About Us
Our Story & Mission
Sizzle & Steak Productions strives to produce shows that will excite and emotionally connect with area audiences and feature compelling storylines, believable performances and artistic proficiency.
When the five of us started Sizzle & Steak Productions, it was because we wanted to be doing shows that offered an alternative to the typical fare many companies were presenting. That is because we think today’s audiences appreciate shows that are thought-provoking and entertaining at the same time.
Beyond artistic expression, community theater is important for a variety of reasons, perhaps none more so than that it teaches folks about the importance of team building and working well with others. It also helps give all people access to the arts. With everyone’s discretionary income at a premium nowadays, attending a Broadway show in Manhattan may be cost-prohibitive. Community theater offers a less pricey alternative.
There are well over 6,000 community theaters in the United States, according to the American Association of Community Theatre. With each producing four to six or more productions each year, the association’s website notes, “it’s reasonable to assume that the number of performances by community theatres would far exceed the number of those by professional theatre, dance, and concert organizations.” And that isn’t even factoring in the economic impact of theater. According to a 52-page report from the group Americans for the Arts, which studies the economic and social impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry, 86 percent of Americans believe arts and culture are important to their community’s life, and 79 percent of the American public believe that the arts are important to their community’s businesses, economy and local jobs.
It is our sincerest hope that, in our own small way, what we have created will help keep the local theater scene thriving. If you’re interested in our mission, we hope you will consider working with us, whether it be up on stage or behind the scenes. And if you’re one of our audience members, we truly thank you for your support.
"Great theater is about challenging how we think and encouraging us to fantasize about a world we aspire to."
WILLEM DAFOE
Actor
OUR FOUNDERS
JACKIE AMILIVIA
Co-Founder
JACKIE AMILIVIA initially got the acting bug in the fifth grade when she got to play Rip Van Winkle's wife in the namesake school play in Indianapolis, Indiana. Many years later, in 2012, her daughter joined Foothills Family Productions and Jackie volunteered backstage. She helped painting, with props, and being her daughter's stage left hand. In 2019 Jackie decided to audition for Foothills Arts Council's production of Almost, Maine and was cast as Villian, the waitress. The following year she was cast in the first year of the Foothills Arts Council Short Play Festival in a locally written play titled Analyzing Moses in which she played Reva, Moses' therapist. Since then, Jackie has directed and performed in all the subsequent years Foothills Arts Council Short Play festivals.
Besides Foothills Family Productions and Foothills Arts Council, Jackie has worked with Colonial Little Theater, Galway Players, Schenectady Civic Players, Albany Civic Theater, the Russian Cultural Center (fun role of Golda in Once Upon a Time in Anatevka), and served several years on the board of Classic Theater Guild. Jackie most recently codirected the TANYS award-winning Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors and recently stage managed The Roommate, directed by Benita Zahn, at Albany Civic Theater.
Jackie is a former ESL Teacher and retired State employee. She currently works part time at Kingsway Village in Schenectady where she enjoys effecting positive change in the lives of her residents. She lives in Rotterdam with her daughter and future son in law.
KIMBERLY COLLINS
Co-Founder
KIMBERLY COLLINS has been a theatergoer most of her life, as her mother was always involved in a play or musical. She has continued that legacy by seeing or appearing in numerous productions at many theaters in and around the Capital Region. She has also lent her talents to behind-the-scenes work, whether it be backstage crew, property design, lighting design, stage manager, or assistant director.
MIKE
COLLINS
Co-Founder
MIKE COLLINS has always been an actor as his mom and dad would attest too. During his college years Mike performed with the Cedarville University group "Lifeline Players." This group did performances as well as workshops to build confidence and skills of young, and young at heart, actors.
Mike has been involved in youth sports including coaching travel baseball for more that six years. He was also the headmaster of Helderberg Christian School for thirteen years and ran the drama club there.
Mike has been in numerous local productions in the Capital Region. Some of his more notable performances were as Colonel Parker in Judgment at Nuremberg, Sergio in Love in Firenze, Renfield in Dracula a Comedy of Terrors, and the maniacal robot 'Radius' bent on world domination in the classic Rossom's Universal Robots.
DOUGLAS GLADSTONE
Co-Founder
DOUGLAS J. GLADSTONE has more than four decades of community theater credits under his belt. A veteran of productions in Queens, Long Island and upstate New York, Mr. Gladstone first got the acting bug in college after he and his partner finished in second place for their award-winning interpretation of Neil Simon’s Chapter Two at the 1981 New York State Speech & Debate Championships. Prior to making his acting debut for a local company in Bayside, he started out by getting publicity for a number of troupes in the early 1980s, a behind the scenes activity he continues doing to this day. He has also served on the board of directors of a number of area groups.
A journalist by profession who has authored two critically acclaimed books as well as numerous newspaper commentaries, including a June 2024 essay in the Albany Times Union about the importance of community theater, he resides with his wife and daughter in Gansevoort.
Quinn Solace
Co-Founder