Vallejo’s Bay Area Stage Productions thrives on passion and community support

VALLEJO — For the last 15 years Jeff Lowe and Stacey Loew have produced more than 60 plays with their award winning, nonprofit theater company Bay Area Stage Productions.

After putting on plays at the Mira Theatre Guild and the Fetterly Playhouse for a few years, they found and rented their current venue at 515 Broadway St. in 2016. It was a former Carpet One store used as storage and full of junk. Lowe and Loew transformed it into a charming theater, but they didn’t do it alone. 

Volunteers helped them build walls and two dressing rooms, Benicia High School gave them curtains, Vallejo Music Theatre and the Eye Care Center in Napa donated the stage, Orinda’s Starlight Village Players offered the lights pole, and patrons donated money so they could buy chairs. “It was a lot of people coming together to see that Jeff and I succeeded in our little theater company,” Loew said.

Typically Lowe and Loew handle all aspects of a production, but sometimes they lend their space to other directors. It’s a win/win situation. “It's nice to sit back and let them take over,” Loew said, “and on the flip side, it's nice for them to be given the opportunity.”

That’s the case with their current production, “Alice by Heart,” a musical by Steven Sater and Jessie Nelson inspired by the 1865 children’s novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.” The director, Trey Reeves, met Loew at a party and mentioned that he was interested in directing “The Foreigner,” by American playwright Larry Shue. Lowe met with Reeves and accepted on the condition that he would also direct “Alice by Heart.”

Lowe had just acquired the rights to produce this musical, but one of the playwright’s stipulations was that all actors had to be younger than 25 years old. Since Reeves was a young director, Lowe saw an opportunity to bring an injection of youth into Bay Area Stage through him and his entourage. 

Reeves accepted the challenge even though he had never directed a musical. The results have surpassed Lowe and Loew’s expectations. “I've never heard that many young people with such finely tuned voices,” Lowe said. 

Lowe and Loew try to pick plays that appeal to everybody. As they speak about their company, they complete each other’s sentences. They’ve got a long history together. It hasn’t always been easy, but they make it work. “I can say he's my best friend,” Loew said. “He knows me better than anybody.” 

Lowe added, “I would say that’s true. We spend a lot of time together.”

They both keep full time jobs, Lowe as an optician and Loew as a school bus driver. Lowe leaves straight from his job to the theater for rehearsals, which take place Monday through Thursday from 6:30-10 p.m. Loew, who gets up at 4:30 a.m. for her job and has a three hour break in the middle, takes a nap, then heads to the theater. Friday through Sunday they iron out any rehearsal hiccups and present their shows.

It’s an exhausting schedule, but their burning passion for theater and the community’s support makes it worth it. “Whenever we're about ready to throw in the towel,” Loew said, “we get somebody saying nice things about us and the company, and that keeps us going. This past year Jeff and I got nominated as one of the top five Solano Heroes by the Times-Herald. It was quite an honor.”

“For me, it’s a big highlight to see someone grow beyond what they ever thought they could do,” Lowe added. “Where can you really get that experience rather than on a stage, watching what’s going on and seeing people do amazing things?”

The company survives through a loyal patron base, donations, grants, and the two founders’ own money, because ticket sales don’t cover all the expenses. Lowe and Loew don’t pay themselves a salary and the actors are all volunteers. The only ones who are paid are the musicians, because they are unionized. “We always just hope to break even,” Loew said. “If we get extra money, it rolls into the next show.” 

Their theater seats fewer than 100 people. It’s a cozy and intimate space that lends itself to forming friendships. Loew knows all their regulars by name. Patrons feel comfortable offering suggestions for what to put on next or, occasionally, to complain about Lowe’s choice of producing yet another David Mamet’s play — Mamet being one of his favorite playwrights.

In their fifteen years with Bay Area Stage, they have accrued many beloved memories. Loew’s favorite show was “Jesus Christ Superstar,” while Lowe favored “Sweeney Todd.” They are also fond of the children's plays they produce twice a year. Some of the kids that went through their program are now in college. 

The two founders of Bay Area Stage would like to see more Vallejoans involved with their company, either as a board member, an actor or, of course, a patron. “There are a lot of people in Vallejo that have never seen a Bay Area Stage show,” Loew said. “Why drive all the way to San Francisco, pay $65 a ticket, pay two toll bridges and $25 to park to go see a show, when you can stay local and go see a show for 25 bucks?”