Staff - The El Portal Theatre

PEGGE FORREST
Executive Director, P.R. / Marketing, Curator Judith Kaufman Gallery

Pegge Forrest, a native New Yorker grew up in Weschester County surrounded by Broadway actors, writers and producers. As an intern at Time Life magazines while in college at Wagner and Columbia University (majoring in Public Relations and Marketing) she lived the dream of a young professional working directly with famous journalists and photographers. She then explored television at NBC (NYC) in the junior executive training program and abruptly changed her career path. This led to an employment in Ft. Wayne, Indiana on WANE-TV as the youngest Woman Program Director in the USA. Other TV followed at WTVT in Tampa, WCCO, KSTP, KMSP in Minneapolis, writing, producing and starring in with two award winning children’s shows with her television newscaster husband David Lee. Her theatre aspirations were sparked in Minneapolis with the opening of the Guthrie Theatre and her personal friendship with Tyrone Guthrie. She worked in both pr and marketing for the Guthrie Theatre’s Grand Opening. Theatre has been her total focus since 1980 with the Long Beach Civic Light Opera as the Executive/ Managing Director for 14 years at the 3,000 Seat Terrace Theatre, followed by Managing Director of John Houseman’s Acting Company (Off Broadway) on an NEA Grant, Florida Studio Theatre, Civic Light of South Bay Cities and Hermosa Beach Playhouse (Public Relations Director). With former El Portal Manager Jay Irwin, Ms. Forrest proudly pioneered the reopening of the historic El Portal Theatre in the heart of NOHO.

2023 marks the 23rd Season at the helm of this unique professional theatre with two spaces (360 Seat Debbie Reynolds MainStage) and (96 Seat Monroe/Forum). She has proudly co- produced shows with Debbie Reynolds, Bea Arthur, Ed Begley, Sally Struthers, Jo Anne Worley, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Charles Nelson Reilly, Rip Taylor, Sam Harris, Jimmy Kimmel, Jason Graae, and Adrienne Barbeau. Ms. Forrest's proudest achievement - her daughter - actress Heather Lee who was recently featured in the New York Times.

ANN POTENZA
Managing Director

Born in Brooklyn, Ann Potenza made her first theatrical appearance off-Broadway as Astyanax in The Trojan Women. Although only 4-years old at the time, being carried on-stage as the dead son of Hector and Andromache made such an impact on her, it was no surprise that Ann would fall in-love with the magic of theatre and grow up to explore many aspects of the creative industry.

When her family moved to Las Vegas after her dad retired from the NYPD, Ann used her dancing & singing “chorus girl” skills in school productions of Grease, Guys & Dolls, Godspell and Evita, with a plan to eventually move back to NYC and be on Broadway in musical theatre. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications & Theatre from UNLV, Ann auditioned and was cast as a Roman girl in a local Caesars Palace commercial, and quickly found out the benefits of “residuals” when her role was upgraded and she became eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild. With this unexpected bonus income, Ann decided to move to Hollywood and pursue screen acting, where within one month she also met her future husband Josh Smith while they were both working on the famed Sunset Strip. Together, they studied the Meisner acting method at Playhouse West while auditioning and working various jobs in production and the service industry. Their stints as waiters and bartenders lead to their winning answer on The Newlywed Game, when the question “does your spouse tip under, exactly, or over 15%?” was asked of them!

In Los Angeles, Ann’s first production job was with the legendary Dick Clark Productions, where she learned about the television industry from working on such classics as; Hot Country Nights, American Music Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Daytime Emmy Awards and the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. While volunteering with SAG at the American Film Institute, Ann worked closely with many of the aspiring AFI filmmakers as they cast their projects, and it was from this experience that she started venturing into independent filmmaking and film festivals with other artists.

Soon after joining The Actor’s Network, an organization that encouraged actors how to embrace the “business” side of the industry, Ann & Josh decided to start producing and acting in some of the plays they’d grown fond of in acting class, beginning with playwright Reginald Rose’s Dear Friends and then onto his Twelve Angry Women (Men), which led them to the historic El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood. Right away, the El Portal Theatre cast its’ magical spell over the two ambitious creatives, and when they had the chance, they started renting a little corner office on the second floor of the theatre, where they’ve written many scripts and launched many artistic projects over the past twenty years. Ann also worked as a House Manager for the El Portal Theatre in-between producing her own live events; The Italian Feast of San Gennaro, POP SK8 Live, and staged shows; Dragapalooza Live Concert Series, The War of Roses. This past March, Ann launched the podcast Women Who Kick Glass in honor of Women’s History Month, and is currently working on its’ second season.

Whether it’s seeing her name up in lights or taking out the garbage, Ann Potenza knows that every role in a production is important to the overall success of the show and no part is too small.

In 2026, as the theatre reaches its’ 100th Anniversary, Ann is thrilled to be joining the El Portal Theatre in Theatre Management and can’t wait for the next chapter of the “show to go on”!

STEVE SHEDD
Front of House Operations, Box Office Supervisor

After graduating from Northwestern University in Chicago, Steve moved to Los Angeles in 1990 and began working at Hanna-Barbera Productions as a writer on the animated series “The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest” as well as other specials for the Flintstones and Scooby-Doo! After the Cartoon Network took over, he decided to move on, switching gears and working as Creative Director for Lumiere Films, the production company behind the Oscar winning “Leaving Las Vegas”. He supervised several features including “The Magic of Marciano”, “Somebody to Love” and “Touch” starring a variety of indie actors such as Robert Forster, Harvey Kietel, Stanley Tucci, Quentin Tarantino, Bridget Fonda and Christopher Walken. After Lumiere closed its doors, Steve worked at the Universal Amphitheatre as assistant manager of “Special Events” which really meant “Latin Events” organizing concerts for Latin Stars such as Juan Gabriel, Vicente Fernandez and Ana Gabriel. Some of the perks of this job was getting to party backstage with big name stars such as Prince and David Bowie. After a lot of partying, Steve decided to calm down and get back to his roots – the theatre. In 2003, Steve ran into Jay, his NU college buddy and he began working as front of house manager at the El Portal. He’s worked on shows starring Debbie Reynolds, Bea Arthur, and many others. Steve has lived in NOHO for 10 years and watched the neighborhood become a hot spot for arts and entertainment. He enjoys walking to work.