand and diversify in big ways this year with influential community leaders carrying strategic expertise to build the resources we need to be a sustainable, beloved nonprofit institution for the coming decades.”

During the program, Jones also announced that the theatre is opening a search this spring for a Co-Artistic Director to work alongside Wheeler, whereby the two leaders will “drive creative excellence” and collaborate in the programmatic stewardship of the theatre’s 40-year mission.

Brittney S. Wheeler has been a company member for over 10 years in addition to being a decorated, award-winning performer. A classically-trained vocalist and seasoned actor born and bred in Los Angeles, Wheeler previously served as the theatre’s Casting Associate for resident Casting Director, Jami Rudofsky (she/her), helping cast several of the theatre’s biggest productions to date. She was invited to join the artistic team as Associate Artistic Director in 2021 until her promotion to acting Artistic Director in December 2022. Ms. Wheeler has considered Celebration Theatre to be a life-changing part of her artistic world since 2012, when she joined the cast of the hit production of The Color Purple, A New Musical. A member of AEA and a featured soloist of the Pasadena Chorale, Brittney S. Wheeler holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Concordia University Irvine, and an MA in Theatre Arts from California State University, Northridge. 

Justin Jones is a Colombian-born theatre practitioner and marketing professional residing in Los Angeles. As an artist, Justin made his Broadway debut in Home for the Holidays at the August Wilson Theatre in 2017. He has been featured on Netflix’s “Sugar Rush”, Comedy Central’s “Tosh.O”, Lionsgate’s “The Newest Pledge”, and in the original Lifetime movie-musical “Christmas Harmony” for which he co-wrote the songs with Nanea Miyata. He has starred regionally at Reprise Theatre Co., 3D Theatricals, Casa Mañana, Music Theatre Guild of Los Angeles, Theatre 3 Dallas, and more. Justin is co-creator of concert series “The Broadway Cage Match” with Bruce Merkle and has performed in concerts at The Birdland, Rockwell Table & Stage, Radio City Music Hall, and with the Chicago company of The 12 Irish Tenors. He is also a proud graduate of the Circle in the Square Theatre School in NYC.

As a marketing professional, he has held leadership positions at Gifts for Good, WeeCare, RadPad, and Realtor.com where he currently leads as Director of B2B Marketing for rental real estate. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with companies like Google, Facebook, HP, Pfizer, CBRE Group, Netflix, Salesforce, Fox, Adobe, Oracle, Snap Inc., National Geographic, Red Hat, and more. 

As Acting Artistic Director, Wheeler is part of a staff that includes Executive Director Christopher Maikish (he/him), Director of Production Michael O’Hara (he/him), and Associate Producing Director Nathaniel Mathis (he/him). Jones chairs a Board that includes actor/playwright June Carryl (she/her), nonprofit fundraising & events executive Mary Dominguez (she/her), visual artist Mark Giberson (he/him), and performing artist Parnell Damone Marcano (he/him). Together, they work with a company membership of almost thirty artists and theatremakers.

Celebration Theatre, in association with the Los Angeles LGBT Center, returns to its first musical staging in over three years with an inspired, gender-expansive revival of Finn & Lapine’s A New Brain. For more information, visit www.celebrationtheatre.org/anewbrain.

Those interested in more information about the open Co-Artistic Director position should send a letter of interest and resume to careers@celebrationtheatre.org.

Celebration Theatre is supported, in part, by the California Arts Council and the City of West Hollywood. The upcoming production of A New Brain is supported, in part, by a grant from the David Lee Foundation.

---

ABOUT CELEBRATION  THEATRECelebration Theatre is one of the nation’s oldest, continuously producing LGBTQIA+ theatre. Founded in December 1982 in a Silverlake storefront, the nonprofit was expressly organized as a community theatre “of, by, and for gay and lesbian people and their friends.” Since then, the Los Angeles-based company has consistently mounted theatrical productions representative of, and in support of, the queer community: always with a sharp focus on inclusion, visibility, and pride. GLAAD, NAACP, LA theatre awards and many other benchmarks for excellence have recognized the theatre and its artists— performers, writers, directors, designers, musicians, and producers. Scores of LGBTQIA+ luminaries have graced Celebration’s stages over the years as it continues to provide an inspiring and empowering forum for professional and emerging artists, giving voice to the evolving experience of queer culture. CELEBRATIONTHEATRE.ORG