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Meet Jay McAdams and Debbie Devine of 24th STreet Theatre

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay McAdams and Debbie Devine.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Jay and Debbie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
We’ve been working in children’s theatre for 3 decades. For 10 years we were the children’s theatre company of the Odyssey Theatre. Then we got an opportunity to be part of a new theatre near USC, where the dean of theatre at USC wanted a professional theatre in the community. We joined forces with Stephanie Shroyer and Jon White-Spunner and opened 24th STreet Theatre.

The low-income mostly Latino community changed our focus almost immediately. As we met kids from the neighborhood, we realized that we needed to do more than just plays at this new theatre. And we added free after-school programs, theatre in Spanish, and school-day programs. In our early years, outreach became an integral part of 24th STreet Theatre.

Today we are celebrating our 20th anniversary and we have served over 1,000 neighborhood kids with free after-school programming, over 75,000 students and teachers with school field trips, and tens of thousands to our MainStage performances. I am so proud of how many kids we’ve helped get into college, how many kids I’ve helped expand their self-esteem, and how many audience members we’ve helped inspire with world-class art over the years. Most people think theatre just do plays, but 24th STreet’s tagline is More Than Just Plays, because we are I the business of inspiring people. It’s so much more than just plays.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Running a small theatre in LA is NEVER a smooth road. In Chicago theatre is a popular thing no matter what your profession. In LA only, theatre people regularly support intimate theatre. Theatre is routinely dismissed. That makes it difficult to raise money, to get audiences, to get staffers. And today, with our divided country, people are telling us that they only want to see art that makes them feel good, no drama. So that makes it harder.

We overcome this is by making 24th STreet Theatre an oasis, with free tamales, with a gracious “welcome mat”, we help with parking, and we make sure that our shows are always excellent. LA is a tough city to navigate these days, so we work hard to make people WANT to come.

Another challenge for us is that we serve the low-income immigrant community with our after-school programs. Some families have quit coming because they fear ICE. They’ve quit sending their kids to school, to church, anywhere they might run into immigration. Also, convincing inner-city kids of the need for college is sometimes difficult. We don’t save every kid who domes to us, which is disappointing. But over the years, we’ve clearly made a positive impact, which keeps us going.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
24th STreet Theatre is really in the business of INSPIRING people. But that sounds crazy and arrogant, doesn’t it? We do that with excellent art, we do it by being great role models to inner city kids, we do it by teaching educators how to be inspirational in the classroom, we inspire students with world-class arts education programming, we do it by keeping our big carriage doors open to the community all day long and welcoming anyone who comes in with a cup of coffee and genuine warmth. That is rare in Los Angeles today.

24th STreet Theatre is an oasis.

What were you like growing up?
I grew up in Oklahoma knowing only that I wanted to make a difference. I was shy but did some theatre classes in college in Oklahoma, which built my confidence. Like most actors who came to LA, I wanted to be famous in my 20’s, thinking that’s how I’d make a difference in the world. I moved to LA to attend The American Academy of Dramatic Arts and then did some soap opera work and theatre work in my 20’s.

I had never even volunteered at a non-profit until I found myself running one. But the good feeling you get when you help someone is so much bigger than yourself, that I began to focus much more on growing 24th STreet Theatre than on my acting career. So while I still consider myself an actor, my acting work today consists of making people feel good when they walk in the doors of the theatre, inspiring the thousands of teachers and students we work with, and being a pillar inner community. That’s what makes me feel good in middle age.

Deb is an Angelino, having been born in LA and grew up in the San Gabriel Valley. I was shy and my mom signed me up for a drama class and it made a huge difference in my confidence. When I graduated from high school I moved to Hollywood and did theatre with many veteran actors. I helped run the Century City Playhouse and eventually started a children’s theatre company where I met Jay. I can’t believe how lucky I have been and continue to be today. I love what I do.

Pricing:

  • Our tickets are $24, $15 for seniors and teachers, $10 kids. But if you live in our neighborhood, it’s just $2.40 per ticket. We don’t want money to be the reason you don’t give your family the gift of great art.
  • We have the BEST theatre field trips in LA, for just $2800, which includes busses for 100 students.

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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