The Company
In 1997, Carrie Gibson founded Had To Be Productions, named for its inaugural production of Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna’s “It Had To Be You” selected as the Outstanding Independently-produced Play for 1997 by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. This comedy allowed Gibson and Anthony Curry to meet and perform together for the first time. In her first original project for Had To Be, Gibson created a one woman show on cultural diversity, “Not Until You Know My Story.” The following year Curry joined her to create the play, “Not Just Ramps,” which evolved out of the intense audience response to the character of Emily, a young woman with cerebral palsy and Curry’s personal experience raising his son Adam who is autistic. They have been an acting and writing team ever since. In 2008 they updated. Not Until You Know My Story integrating Curry into the performance. They created Into the Fire in 2009 followed by Because You Know Me in 2010.
Had to Be Productions has toured our unique theatrical documentary plays and workshops throughout the country to government agencies, corporations, educational institutions, and conferences. Our presentations have been seen by audiences as small as a dozen people to over 1000 people in a variety of settings and venues. In 2009 we began the tradition of developing a new play annually. Each topic has been inspired by an audience reaction to one of our current plays. Had to Be Productions has performed in 23 states and, in 2010, officially became an international touring company with it first presentation in Toronto, Canada.
The Players
Carrie Gibson
Masters in Psychology from Antioch University. Before returning to theatre in 1989, Ms. Gibson worked for a variety of social service agencies primarily focusing on issues related to addictions and personal growth. She has created and led numerous workshops and retreats for adults, as well as having facilitated therapy groups both in agencies and in her own private practice.
Ms. Gibson is the Founding Artistic Director of the G.A.P. (Growth and Prevention) Theatre, one of Seattle’s most successful educational theatre companies.
Since 1989, Ms. Gibson has written, directed, acted and toured with G.A.P. in plays for schools and conferences throughout the Western United States. Ms. Gibson has performed comedy and improvisation in California, Washington State and D.C. She spent several years performing with Theater Sports in Seattle.
She has produced and performed in “It Had to Be You,” Anthony Curry’s “Divine Hysteria: that Millennium Thing” and “The Perfect Sister,” her original play that premiered in Los Angeles. And if you do not blink, you might catch her in an occasional national commercial.
Anthony Paul Curry
Award-winning actor, director and playwright.
In 1998, he received Backstage West’s Garland Award for his work in “Wuthering! Heights! The! Musical!” and “A Place with the Pigs” at The Empty Space Theatre in Seattle and a 1999 Footlight Award from the Seattle Times for his performance in “I’m Not Rappaport.”
He also received two Hawaii State Theatre Awards, The Po’okela, for his roles in “Torch Songs Trilogy” and “Billy Bishop Goes to War.”
Television credits:
The Fugitive, Northern Exposure, Jake & the Fat Man, Tour of Duty, and Hawaiian Heat.
As a writer, Curry was commissioned by the Seattle Opera to co-create a children’s adaptation of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.”
Other plays include:
“A Subway Farce”
“Café Ooh Longue”
“BlackJack”
“Unidentified Flying Object”
“There’s A Naked Guy In This Show”
“Rumplestiltskin”
“The Little Prince”
“Divine Hysteria: That Millennium Thing.” and “Divine Hysteria: Armageddon Outta Here,” the first of his Hysteria Trilogy, was produced Off-Broadway in New York. He was the recipient of the 2000 Artist Trust Fellowship for Playwrights.