LEARN MORE ABOUT RICHARD L. WILLIS AND HIS WORK IN THEATRE
ABOUT RICHARD
Richard Willis is an Award-winning Theatrical Producer - focused on developing and producing new works for Broadway and the West End - as well as an Operator and Programmer of multiple venues over his more than thirty year career in Theatre.
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Mr. Willis is a Tony Award-winner and five-time Nominee. He won Los Angeles Theatre's highest honor - Ovation Award (Large Theatre) - as well as the NAACP's highest honor - NAACP Theatre Award for Best Producer (Equity) - in cooperation with Pasadena Playhouse.
He is the Founder of the TRIBECAWORKSHOP® - a full service Theatrical production company based in New York and London - with over a dozen productions currently in development for Broadway and the West End.
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Richard was the visionary and driving force behind the "Westside Arts Complex," built and operated by he and his team under the banner RICHMARK Entertainment. The Westside Arts Complex consisted of The Wadsworth Theatre (1378 seats), The Brentwood Theatre (507 seats), The Great Lawn (a large outdoor Concerts/Special Events area), The Japanese Garden and two additional outdoor venues, complete with Production Offices, Rehearsal Spaces, Administrative Offices and more at The Department of Veterans' Affairs' (DVA) Campus in Brentwood, CA from 1999-2016.
He has lead the design and renovation of three major Performing Arts venues and has been a consultant on two others.
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In addition to renovating, programming and operating his own Theatres, Mr. Willis aided his business partner in the renovation, programming and operation of The Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway - 1999-2011 - as well as other Theatres and Companies throughout the United States.
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Outside of the Theatre world, Mr. Willis has enjoyed successful ventures in the Social Media, Real Estate and Food & Beverage industries.
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Growing up outside of Houston, TX, Richard was a four-sport "Letter-man" at the famed Stratford Senior High School. After High School, he earned a scholarship to play Quarterback for The University of Texas at El Paso, and for some of the top Coaches working in the N.F.L. today, before transferring to Brown University, where he Quarterbacked their Football team for three seasons, broke a number of passing records and won The Kilgore McFarland Award.
Mr. Willis graduated from Brown University in 1991 with a B.A. in Economics and just shy of a second degree in Classics.
EXPLORE THE BEGINNING OF RICHARD L. WILLIS’ THEATRE JOURNEY
EARLY CAREER
Mr. Willis began his career as a Stage actor in 1992.
From 1992 to 1999, while continuously performing on stage at night, Mr. Willis found himself doing principal work on innumerable Network Television Commercials and working in many of the most iconic international advertising campaigns of that time. During this period, Richard also performed in many Feature Films, Television shows and Music Videos.
Because of his good fortune, Richard had the privilege of working with the top advertising agencies in the world and with many of the world's most elite Directors and Production Companies.
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His steady acting work provided him financial freedom and afforded him a great deal of time in which to pursue his love of the Theatre; a love that began as a Senior in High School and continued to grow while at Brown University.
Due to this freedom, Richard was able to dive headlong into the 99-Seat Theatre scene in Los Angeles; working independently and with well established Theatre companies, such as The Road Theatre Company, Sacred Fools and many others.
From 1992 to 1999, Richard performed in and/or produced over forty Plays in 99-Seat Theatres all over Los Angeles. For his Stage work, Richard won some of Los Angeles Theatre's highest honors.
(See AWARDS section for more)
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Mr. Willis ended his Acting and 99-Seat Theatre careers when he took over the Brentwood, CA venues in June of 1999, thus embarking on his dream of building a first-class Performing Arts Complex on the Westside of Los Angeles, with Lincoln Center being the model and Gold standard.
WHERE EDUCATION AND ATHLETICS SHAPED THE JOURNEY
SCHOOL & SPORTS
Mr. Willis attended Stratford Senior High School in Houston, TX from 1982 to 1986 and was a four sport "Letterman." He was the starting Quarterback of the football team at Stratford, a Texas High School powerhouse that has won numerous State Championships and produced many NCAA and professional athletes.
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From 1984-1986, under the expert instruction and guidance of his mentor and beloved coach David Flora, Mr. Willis, Coach Flora and many others helped pioneer Stratford's new offensive scheme from a traditionally wish-bone style (run dominated) offense into a more complex West Coast style (passing) offense, with great success. This new offensive attack continued for many years and produced a number of offensive talents including Mr. Willis, David Klingler, Andrew Luck and more.
