We had the good fortune of connecting with Justin Meyer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Justin, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Our though process is simple. We live by the mantra “Make Your Own Work”. We spent the majority of our younger years as traveling performers on cruise ships and regional theatres. That instilled in us a love and passion for the theatrical arts in general. However, the life of an auditioning performer is not always consistent, and we needed to work! So, we started a small special effects company called Where’s My Head FX, tapping into a hobby interest and turning it into a small business opportunity for ourselves. That brought us to Los Angeles, where we were very lucky to be hired as special effects make-up artists at the inception of The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride.

One choice leads to another and we spent a decade working with that show as CCO (Melissa) and Creative Director (Justin) for Ten Thirty One Productions, designing, developing and running various live theatrical horror events.

One day, we went to a costume sale at a costume shop in Pasadena and found out that the person was selling the entire business! StarMakers Costumes had over 40,000 hand-made costume pieces. We made another bold choice and decided to purchase the entire business and that was really what kick-started Meyer2Meyer Entertainment.

After purchasing the costume shop and relocating it to Glendale, we were approached by many studios for rentals, casting and other on-set talent related jobs. Thus, Meyer2Meyer Entertainment was born. In 2019, we launched our own haunted attraction for Halloween, House of Spirits: A Haunted Cocktail Soiree. We developed a show-model, bringing together a cocktail party, meets haunted house, meets variety show and people really seemed to love it. That show moved into 7 cities across the country and is still going strong!

In 2023, we purchased a historic theatre in Glendale, formally the Glendale Centre Theatre. It is one of the oldest theatre-in-the-round spaces in the country! We rebranded it The Nocturne Theatre, a name which invokes the “beautiful music of the night,” which we felt represented our classical, yet dark edge, as a company. Having a venue like this is precisely what our end-goal has always been…a forever home to bring art to the world and make our own work.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Meyer2Meyer Entertainment is a performing art and immersive event company, specializing in interactive theatrical productions. Our unique formula of theatrical storytelling, variety-show style entertainment and cinematic character design combine to create a truly unforgettable evening of experiences for our guests. Using an ‘open-world’ approach, the audience is free to choose their own level of engagement, with freedom to explore and discover our crafted programming at their leisure. The Nocturne Theatre is the newest investment in Meyer2Meyer Entertainment’s theatrical arsenal. This theatre is one of the oldest theatre-in-the-round venues in country and serves as the perfect venue for us to stylizes some of the most classic Broadway shows and stage them in a new, exciting and immersive way!

Melissa and I have worked very hard for many years at great personal and financial risk to make this dream come true. It certainly was not easy. One of our biggest pet peeves is when someone tells us how lucky we are, as luck has had very little to do with it! Even in the worlds darkest time, during COVID, we managed to pivot our show models and still provide safe entertainment for our audiences while keeping our actors and staff members employed. We are a business comprised of artists who support artists.

In 2017, Justin and Melissa launched Meyer2Meyer Entertainment, with a mission statement that focuses on empowering artists of all talents, hiring them “for employment, not for exposure.”

As a result, Meyer2Meyer Entertainment programming features a wide array of artistic and performance styles, including magic, music, aerial, circus, comedy, dance, improv, just to name a few, all resulting in a modernization of the variety show concept, originally seen in the early days of vaudeville.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Oh goodness! We live in Los Angeles! There is so much cool stuff to check out. However, one or two favorite places have got to be The Magic Castle in Hollywood (if you can score an invite), the Malibu Wineries and certainly the beaches! However, if you REALLY want to go on an adventure, our favorite places to visit are outside of the city–to Big Bear, Idyllwild and to drive the coast up into the Red Wood Forest!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
It’s a entire history of people who have helped shape Melissa and I as human beings and entrepreneurs, in good times and in bad! Meyer2Meyer Entertainment would not be in existence without the support of the following:

Our loving and supportive families in Washington and Vermont. Our dear, life-long friends from Seattle, Burlington (Vermont and Washington), Tennessee and Los Angeles (just to name a few, with far too many to thank here). Melissa Carbone and Alyson Richards, mentors who took a big chance on two young kids. Keith Greco who was a big influence on our wild and weird side in our formative years. Most importantly, a big thank you to the people who make Meyer2Meyer Entertainment function everyday and give our company the quality it has become known for: GM Randi Stuart, Nocturne Production Lead Kyle Sword and Producer Michaela Sword, Assistant Director Micah Delhauer, Producer Frances Parsons and Costume Shop Lead Gavin Dietz. We’d love to give recognition to Jen and Nicole Disotell for their amazing craft cocktail creations that make our shows taste so damn good; and finally we’d also like to give recognition to two artistic geniuses who helped give our company it’s signature aesthetic and sound–Art Director/Creature Designer Tanya Cyr and Composer Chris Thomas.

No one does anything on their own and we are forever grateful for everyone who has ever worked for us as an actor, performer, musician, bartender, event staff or back of house.

Website: www.meyer2meyer.com

Instagram: @thenocturnetheatre

Image Credits
All Photos Owned By Meyer2Meyer Entertainment

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