Meet Hadiyyah Smith of Los Angeles/Simi Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hadiyyah Smith.

Hi Hadiyyah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am from Florida and I have always wanted to be an actress and a singer and after spending my public school years in Medical Magnet programs I finally auditioned for an acting program at Florida State University and I got in. That was it I decided that is what I was going to do. So after Graduating I moved out to LA. I started auditioning and I joined some Theatre Companies. The main company was where I met my best friends and Business partners. However, in 2019 the company we were a part of closed down so we took matters into our own hands and decided to start our own company. Covid had other plans and it forced us to put our plans on hold and one of our founders moved away. But in 2023 we came back with a vengeance and started Run Amuck Entertainment. We wanted to continue to do original shows and we wanted to highlight the fact that we are a Woman and Minority owned company. And now two years later we are here with an LLC and a Non-profit that we use to bring Shakespeare and the classics to under represented communities with our Run Amuck in schools program!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. We started this company very quickly so we could start doing shows again, however, without our own venue we have bounced around a lot. But, we have the best community. We have found a home for our children’s shows in Brightstart Performing arts and the perfect venue for our speak easy cabaret series at Bar Lubitsch in Hollywood.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We are a Theatre company that specifically focuses on original shows and experiences. We also strive to bring the classics like Shakespeare to under represented communities. We are known for our Speakeasy Cabaret series which came from an Idea one of our former founders had. She always wanted to do a cabaret series that spanned time and we started with the 20s. We didn’t want to do just any cabaret so we added a storyline of a ragtag team of bootleggers who took over the venue but now have to put on a show as a cover for their bootlegging business. We built in drinking games and encourage the audience to sing a long. Over the past two years this series has taken on different looks ranging from a self help group for the wives of mall Santas all the way to vampires luring in their next meal and we can’t wait to see where this goes.

Our Run Amuck in schools program was new for us and it was so rewarding. We started off with directing the sixth graders in a production of Romeo and Juliet using both puppets and live actors. We then moved on to doing an advisory program where we really broke down aspects of Shakespeare and his work and at the end of the semester the students performed scenes from the hilarious play I hate Shakespeare!

All of these different shows and performances are what we do best. We all come from a teaching and or education background as well as a performing background and we wanted to out the two together to follow our dreams as well.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
We really just want to provide a fun environment, an environment that amplifies the voices of marginalized communities and one that makes people forget their problems at least for a little while. We want to be the people that spark a love of Shakespeare and the classics in kids that might otherwise not have the exposure we did, or find a way to make the classics something everyone can relate to.

If you’re looking for something to do this Halloween season join us for our Spookeasy Cabaret October 19th at Bar Lubitsch!

Pricing:

• $25 GA ticket prices for the speak easy cabaret
• $30 VIP tickets for Speak easy cabaret series

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.runamuckentertainment.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runamuckent and https://www.instagram.com/runamuckstudiosinc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Runamuckent

Image Credits
Images provided by Photography by Selah on instagram @Photography_selah