Who’s Behind the Masque?
Megan Knowlton Balne
Artistic Director
Megan has been involved in the performing arts since she was four years old, beginning with ballet and ultimately transitioning into musical theatre and drama. From The Nutcracker, to Hello Dolly, to Harold Pinter, Megan has always loved telling a story to an audience.
Megan earned her theatre degree from Ramapo College, where she met her husband, Tommy Balne. Megan concentrated her studies on directing which culminated in Megan directing an original, all student-designed production. Megan has continued her passion for the arts by working in several community and regional arts organizations in the tri-state area, as director, actor, stage manager, dramaturg and producer. Megan also has an extensive background in educational theatre and has instructed hundreds of students in the art of theatrical performance.
“Human. Alive. Capable of thought and feeling and action. Now here comes the vital part of my question. What are you going to do about it?”
- Tennessee Williams
Tommy Balne
Managing Director
Tommy’s love for the stage began at age six on a family trip to Opryland. Sitting in the audience at an outdoor amphitheater, Tommy was chosen to participate in their wild west show. He was taken back stage, costumed and explained the scene to come. When it was time, he was lifted onto a saloon bar counter which spun onto the stage, suddenly in front of thousands of people. The scene unfolded, culminating in a joke where Tommy executed the punchline. The audience erupted into laughter. That was the start; the power these words had to elicit an emotional response from so many people would stick with him forever.
Tommy majored in theatre focusing on acting at Ramapo College, where he met his wife, Megan Knowlton. But his passion extended beyond the stage, excelling at patron services. Tommy began with supervising his home-town movie theatre, quickly became quintessential in running his college theatre Box Office at The Berrie Center, and managed the Box Office at the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ before moving to South Jersey. He has also helped other non-profit theatre companies set up and run their Box Offices and Patron Services.
“We cannot know what will occur. Just make the journey worth the taking.”
- Stephen Schwartz
Our Story
Megan and Tommy’s love for one another and their family is matched only by their love and dedication to the arts. It has been their dream to combine their talents and produce theatre together since they first met on the stage.
Megan and Tommy both attended Ramapo College. Tommy was two years ahead of Megan, a Junior when Megan began as a Freshman in 2003.
Megan knew of Tommy’s reputation as one of the top actors in the program before she met him. Tommy learned quickly of this talented and tenacious freshman. In their first show together, Eugene Ionesco’s Bald Soprano, Megan was more intimidated working with Tommy than the challenge of Ionesco’s absurdism. However, by the end of the process, Megan and Tommy worked effortlessly together, playing in Ionesco’s hilarious and tragic world.
It was not until their third show together, Cabaret, that Megan and Tommy realized their joy for each other went beyond the stage. As the curtain closed on Tommy’s final performance at college, the story was just beginning for Megan and Tommy’s journey together.
Four years later, Megan and Tommy had continued pursuing theatre well past graduation, and on opening night of Damn Yankees, with Megan stage managing and Tommy performing, Tommy took to the stage and proposed. It was only fitting that their marriage started where their story began - in the theatre.
Now, married and with three incredible children, Megan and Tommy are ready to bring their own vision of theatre to the forefront. The Masquerade Theatre, affectionately dubbed the Masque, is the realization of Megan and Tommy’s dream since meeting together in college. Each year, their college’s honor society would put on a Masquerade Ball, where all the guests were dressed in their formal attire and donned a mask. By the end of the evening, all the masks were removed and the group was dancing together, freer and full of joy.
As Megan and Tommy introduced their children to the world around them, the importance of the arts to understanding the wider world and society became more apparent. The mission of their theatre became clear - to use theatre as a means to explore the essence of what makes us all human and to provide common ground for people to engage in discussion and empathy, one audience at a time. Let’s use the arts to remove our masks and approach each other with a deeper understanding of one simple truth - we are all human.
Exploring the
Humanity Beneath the Masque
Mission
We all wear many masques and play many parts. We define each other in multiple, various and changing ways. We identify ourselves through our relationships with other people, groups and beliefs.
Yet at our core we are all the same. We are human. And in today’s world, we have lost sight of our commonality. Instead of celebrating our diversity as a vital part of our shared human experience, we are trapped in divisiveness.
Masquerade Theatre seeks to unveil the roles, groups and beliefs that we hold fast and explore the humanity that lies beneath them. Art is one of the rare forms of human expression that is relatable to all people and permits us to share a common experience with a group of strangers in an audience. Theatre enables us to encounter circumstances and emotions through characters that move us and inspire us to think, react and learn.
Masquerade is dedicated to using theatre to enlighten, to help us bridge the issues that divide us and present pieces that will encourage us to remember one simple truth amongst the discord - our humanity.