The Actors' Attic

MORE THAN 130 ACTORS' ATTIC SHOWS SINCE 2007: MARYBETH BABCOCK

Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to be an actor. After my childhood in St. Louis, where I attended St. Dominic Savio grade school and Bishop DuBourg high school, I earned my bachelor's degree in theatre arts from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale and then got down to work in summer stock and as a member of an improv comedy team touring the East Coast and Midwest.

Eventually, my dreams called me to Los Angeles, where I lived for 15 years and worked on stage, television, and film. I am still a card-carrying member SAG-AFTRA.
In LA, I found a passion for bringing theatre education to young people. I taught throughout the LA school district, and more importantly spent many years developing the musical theatre program at St. Bridget of Sweden, a Catholic grade school in a diverse neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. I was inspired and empowered by what the students brought to the stage.

When my family decided to return to the St. Louis area, we settled in Columbia, and my husband Steve and I quickly enrolled our sons, Henry and Mason, at Immaculate Conception School. Less than a year later, I was producing a community-wide musical, "The Music Man," thanks to the Dorothy Weinel Eppinger Foundation, and subsequently working at ICS producing its very first musical, "Annie."

I now serve the community as the Artistic Director of the non-profit, The Actors' Attic, and serve as drama teacher/advisor for four local schools: Immaculate Conception School in Columbia, Columbia High School, Columbia Middle School, and Gibault Catholic High School in Waterloo, IL.

The Actors' Attic holds three "Musical-in-a-Week" summer day camps each June, for students in elementary, junior high, and high school, and offers internships for high school and college students. In addition, The Actors' Attic produces the Columbia Repertory Festival, which features between three and five separate productions within a season, including musicals, comedies and dramas. The Actors' Attic also includes improvisation lessons and Improv Night occasionally throughout the year, and often in conjunction with another non-profit to fund service projects.