Cumberland Theatre’s Artistic Director: Kimberly Rowley- Talks About Their Current Season…

Edition Six- Week Six:

By: Jacob West / Photography By: Perk Hull Design

In Western Maryland, travelers might find a quaint little town named Cumberland, in which a few treasures might be found. Among such wonders includes a one-room small cabin that once belonged to none other than George Washington and the Allegany Museum, which covers the town’s rich regional history. In addition, theatre lovers can be treated to Western Maryland’s only professional regional theatre.

Currently, in its 34th season, Cumberland Theatre boasts an impressive body of work that ranges from Shakespeare to modern pieces. As 2022 has gone on, the theatre has continued its long stream of successful productions. In February, they opened with Bekah Brunstetter’s (known for her work on the celebrated television show This Is Us) production of The Cake. The following month saw a 90s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, followed by their junior Stars of Tomorrow youth production of Shrek The Musical. Most recently, the theatre closed its production of Company by Stephen Sondheim and is now beginning production on Sam Shephard’s play True West. Upcoming productions that will conclude their seasons include such fantastic shows as Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare and August Osage County by Tracey Letts.

Undoubtedly, the theatre’s success can be attributed in part to the wonderful artistic direction. Current Artistic Directors include Rhett Wolford and Kimberli Rowley, the latter of whom I was lucky enough to sit down and have a little chat with.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

“Well, I am Kimberli Rowley, and I’ve been performing since I was three. I started as a dancer, fell in love with theatre when I was around middle school/high school age, and then I went to college to study Acting. I quickly realized that, as much as I loved acting, I also really loved directing, which came naturally to me. My dance background got my foot in the door as a choreographer, which led to directing, which has led to now being one of the Artistic Directors at CT. My favorite things right now remain to direct and acting, but I still dabble in choreography, dance, and singing from time to time. I’ve been Artistic Director at CT now since late 2016, but I started as an actor, worked my way into the Resident Choreographer position, and then when the previous Artistic Director retired, I applied for that job, and here I am!”

What sets CT apart from most Theatre Companies?

“Probably the area, the fact that we can still hire designers, directors, and actors from all over the East coast, being in a small, rural area. We really are in the poorest part of the State of Maryland. Many people are getting government assistance, and many people live below the poverty line in this area. So, what sets it apart is that it even exists in such an area, and people embrace it. More and more, people come, and that’s why we often run specials, to make it affordable. People are very gracious here. They really appreciate it more than your average regional theatre because it’s such a taboo thing to have in a poor area like this.”

How has COVID-19 affected you?

We shut down in March 2020, as we were going into tech week for The Great Gatsby. We held out until the State Government said everybody had to close. We had a brief re-opening in October when the state relaxed a bit, during which we ran American Son for a weekend just to test the waters, but consumer confidence wasn’t back at that time, so the crowds weren’t that great. We ended up closing back down because we saw a spike in cases, and then in March 2021, we were allowed to open at 50%. By July 2021, we were back to 100% capacity. They were still making people wear masks, but what got us through it was the fact that the federal and state governments were giving a lot of assistance to the arts. I wrote grant form after grant form and finally managed, within 18 months, to get about $360,00 to make improvements, make the space safer and cleaner, put Rhett and me back to work, and fund the season. People don’t realize that we still had to pay building insurance, we still had to pay utilities, and we still had to pay all that! And with no money coming in, we had to survive on grants. So, it sounds like a lot of money, and we still are using it to fund the season partially, but it goes very fast when you think about being closed for two years.”

Let’s talk about the current season. You opened with The Cake, which you directed, right?

“It’s a relatively new play that came out in the past five years. It went really well, and I was a little nervous because it deals with a touchy subject for some people—homosexuality, etc. There are people in this area that are very Conservative Christian. One of the things I love about the play, the same that I loved about American Son, is that it deals with a hot button topic like that, and it presents both sides. It also doesn’t come down hard one way or the other. So, it was well-received; I was impressed with the way people responded to it. Nobody was offended, and there was a topless scene in it! The leading actress had to have icing on her boobs. And she was very, very brave to do that! She was a local actress, and it’s different if you’re out of town because nobody knows you, but topless in front of someone who might see you at the grocery store can be a little weird! But nobody said anything, people were cool about it, and it went really well!”

The play that followed that was Macbeth. How do you feel that went?

