I moved to Venice for a new job and left my family and friends behind.  I had no one and nothing to do. One day, a lady told me that I really should do Community Theater.  I laughed, I hadn’t done any theater since high school, and that was a long time ago! But something made me look at Venice Theatre. From the moment I walked into the audition room, I fell in love.

Debbi (left) pictured with fellow actors Giana Campo and Linda Mangold in last season's production of Falsettos.

Every single person I have met since that day so long ago now has a special place in my heart.  I remember pulling aside the director of that very first musical and thanking him for finding me a new family. To this day, it still amazes me that every single person on stage does this for the love of theatre and for nothing else. It takes a very special person to give up time that could be used in other ways in order to volunteer. We all get paid, just not in money.