Richard “Paul” Willett owned the Gaslight Theater in Denver. A driving force in Denver’s live theater scene for 40 years, he owned and managed the Gaslight Theater starting in 1963. Before then he opened Studio 29 in 1954 and later moved it to a location at 4201 Hooker Street. He left Denver to coach children’s acting in Hollywood, but returned in 1963 to open Gaslight where he produced between 50-60 plays. In 1973 he was awarded the Larry Tajiri Award (one of Denver’s most prestigious awards in theatre) for Distinguished Achievement in the performing Arts. He passed away in 1983 at the age of 68.