A letter from the Artistic Director

Growing up in Colorado, I got my first taste of theater when I was in junior high school. I was fortunate to be in a place that offered theater opportunities for all ages and my first time on stage was with the “Younger Generation Players”- a great children’s musical company.

In the years since, I’ve had the opportunity to be in a wide variety of productions covering classical, contemporary, musical and experimental theater. I trained in Shakespeare and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

I met my wife, Amy, doing a show for a new company in Denver. I was the romantic lead opposite her good friend. Then the next production from this company, she played romantic leads against my best friend. I guess it was a match made by the theater gods.

Amy grew up in Westchester and when I went back east to visit her family I got my first taste of this part of the US. That’s what brought us to Peekskill, an exciting arts community with a lot of great opportunities for performing.

Once we settled in, I started looking for auditions in the area but couldn’t find anything other than musicals. While I got my start in musicals, I was looking for a company that did full length plays as well.

This led me to the exciting (others would call it insane) endeavor to build a theater that covers multiple genres and is accessible to all. I would take my years of experience and build a year-round production company.

We plan to put on six shows a year. The seasons will be a mix of classical and contemporary, drama and comedy, and a musical. One thing that we are excited about is a yearly competition that will result in a local playwright getting to show their original work.

Theater should be for everyone, but not everyone can afford the ridiculously priced tickets of Broadway. I want to make quality theater available to everyone so every production will have a dedicated “pay what you can” evening to target people who don’t normally have the funds to go see a show. I’m not saying my production values will be as high as Broadway’s, but I think you will be surprised at what a small theater can do.

Thank you all for your support. I look forward to this exciting undertaking.

Sincerely,

Nils Swanson
Artistic Director of ForAll Theater Company