Ronald Allan-Lindblom
Artistic Director, Pittsburgh Playhouse
Associate Vice President, Point Park University Conservatory of Performing Arts
Ron has produced, directed and acted in over 500 theatre productions on three continents. He has directed internationally at drama festivals in Shanghai, Edinburgh and Hong Kong. Directing credits include Merlin by Tankred Dorst, recipient of numerous awards; Living After Midnight (DramaLogue Critics Award for Best Director); The Boys of Summer (DramaLogue Critics Special Mention); and the American premiere of Laterna Magika's Night Rehearsal. Mr. Lindblom has worked with Josef Svoboda of the prestigious Laterna Magika Theatre in Prague, and acted the lead role in the American premiere of Laterna Magika’s The Black Monk. He co-founded California Repertory Company, the professional company at California State University, Long Beach, in 1989, and served as its Associate Artistic Producing Director until 1998. He has served as Artistic Director of Stage West Theatre in San Luis Obispo, California and the Collective Artists Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Lindblom is the founder of The REP, Point Park University’s professional theater company.
Earl Hughes, Producing Director
Earl has been involved with every production presented by the Conservatory of Performing Arts and The REP since his arrival at the Playhouse in 2005. Prior to Point Park, Earl was associate producer of the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami where he did over 100 productions with six moving to Broadway (An Evening with Jerry Herman, The Gathering, The Sunshine Boys, Say Goodnight Gracie, I’m Not Rappaport, Urban Cowboy). Prior to Miami: associate producer for The Ann-Margret Show (Las Vegas, world and national tours, NYC Radio City Music Hall); production supervisor/stage manager for The Shirley MacLaine Show (Las Vegas, North American tour, Paris, Mexico City, London Palladium, NYC Palace Theatre). Earl started his professional career in NYC with Circle Repertory Company working with five-time Tony nominated director Marshall W. Mason and Pulitzer Prize playwright Lanford Wilson (Hot L Baltimore, Mound Builders, The Fifth of July). In his 35 year career, Earl has done over 300 productions to date.
John Amplas, Associate Artistic Director, The REP
John has considered the Pittsburgh Playhouse of Point Park University his “artistic home” after taking his first acting class with the Playhouse School as a teenager in 1963. John is an Associate Professor with the Conservatory of Performing Arts and has been teaching at Point Park since 1982. He has served both as an actor and director in countless productions. As an actor some of his most memorable work was in Ah, Wilderness!, The F.B.I. Girl, The Visit, Breaker Morant, Le Bete, Knights of the Round Table,The Colonel Bird, On The Beach, The Heiress, American Buffalo, Brecht on Brecht, Marat/Sade, A Life in the Theatre, The Lion in Winter and The Little Foxes. On other stages, John has appeared in Bricklayers for The City Theatre, Appear and Show Cause for The Public Theatre, Glengarry Glen Ross for Axiom and Hair (l973-74) for The Odd Chair Playhouse. John has also worked off-off Broadway in productions of Look Back in Anger and Streamers. Directorial highlights at the Playhouse include: No Place to be Somebody, The Vertical Hour, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enough, The Rover, The Exonerated, Hair, Kimberly Akimbo, Le Liaisons Dangereuses, Hard Times, Arcadia, Nine,The Threepenny Opera, The Prince, The Third Lie (World Premiere), Quills, The Time of Your Life, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,Driving Miss Daisy, The Elephant Man, Suburbia, Blue Window, Savage in Limbo, The Day Room, Lost in Yonkers, Brigadoon, Into the Woods, The Fifth of July, Getting Out,When Ya Comin’ Back Red Ryder and Look Back in Anger. John is also an accomplished film actor with over fifteen features to his credit, most notably the star in Romero’s classic Martin, Tony Buba’s No Pets, Brady Lewis’ Daddy Cool and a featured role in Melissa Martin’s The Bread My Sweet. John is a founding member of Playhouse REP as well as its Associate Artistic Director. Most recently in collaboration with actor Bill Nunn, John has been developing a Conservatory outreach program that brings theatre to underserved urban schools in and around Pittsburgh. This will include establishing the August Wilson Monologue Competition for High School Students here in Pittsburgh, culminating in a national competition. Point Park will join with the Atlanta-based Theatre Company, True Colors, the driving force of the competition, in New York City at The August Wilson Theatre to present awards and scholarships to the top three finalists. John is very proud of his long standing with Point Park and looks forward to serving his students for many more years to come.
