Barbara Weinberger, Executive Director
You may know her as The Lady in Red who comes out at the end of each Living Black & White™ show in an eye-popping red dress. Or you may remember her as the person who makes a short curtain speech before each show. But chances are good that you don’t know much more than that about our Executive Director, Barbara Weinberger.
Last week Barbara wrote a lovely blog entry about me. This week I get to return the favor. And who better to give you an introduction to this accomplished woman than her husband.
Over the years Barbara has probably “worn more hats” than anyone else in the history of Pegasus Theatre. In a small theatre company like Pegasus, it’s a common occurrence for people to have multiple responsibilities. In Barbara’s case, however, the list is especially long: Managing Director, Producer, Volunteer Coordinator, Concessions Manager, Box Office Manager, Board President, Light Operator, Sound Operator, Production Assistant, Director, Development Director, Fundraising Chair, Facilities Maintenance, and currently Executive Director and Board Secretary.
From the beginning of Barbara’s involvement with Pegasus, a pattern emerged: If a job needed to be done and no one else could/would do it, Barbara would step up. One of my favorite examples is the night Barbara performed in a Living Black & White™ show to replace a sick actor.
To be clear, Barbara is a talented public speaker. But she herself will attest to the fact that there is a huge difference between acting and public speaking. And Barbara’s acting experience is limited to bit parts in high school productions.
But it was closing night, there was no understudy, and canceling the show would have meant the loss of thousands of dollars in revenue. Barbara immediately went into preparation mode, making sure she could fit into the costume and remember the lines. Not everyone thought she could do it, but she pulled it off! It was a delight to watch.
This willingness to do whatever needs to be done, without any ego, is one reason why Barbara is so valuable to Pegasus. Another is Barbara’s ability to solve thorny problems by thinking creatively. More than once, this has saved the day.
One year our makeup supplier was incredibly late shipping us the necessary supply for that year’s Living Black & White™ show. The supplier was so late, in fact, that we were at risk for not having enough makeup to open the show.
Others had called the makeup supplier and all had gotten the same story. But Barbara decided to give it one more try. And somehow, by asking the question a little differently, she discovered that the supplier had plenty of makeup! They just didn’t have the containers the makeup was normally put in for shipping. Barbara assured them that any container at all would be fine, and suddenly the problem was solved!
What makes Barbara’s contributions even more impressive is that she has a pretty significant day job as an HR consultant, and she has a pretty strong passion for that job. Somehow she finds a way to devote time to the theatre as well. It helps tremendously that in the past five years we’ve had an increase in our staff (paid and volunteer), which means there are more hands available when something needs to get done.
No matter how much work Barbara is able to delegate to our growing staff, I know she’ll always be involved in some way. And that’s a good thing! I am admittedly biased, but I can tell that her very presence makes a difference. May it continue to be so for years to come!