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Former FSU Theatre Professor, Mairzy Yost-Rushton, will appear in unrehearsed, experimental play

The Cumberland Theatre, in association with Aurora Nova, will present Mairzy Yost-Rushton in a performance of Nassim Soleimanpour’s inventive play, “White Rabbit, Red Rabbit” on March 13 at 7:00 pm at the theatre on 101 North Johnson Street.

Tickets are available for a $10 donation on the theatre’s website: cumberlandtheatre.com.

Described by The New York Times as a “playful, enigmatic and haunting show,” the play involves no rehearsals, no set and no director. Instead, the actor is handed a script — sealed in an envelope — to perform without preparation.

Forbidden to leave his country, Iranian playwright Soleimanpour transcribed his experience of isolation into this unique stage work, an absurdist adventure that blends comedy and drama. It has been performed across the world by some of the biggest names in theater and film, including Nathan Lane, Martin Short, Cynthia Nixon, Laura Linney and Wayne Brady.

A show business veteran for over twenty-five years, Yost-Rushton has worked as an actor, a director, and casting director in NYC. As a member of Actor's Equity and Screen Actors Guild, she has worked in Theatre, Film and Commercials. She has performed Off-Off Broadway and Regionally. In 1998 she moved to Maryland to start a teaching career at Frostburg State University where she directed main stage productions and taught the upper-level acting curriculum.

Retired from teaching, Yost-Rushton continues to work professionally as both an actor and director, recent credits include Sister Aloysius in DOUBT, Mayor Hyde in ALL SHOOK UP and director of FREEDOM TRAIN at the Roxy Regional Theatre in Tennessee.

The play operates on a metaphoric level and expressly avoids political comment. The performance includes profane language and scenes discussing suicide.

The performance is presented as part of the worldwide initiative “Let There Be Theatre.” In March 2020, many theaters closed their doors because of the pandemic. The initiative celebrates the resilience of the arts sector as a global community and the important role theaters play for their audiences and society.

The show marks the beginning of a new series of programming at the Cumberland Theatre appropriately called “CT Season Too!”. The series will be filled with pop-up supplemental programming that will play for limited engagements of one or two evenings and feature cabarets, one-man shows, readings, murder mysteries and more. The theatre is now taking ideas and submissions for these types of programs. Proposals can be emailed to kim@cumberlandtheatre.com.

Cumberland Theatre is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council, Allegany Arts Council, Allegany County and the city of Cumberland.

For tickets and more information, visit cumberlandtheatre.com or call the theatre at 301.759.4990.

Cumberland Theatre’s 35th Season Continues with Hollywood Classic

The Wisdom of Eve filmed as All About Eve is next up on the CT stage

The Cumberland Theatre will continue their 35th Anniversary Season with the stage version of the classic film All About Eve on Friday, March 10th. A red carpet themed opening party is planned to follow the performance which includes complimentary refreshments, champagne, prizes and the debut and sampling of CT’s signature 35th Anniversary barrel-aged Manhattan cocktail. There is no additional cost to attend the party. It is included in the ticket cost for that evening’s performance.

The stage play The Wisdom of Eve is adapted from the short story by Mary Orr, on which the film All About Eve and the musical Applause! is based. An engrossing and revealing “inside” story of life in New York’s theatre world, told in terms of an unscrupulous ingenue’s rise to Broadway stardom. When we first meet Eve Harrington, she is standing in the rain by the stage door of the theatre in which the renowned Margo Crane is starring in her latest long-run hit. Waiting for a glimpse of her professed idol, she accosts Karen Roberts, Margo’s good friend and the wife of the playwright, Lloyd Roberts, and inveigles an invitation to meet the great actress herself. The meeting leads to unexpected opportunity as Margo, struck with Eve’s “sincerity,” takes her on as a personal secretary. Before long, Eve begins to move ahead in earnest, her true character emerging as she lies, cheats and blackmails leaving the wreckage of her friends’ trust behind her. The Wisdom of Eve examines the lengths individuals will go to for fame.

