Local theater owner Renee Beckloff talks about theater, how a sudden accident changed her plans and her road to recovery.
To some, working in theater can be a dream come true, but for Renee Beckloff, this dream has been anything but easy. Beckloff runs the Mission Viejo theater Bravo Players Guild, along with her wife, Tiffney, and has a great passion for the stage.
“Truthfully, Bravo stems from a turtle costume created for ‘The Little Mermaid,’” Beckloff said. “Our daughter was so excited to be onstage, and her role was as a turtle. Tiffney made the costume as a volunteer, but realized a passion for children’s theater. Fast-forward 10 years, and our next daughter loved theater too. As a volunteer, Tiffney helped direct school plays and I helped with sets and moving things around. We had several parents ask why we didn’t just do our own production, and Bravo Players Guild was born.”
Beckloff had a successful theater in the making with an excellent first performance of “Moana” in 2023. But tragedy struck, forcing her to temporarily close Bravo Players Guild.
“Two weeks before our next big production of ‘The Lion King’ in November of 2023, I broke my neck,” she said. “Ironically, it was during the building of Pride Rock that I fell 5 feet. As everyone says, ‘The show must go on.’ Tiffney’s team and the volunteers got us through those last few days to ensure we had another successful show.”
She said the challenge was day-to-day life after she got out of the hospital.
“I lost so much of my capabilities,” Beckloff said. “I was mobile and I could do some things, but my ability to build, my ability to move easily and lift things were gone.”
Beckloff said her love for the theater was as powerful as ever during her recovery time — and she knew she had to get back on her feet and on with the show as quickly as possible. The theater is officially back. This year, they performed “Newsies,” “Beetlejuice,” “SIX” and “The Lightning Thief.” They’ll have five shows next season.
“My love of theater never wavered,” she said. “My love of seeing children reach their dreams has skyrocketed. I see kids that started with us in a school play who are leads in Bravo shows now.”
Beckloff said they are fortunate to now have the nonprofit Bravo Players Foundation. The foundation’s first fundraising gala, Best of Bravo: Out of This World, will take place on Nov. 14, from 6 to 11 p.m., at Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Proceeds will support participation grants, inclusive and all-abilities programming, artistic training and professional-quality performance opportunities for young people.
“2027 promises to be our big year because the foundation is helping us develop our All Abilities facility and classes,” Beckloff said. “Access, Artistry and Acceptance. I think 2027 is going to be the year that Orange County is wowed by what Bravo does and how we help kids build life skills beyond theater.”
By Jessie Dax-Setkus