“Good! I was surprised by how many people came out to see it! When people hear “Shakespeare,” they might think they’re not going to understand it, it’s boring, old school, etc. I think it really helped that I put it in a different period. I can enjoy Shakespeare’s more traditional form, but I don’t think everybody can. People get afraid of it. A couple who have season passes are called Greg and Josh, and they come to every show in the area. They love the arts, and they sent me a private message on Facebook, saying, “Shakespeare is not my thing. I don’t like it. I’m not into it; I only came to see this because I knew some people in it. But we enjoyed it! I loved the aesthetic, the set was great, and everything worked really well.” He also complimented my performance, and it made me feel good that he took the time to say that he hated Shakespeare but was entertained. That was the goal, to get people to see it differently.”

In that production, you played Lady Macbeth. What was your favorite thing about that role?

“Oh god, I don’t know! (laughs). I don’t get to play the villain very often, not that I think she is really a textbook “villain,” but I don’t get to play that driving force a lot. I usually play the pretty girl parts in Shakespeare. So I guess being able to show a different side of my personality and be a bit vindictive and just getting to do it since I’ve wanted to play her since I was a teenager was amazing. I haven’t done a lot of Shakespeare’s tragedies, it’s mostly been comedies, so it was cool to get to step out of the box a little.”

You then directed Shrek The Musical?

“We do a Stars of Tomorrow show every year for actors between 5 and 20 years old, and they were going to do Cats in 2020 because the movie had just come out, and there was a lot of hype. That particular group of kids had a lot of dancers as well. Most of the kids who play the leads are usually 16 to 20-year-olds, and they’ve since gone away to college, so we couldn’t do the same show with the same group of kids as they’d moved on. So we chose Shrek, which seemed to make sense with the kids we were choosing. I hadn’t worked with a big group of kids in a long time, aside from choreographing a number here and there, so it’s been an experience. Thank god for my co-director, Bill Denison, without whom I couldn’t have done it.”

And you just closed Company?

“Yep. I just did a little bit of choreography for that show. It’s not my favorite. When Rhett and I choose the season, we come on with one or two shows that we personally love and want to do. He loves Company and was actually in it, the first thing he’s performed in since October 2019. I didn’t have too much to do with it because it’s not my favorite, but the show was well-received, and everyone had a great time! I’ve tried to figure out what I don’t like about it because I like Sondheim! I love Into the Woods and Assassins and, of course, Sweeney Todd. I think it’s because if someone is 35 years old and they’re not married, who cares? And that’s what the musical is about! I have friends who love it and insist the meaning is deeper than that, but I just don’t like it! But our season is not about what I like and what I don’t, and the show has a massive following. We had so many people audition who wanted to be in it, and some of the music is catchy. It’s just not my favorite.”

When you put together the seasons, what do you look for exactly?

“We kind of pick to grants, though I hate to say that. They don’t want to see the same thing over and over again. They want to see a variety. We always do three musicals and five plays due to budgeting as musicals are expensive. However, my heart will always be in plays, so I will never fight that (if it were just up to me, we’d only do one musical!). The summer musical is usually a juke-box or a big blockbuster musical – Mama Mia, Legally Blonde, last year we did Johnny Cash, this year is Rock of Ages – something that will attract the masses. The musical in the spring is usually something relatively unknown or something that has been around for a long time but hasn’t been done in a while, like Gypsy or Company. In the fall/winter, we try to alternate between October and December, so if October is a musical, then December is a play and vice versa. Our last October show was Carrie The Musical, and we’ve also done Miracle on 34th St and White Christmas. This year we’re doing Elf.

With the plays, I try to find a comedy and a drama, Pulitzer Winner or something based on a film that people will come and see, or something edgy. So we want a prize winner, a comedy, a drama, something edgy, maybe something based on a film – those types of things. And, of course, cast size is important because I can’t do five August Osage County’s. I can’t afford thirteen actors per show! So true West and The Cake were chosen because they’re only casts of four.”

What’s up next?

“I will be directing True West, which I’m excited about! I love Sam Shephard, and I’ve always wanted to direct this piece. It’s got a great cast, and it’s a fun show. We did Fool For Love back in 2018, which I was in, and I love his work a lot. My favorite type of theatre is dark and edgy comedy. Things that have meaning and will make you think. So, yeah, I’m excited, it’s gonna be great!”

For more information, including tickets for shows, go to https://www.cumberlandtheatre.com/

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