BLUE PANTHER PRODUCTIONS: WHAT WE DO
Blue Panther works with theatre artists to create visibility and production opportunities in major cities internationally. We work with both artists and theatre companies to increase visibility and reach significant national and international production goals faster and at greater levels of success.
HOW WE WORK WITH PLAYWRIGHTS
Blue Panther specializes in working with playwrights and solo performers. We begin with script editing, development, and coaching. Through a rigorous process we work closely with the writer to streamline the process, editing for content, formatting, story, character development, pace, originality, and precision so the script is complete and ready for production. Next, we coach on developing visibility and a professional network, and connect the playwright and script to key decision-makers at professional theaters in select cities, in the United States and abroad. Blue Panther also directly produces select productions in major cosmopolitan cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Barcelona and London.
Laura Lundy | Founder and Executive Producer
Laura Lundy is the Founder and Executive Producer of Blue Panther. Lundy’s Blue Panther Production credits include the 2017 international tour of “Dylan Brody’s Driving Hollywood” starring humorist Dylan Brody, in Chicago, Barcelona, London and New York, the 2016 New York run of Award-Winning comedian Alicia Dattner’s “The Oy of Sex,” celebrated Toronto dancer/performance artist Sara Porter’s “Sara does a Solo” at the 2016 San Francisco International Arts Festival, and Scott Charles’ 2015 drama “Dinners with Augie” at Antiquite Maison, Sacramento, and Conor McPherson’s “The Birds” in association with Symmetry Theatre, Oakland (2016).
Lundy was the Co-Founder and original Artistic Director for Virago Theatre Company (2005-2015) in San Francisco, where she produced and directed “Threepenny Opera,” “Candide,” “A Taste of Honey” and “Sonia Flew,” directed the world premieres of “A Bed of My Own,” “The Afterlife of the Mind,” and “Beekeeper,” produced “Zombie Vixens from Hell-The Musical!” in San Francisco, and William Bivins’ “Ransom, Texas,” directed by Jon Tracy with set by Nina Ball in San Francisco (2014) and Los Angeles (2015). In 2013-2014 Lundy produced and starred in the World Premiere of George Pfirrmann's “AROUSAL” paired with Harold Pinter's “The Lover” for Virago Theatre, and brought the show to San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York at The Flea Theater for highly successful runs in all three cities. In 2015 she produced Crystal Jackson's futuristic comedy “The Singularity” in New York, at The Flea for Virago Theatre. Other directing credits include the critically acclaimed 20th anniversary San Francisco production of “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches” for Theatre Shark (2011), and “Sight Unseen” for Lunacy Stageworks, Portland, Oregon (2009). Lundy received her training at Pomona College and through the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and has been a professional working producer/director/actor for over 30 years.
Maggie Whitaker | Production Associate
Maggie Whitaker is a costume designer and artist. She received her BFA in Theatre Design at the University of South Florida and her MFA in Costume Design at the University of San Diego, California. Ms. Whitaker is a production designer and manager for Blue Panther Productions in the San Francisco Bay Area. She created a comprehensive, original fully accredited BFA and MFA Costume Design Program for the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Ms. Whitaker is a recipient of Shotgun Players: Bridging the Gap Grant for 2016, and received a BATCC award for costume design for her work on “Truffaldino Says No!” at Shotgun Players. Ms. Whitaker has written courses for both an online and onsite program that deal with the specific training of the undergraduate costume designers, through individual project work as well as collaborations with the School of Acting and the School of Motion Pictures and Television. Her alumni have gone on to fellowships at Santa Fe Opera, American Conservatory Theatre, and can be found working in New York and Los Angeles.
Ms. Whitaker seeks out creative opportunities that facilitate a collaborative working relationship with playwrights and directors in the development of new works and groundbreaking theatre. She has designed costumes for the world premieres of nationally recognized plays including “HeLa” by Lauren Gunderson and Geetha Reddy at TheatreFirst, “I and You,” by Lauren Gunderson at Marin Theatre, “Truffaldino Says No!” by Ken Slattery at Shotgun Players, and “Wildflowers,” by Lila Rose Kaplan at UCSD. Her work as a costume designer has been seen at theaters internationally including The Apollo Theatre, Teatro Tinta Roja, Canal Café Theatre, TheatreWorks, Marin Theatre, Aurora Theatre, Magic Theatre, Ray of Light Theatre, Shotgun Players, Crowded Fire Theatre, and Cutting Ball Theatre. In addition to her work on new plays, Ms. Whitaker has designed for classic theatre and opera, including “Merry Wives of Windsor”, “Twelfth Night” and “A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare as well as Cosi Fan Tutti, Dialogues of the Carmelites, The Coronation of Poppea, and many more. Ms. Whitaker is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.
Ian M White
Ian is an actor and freelance producer. Ian worked with Laura Lundy and Blue Panther Productions regularly over the past few years. He began collaborating with Lundy in 2013 when he co-produced George Pfirrmann’s "AROUSAL" and Harold Pinter’s "The Lover" to New York after successful runs in San Francisco and L.A. (Virago Theatre Productions). It was a magical collaboration! Ian recently transitioned from living in New York City to Los Angeles and now regularly collaborates with Blue Panther as a producer on Los Angeles projects.
Ian is a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where he produced full-length plays and sketch comedy. In 2015, he produced a newly imagined production of HAIR, the tribal rock musical, in collaboration with Desert Stages Theatre in Arizona. Later that year, he began producing a feature film. The film is will be released in 2017.