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• Leader of the Arts

Anita Allen-Farley and Robert J. Farley

November, 2006

Robert J. Farley (Artistic Director, Georgia Ensemble Theatre) has been a successful stage director and artistic director for almost 40 years. He is a graduate of the prestigious Pasadena Playhouse. He began his career in the late 60’s with the internationally acclaimed APA-Phoenix Repertory Company on Broadway. This was immediately followed by half a season at NBC-TV in beautiful downtown Burbank where indeed he worked on “Laugh-In” and other shows. His personal Flying Fickle Finger of Fate Award is one of his most prized possessions. He then spent over two years with the rock musical Hair, staging five productions that performed in the U.S., Canada and Mexico to over 2.5 million theatre-goers. Mr. Farley’s first tour of duty in Atlanta was from 1971-74 when he served as a resident director at the Alliance Theatre. In 1976, he co-founded the Alaska Repertory Theatre with his dear friend, Paul Brown. Alaska Rep became one of the largest and most highly regarded non-profit regional professional theatres in the country during the 12 seasons he served as Artistic Director. The 1980’s brought Farley back to Atlanta as the Artistic Director of the Alliance Theatre in the Woodruff Arts Center. While at the Alliance, he directed the premiere of Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry featuring the legendary Mary Nell Santacroce. Daisy went on to become the biggest hit in the history of theatre in the Southeast. Other highlights while at the Alliance included producing the regional theatre premiere of Steel Magnolias shortly after its off-Broadway opening, a landmark production of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, and he concluded his tenure at the Alliance with the premiere of Jon Klein’s Southern Cross. Bob Farley has led the Georgia Ensemble Theatre and Conservatory since its inception in 1992 here at the Roswell Cultural Arts Center. In February 2007, Farley will direct Alfred Uhry’s Tony Award-winning The Last Night of Ballyhoo at Georgia Ensemble. He has directed recent productions of Dearly Departed, Searching for Eden, Morning’s at Seven, Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, and Steel Magnolias. At GET, he is proud to be part of a thriving, active, professional theatre arts community that dedicates itself daily to captivating the current generation of theatre-goers while creating and nurturing new generations.

Anita Allen-Farley (Managing Director, Georgia Ensemble Theatre) has been an actress, costumer, educator, volunteer, event planner and administrator. During the 1980’s, she served for several years as the Sales and Marketing Director of the International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA). In 1992, she and husband Bob Farley co-founded the Georgia Ensemble Theatre. She served on the Atlanta Arts Think Tank, is a member of the Historic Roswell Merchants Assoc., District Chair for ALL-GA, a statewide arts advocacy organization, a member of the Emerging Arts Leaders Class of 2005/2006, and serves on the Board of the Atlanta Coalition for the Performing Arts. She and Bob are the proud parents of two wonderful young women, Laurel and Heather, and grandparents to the new light of their lives, Will.