Cumberland Theatre Offering Two Shows in September

Biloxi Blues and the Cover of Life will play for alternating performances

The Cumberland Theatre will continue their 36th Season with two plays to be performed on alternate evening during weekends in September. For the first time in the theatre’s history, two different theatrical offerings will be performed in repertory. “We are excited to try something new at CT,” said Board President BettyJo Gehauf. “It is both a challenge and a joy to offer our patrons not one – but two – fabulous plays that tell two very different but amazing stories.”

Both plays, Biloxi Blues and The Cover of Life are set in the Southern United States during World War II, however, the stories come from two different viewpoints – one from a group of young men in basic training and the other from a group of women facing the challenges of carrying on in a man’s world while the men are overseas.

Opening first will be The Cover of Life by R.T. Robinson. The play focuses on Tood, Weetsie, and Sybill who are brides in rural Louisiana in 1943. Each married to a Cliffert brother. The men are off to war and a local news story about these young wives keeping the home fires burning intrigues editor Henry Luce. He decides that they belong on the cover of Life Magazine and assigns Kate Miller to the story. Kate has been covering the war in Europe and, though she views doing a "women's piece" as a career set-back, she accepts because it will be her first cover story. Kate spends a week with the Cliffert women, and her haughty urban attitude gives way to sympathy as she begins to understand them while coming face-to-face with her own powerlessness in a man's world. Both funny and poignant, The Cover of Life is a deeply affecting story about the struggle for self-worth. The show is being sponsored by Doug Schwab and Betsey Hurwitz-Schwab.

The Cover of Life is being directed by Jennifer Virts of Garrett County, MD. Virts appeared on stage earlier this season in The Rose Tattoo.  The Cover of Life will be her directorial debut with CT. Also making their CT debuts will be Lisa Podulka as Sybil and Mae Burrus as Weetsie. Podulka hails from New York City and Burrus currently resides just outside Philadelphia.  Returning to the CT stage after a long absence will be Wendy Snow Walker as Aunt Ola. Walker has been working in theatre, film and television throughout the east coast for the past many years and recently directed the CT production of Sideways. Also returning to CT will be Grace LaCount as Tood, Ashley Snow as Addie Mae, Connor McCabe as Tommy Cliffert and Kimberli Rowley as Kate Miller.

The second play offering will be Neil Simon’s classic Biloxi Blues, a semi-autobiographical play. It portrays the conflict of Sergeant Merwin J. Toomey and Arnold Epstein, one of many privates enlisted in the military stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi, seen through the eyes of Eugene Jerome, one of the other soldiers. This play is the second chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy, following Brighton Beach Memoirs and preceding Broadway Bound and won the Tony Award for Best Play. A film adaptation starring Matthew Broderick and Christoper Walken was released in the early 1980s.

Biloxi Blues is being directed by Seth Thompson, who recently directed this summer’s Merchant of Venice for CT’s Shakespeare in the Park series. The show features local actors as well as newcomers to the CT stage.

Heading the cast as Eugene will be Mark Worth who appeared in this season’s The Play That Goes Wrong, Jesus Christ Superstar and Sideways. Also returning the stage are Connor McCabe (Carney), Pierce Bunch (Hennessy), Grace LaCount (Daisy) and Brian Records (Selridge).

Making their CT debuts will be Corey Reiter as Sergeant Toomey, Lisa Podulka as Rowena and Jesse Kortus as Arnold Epstien.

The production teams consist of Trevor McCabe (stage manager), Brendon McCabe (stage manager), and Jmonet Hill (assistant stage manager). The design team for the shows includes Rhett Wolford (set and lighting designer), Jennifer Clark (costume designer), Cody Gilliam (costume designer), Jaiden Courrier (sound designer), Anthony Tagliaferro (props team), Kimberli Rowley (props team) and Trevor McCabe (props team).

The Cover of Life will be performed September 5th, 6th, 14th, and 21st at 8:00 pm and September 15th and 22nd at 2:00 pm. Biloxi Blues will be performed September 7th, 12th, 13th, and 20th at 8:00 pm and September 7th and 21st at 2:00 pm.  Patrons can enjoy both shows in the same day on Saturday, September 21st with Biloxi Blues performing at 2:00 pm and The Cover of Life performing at 8:00 pm.

A BOGO ticket deal will be offered on Thursday, September 5th and Thursday, September 12th.  Patrons purchasing tickets to both shows in the same online transaction will also receive a discount. More information on discount codes, ratings, group sale, etc. can be found on the theatre’s Facebook page or at cumberlandtheatre.com where single tickets are available for purchase. Reservations can also be made by calling the box office at 301.759.4990.