Orr, who was an actress, penned the short story for Cosmopolitan Magazine in 1946. The film All About Eve debuted in 1950 and starred cinema legend Bette Davis as well as Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Thelma Ritter and Marilyn Monroe in one of her earliest film roles. Praised by critics at the time of its release, All About Eve received a record 14 Academy Award nominations and won six, including Best Picture. All About Eve is the only film in Oscar history to receive four female acting nominations (Davis and Baxter as Best Actress, Holm and Ritter as Best Supporting Actress). Widely considered as among the greatest films of all time, in 1990, it became one of 25 films selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress' National Film Registry, deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film was ranked No. 16 on AFI's 1998 list of the 100 best American films.

CT’s upcoming production features Artistic Director Kimberli Rowley as Margo Crane and, making her CT debut, Alexandra Tarsinov as Eve Harrington. Rowley was most recently seen as Barbara in August: Osage County and Countess Andrenyi in Murder on the Orient Express. Tarsinov is a graduate of the Hartt School’s Musical Theatre BFA program and has appeared throughout the region in such roles as Annette in Saturday Night Fever and Hope Harcourt in Anything Goes.

Also featured in principal roles are CT regulars Bill Dennison (Lloyd Roberts), Ashley Snow (Karen Roberts) and Seth Thompson (Clement Howell). Dennison has recently appeared as Little Charles in August: Osage County and Austin in True West. Snow was last seen as Miss Scarlett in Clue on Stage. Thompson was last seen as Samuel Ratchett in Murder on the Orient Express.

Returning to the CT stage from last season are local actors Lura Thompson, Emily Snyder and Garrett County actor Mikey Virts. Thompson appeared in last fall’s Haunting of Hill House. Snyder was last seen as part of the ensemble of the musical Rock of Ages and Virts portrayed Steve in August: Osage County and currently serves as the Artistic Director at Our Town Theatre in Oakland.

Other visiting actors in supporting roles include Adian Chapman who was just appeared as Colonel Arbuthnot in this season’s Murder on the Orient Express and New York based actor Pierce Bunch who is making his CT debut.

The production is under the direction of Seth Thompson, who also directed 2021’s production of The Outsiders and served as Assistant Director on Murder on the Orient Express. The design team is comprised of Rhett Wolford (set), Cody Gillum (costumes) and Joshua Taylor (lighting). The run crew consists of Hayden Kline (stage manager) and Elizabeth Mudge (assistant stage manager).

The show is being sponsored by Carl Belt, Inc. Performances are March 9th – 19th with Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm. The red carpet themed opening reception is included in the ticket price for Friday, March 10th.

More information on ratings, group sales, etc can be found on cumberlandtheatre.com where single tickets are available for purchase as well as 2023 Season Passes.

CT STARS OF TOMORROW HOLDING AUDITIONS FOR SPONGEBOB THE MUSICAL

Roles available for young actors 5 – 20 years old

The Cumberland Theatre will be holding auditions for their first Stars of Tomorrow production of the season on February 13th and 14th at the theatre from 5:00 – 8:00 pm. The program is designed for young actors ages 5 – 20 years old. This year, the production will be SpongeBob the Musical based on the popular cartoon SpongeBob Square Pants.

The plot is simple, yet it will resonate with audience members of all ages. When the citizens of Bikini Bottom discover that a volcano will soon erupt and destroy their humble home, SpongeBob and his friends must come together to save the fate of their undersea world. With lives hanging in the balance and all hope lost, a most

unexpected hero rises up and we realize that the power of optimism really can save the world!

The show features original songs by Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alexander Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady A, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! At the Disco, Plain White T’s, and David Bowie.

All roles are open and no experience is required to audition. Those auditioning will be asked to prepare 16 bars of an uptempo song and bring a karaoke track to sing to as well as learn a short dance combination. Those interested in principle roles will be asked to read from the script. A complete character list can be found on the theatre’s website.

The show will play for six performances April 13th – 16th with Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows at 7:00 pm and Saturday and Sunday shows at 2:00 pm. Rehearsals will begin in late February. The creative team consists of Marty Jellyson (Director), Mikayla Dodge (music director) and Kimberli Rowley (choreographer).

To schedule your audition appointment time, please visit www.cumberlandtheatre.com and fill out the form under SOT Auditions.