Toby Orenstein

Orenstein was born The Bronx, New York City, to Mildred and Sam Press.[7] As a child, Orenstein had an innate proclivity towards drama leading to her first role was as a pilgrim in a kindergarten play.[7] This interest in drama continued through Primary school where she directed shows in school and on the playground with her classmates.[8]

Orenstein successfully auditioned for the selective High School of Performing Arts in New York City. Onlookers of the audition described her delivery of a monologue as coming from "the gut."[7] After the initial excitement of the acceptance, Orenstein eventually developed a dislike of the school's "lacking support system."[7] Orenstein says of her time at the Performing Arts school, “[It was] cut-throat competitive, not at all a nurturing environment.”[7] Subsequently, Orenstein transferred to a local Bronx high school in the middle of her junior year where she won best actress and directed the senior show.[7]

Upon graduation with a B.F.A. in theatre and a minor in education from Columbia University,[2] Orenstein was selected as one of twelve teachers for Eleanor Roosevelt's federal education project in Harlem, New York called the All Day Neighborhood School Project.[9][10] Having seen her teach at the Burn Brae Dinner Theatre in Burtonsville, Maryland,[11] in 1972 James Rouse asked [2][12][13] Orenstein to move to Columbia, where she became the founder and director of the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts (CCTA),[14] a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that is funded, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Maryland State Arts Council, and the Howard County Arts Council.[12] In 1975, she created the Young Columbians, a dynamic performance troupe of young people aged 8–21.[2][9][14][15] Its graduates include several Broadway actors and, most notably, former Howard County resident Edward Norton, an acclaimed actor, activist and Academy Award nominee.[9][16] Other notable alumni of the Young Columbians include Steve Blanchard and Caroline Bowman.[13][17] Performance venues include the White House, Wolf Trap, Walt Disney World, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Merriweather Post Pavilion, The Fillmore, Lake Kittamaqundi, The Ellipse, House of the Temple, the Washington D.C. Temple, and others. Since 1979, Orenstein is also the Artistic Director and owner of Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia, Maryland.[14]

Orenstein is married to economist Harold (Hal) Orenstein. Together they have two children: a son, Jeffery (born 1961), and a daughter, Mindy (born 1963). They reside in Columbia, Maryland.[18]

• Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts
• Toby's Dinner Theatre
• Young Columbians
• Maryland Women's Hall of Fame