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At the end of his High School athletic career Mr. Willis was recruited and offered scholarships to play Football for a number of smaller Colleges, but none were a perfect fit. So, the day after he graduated from Stratford, he took the small amount of savings he had, flew to El Paso, TX, enrolled in summer school and "walked onto" the Football team at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).
Once there, he immediately began summer workouts, found a job and began classes in hopes of earning a full athletic scholarship (and a Degree) as soon as possible. He earned a full scholarship by the end of his first "two-a-days" and before the first pre-season game.
As a true Freshman, Mr. Willis was the back-up to the graduating Senior starting Quarterback and was poised to be the team's future Quarterback until injuries and other setbacks slowed his progression.
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At UTEP, Mr. Willis was coached by, and played for, some of the NFL's top coaches working today. Dirk Koetter (OC Atlanta Falcons, HC Tampa Bay Bucs and more) was Mr. Willis' Offensive Coordinator and QB Coach, Marty Mornhinweg (OC Baltimore Ravens) was his Assistant QB Coach, Andy Reid (HC Kansas City Chiefs, HC Philadelphia Eagles) was the team's Offensive Line Coach and Dave Taub (KC Chiefs) was the team's strength and conditioning coach. After two years at UTEP, and as it became clear that his extraordinarily talented coaching staff might be looking to make a change for themselves, Mr. Wills pursued a transfer to another school. The Ivy League was always a dream of his and that dream became a reality in 1988 when he chose to attend Brown University and play Quarterback for the team.
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Academically at UTEP, Mr. Willis always maintained a heavy work load of classes both during the year as well as during the summers, so after two years (at the time when transferring schools) Mr. Willis had already earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.
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However, by transferring from UTEP to Brown University, Mr. Willis was forced to give up a great deal of his academic credits, his full athletic scholarship and a year of playing eligibility. Although there are no scholarships awarded to student-athletes in the Ivy League, Mr. Willis was awarded partial financial aid, so that he may attend Brown. However, it was not nearly enough to cover the costs of attending a University such as Brown, so Mr. Willis performed a number of different jobs throughout the year and took out student loans in order to put himself through school.
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Once at Brown, Mr. Willis proudly attended classes, worked and played Football for three seasons with his teammates (including Bill O’Brien – HC Houston Texans/OC Crimson Tide/OC New England Patriots). While at Brown Mr. Willis and his teammates (again) ushered in a new era of offensive/passing excellence that Brown enjoyed for many years after. He broke several of the existing Brown and Ivy League passing records prior to a career ending ankle injury at Princeton in his final season of eligibility.
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He was awarded the Kilgore McFarland Award for his contributions on the football field. (See AWARDS section for more)
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Mr. Willis graduated from Brown University in 1991 with a BA in Economics and a minor in Classics.
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Richard remains an avid runner, proud Niner and Cityzen.
WHERE THE STORY BEGAN
EARLY LIFE
Richard was born in Macon, GA and is the youngest of four children. At the age of two his family moved from Georgia to Newport Beach, CA and at the age of four the family moved again to Houston, TX where he grew up until he graduated from High School in 1986.
Growing up in Houston is where he found his first love - dogs and horses - while training "bird-dogs" for professional "Field Trials" on Summer, Winter, Spring (and all other) school breaks. He worked hand-in-hand with one of the best bird-dog Trainers the world of Field Trials has ever known - Marc Appleton. With Richard as his "Scout" the two men dominated the Field Trial circuit in the Midwest and Texas for many years; collecting countless wins, trophies, Championships and "purse money." As a result, Mr. Appleton and Mr. Willis produced a great number of AKC Champions - and their off-spring, that also became Champions - for many years to follow. Each year, from early May through mid September - from age ten to sixteen - Mr. Appleton and Mr. Willis would train up to one hundred twenty bird-dogs and twenty five horses at a time. In the summers, as part of training, they would travel north from Mr. Appleton's ranch in Piedmont, OK up through Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and into Canada ending at their "summer training camp" outside Mortlach, Saskatchewan.
In Canada, they were able to train the dogs and horses for a longer period of time each day due to the cooler temperatures and longer daylight hours. “Training Season” in Canada would culminate each year at The Calgary Stampede, where Mr. Appleton and Mr. Willis would sell a number of their best trained horses to the highest bidders then, with the profits from the sales, they would buy a fresh group of young, unbroken horses and travel them back down to Mr. Appleton's ranch in Oklahoma. Once back in Oklahoma, the young horses would be trained by Mr. Appleton and Mr. Willis over the next year, along with the bird-dogs, and then the best horses would be sold at the end of the next summer at The Calgary Stampede.
This cycle continued every year until school and sports eventually dominated Richard's time and his future.