There are some people who build stages. And there are some people who build families. AnnaMarie Lea has done both.
In The Sweet Delilah Swim Club, AnnaMarie plays Lexie, a character who carries humour, loyalty, and strength in equal measure. Off stage, she serves as Cow Patti Theatre’s Artistic Producing Director, shaping not just performances, but the entire experience audiences return for year after year.
Summer, for AnnaMarie, has always meant one thing: adventure. When her four children were young, she and her husband Tom would load up the tent and declare, “We’re going on an Adventure in the Venture.” They camped. They created scavenger hunts that pulled in entire campsites. They performed skits using whatever props could be found in the bush. It was theatre before rehearsal schedules, joy before production meetings. It was FamiLea.
Her own childhood summers were just as formative. With five siblings and a father whose work often kept him away, summer holidays were sacred. The whole family would pile into their Shasta trailer and head to places like Dawson City, Yellowstone National Park, or Disneyland. It was the rare and treasured time when all eight of them were together. That understanding of togetherness, of gathering people intentionally, clearly shaped the theatre community she leads today.
AnnaMarie has been in the business for 40 years. Four decades of storytelling, directing, producing, and performing. She has worked alongside names like John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, and Johnny Cash. Yet for all the big credits, her favourite collaborator might just be the Alberta-born husband she proudly names as her favourite thing about this province.
She is a swimmer who believes water is both life skill and bonding ritual. She is Team Wiener Roast. She loves potato salad. She splits her summer soundtrack between “Soak Up the Sun” and “All Summer Long.” And while others may be reading novels, she is already immersed in scripts for Cow Patti’s 30th season. Neil Simon. Marc Camoletti. Jeanne and Sam Bobrick. The next chapter is always in motion.
If she could offer her younger self one piece of advice, it would be this: stretch more. Physically. Mentally. Spiritually.
That philosophy feels fitting for someone who has stretched herself for forty years to build something that invites others in.
As Lexie, and as leader, AnnaMarie Lea continues to create a place where friendship lasts decades, stories matter, and summer never really ends.