Support black theatre. Fill those seats.
Those were some of Lisa Colbert’s last words.
The late, great thespian and professor wasn’t talking about the touring plays that frolic into town ever so often at concert venues.
She was speaking of traditional theatre/repertory companies.
Less than one week before her untimely death on June 16, 2002, Colbert penned that challenge to the community to keep black theatre alive.
Her column “Why support black theatre?” would have been Colbert’s second as a cultural arts columnist in this newspaper.
However, the talented actress and SIU-E assistant professor of dance and theatre passed from congestive heart failure as her final performance on the stage of life.
But her fight to keep black theatre alive and relevant lives on.
In 2003, Ron Himes, founding and producing director of the St. Louis Black Repertory Company, renamed his company’s annual theatre-based essay competition, a component to its Summer Performing Arts Program, as “The Lisa Colbert Essay Contest.”
The Black Rep and Colbert’s immediate family also produce the annual Lisa Colbert Memorial Reception and Black Rep Benefit, which runs from 6-8 p.m. Saturday, June 20 at Grandel Square Theatre.
The evening includes a viewing of the Black Rep’s current production, Sheldon Epps’ Blues in the Night, directed by Himes.
“That evening is part of Lisa’s family and the Black Rep’s commitment to Lisa and her passion for keeping theatre alive,” said Himes, who played opposite Colbert in the Black Rep’s Queen of Sheba in which she starred as his love interest.
Himes called Colbert an “incredible artist, wonderful teacher and great role model for young women in theatre.” Colbert often taught Black Rep summer classes.
Linda Kennedy, a Black Rep favorite and veteran, who also shared the stage with Colbert, remembers her as focused, talented and personable.
“She touched a lot of people,” said Kennedy, Black Repertory Company actress and artistic associate.
“She was always willing to strive and educate herself to be a better performing artist, and she was a great networker – not only for her own advancement, but to connect people.”
Colbert had performed in stage shows from coast to coast and made her way to film in TV, including the popular soap opera As the World Turns.
Her skills included stage combat, dance, storytelling, music theory, piano, mask work and driving (automatic).
After graduating from Rosati Kain High School, Colbert went on to graduate with honors from Loyola University with a Bachelor of Art in theatre. She received an MFA in acting from the University of California–Irvine.
Though Colbert lived in California and New York, securing work on both coasts, she always answered a curtain call from St. Louis, and eventually returned to live here.
Becoming a professor at SIU-E, Colbert established the Black Theatre Workshop, which continues on under the leadership of Prof. Kathryn Bentley. That program has the Lisa Colbert Memorial Scholarship in conjunction with the SIU-E Foundation to commemorate Colbert’s legacy of bringing diversity to the theatre.
Her sister Nicole Colbert-Botchway has done what she could do to keep her beloved sister’s memory alive to support theatre as she did.
“Although Lisa passed on seven years ago, she continues to inspire me to be of service to the community,” said Colbert-Botchway, adding that, “The time is now to support institutions that give up so much,” referencing her sister’s article.
In her last column for The American, Colbert wrote, “Our theatres need even more support because our communities are in need of messages outside of ‘mainstream’ images. Many of these images are not focused on our uplift and survival. Black theatre provides a space in which we can continue to develop fully realized black characters from an aesthetic that is truly our own.”
RSVP to the memorial celebration and benefit at lisacolbertlives@sbcglobal.ent
To view Lisa Colbert’s last words on supporting black theatre in its entirety, go to www.stlamerican.com.
