Metro Roundup: Cathy Gilmore has led Virginia Samford Theatre 2 decades

Like other arts organizations, the Virginia Samford Theatre in Birmingham’s Highland Park was forced to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in March 2020.

The theater ultimately was able to present a chunk of the 2020-21 season live while observing a wide range of safety precautions.

But now, theater staff members are optimistic and have a full slate of productions planned for their 2021-22 season.

“Our staff has worked continuously during the downtime and has enabled us to come roaring back with our usual Broadway-quality entertainment,” Marketing Director Ben Burford said.

And the theater’s president, Cathy Gilmore, is excited about the new season, in part due to the anticipated reactions of her regular patrons.

“I’m excited because it gets our audience excited,” she said. “We try to choose shows that we think have a broad appeal.”

Gilmore and her staff seemed to have chosen well over the last two decades, as the theater has become one of the most popular theaters in the metropolitan area.

A Birmingham native and longtime arts administrator, Gilmore is also a longtime Mountain Brook resident.

Gilmore also seems to love her job leading the Virginia Samford Theatre and has no intention of leaving.

“That has been so rewarding to see over the years that we are still here,” she said. “We are still going. It’s fun. It’s a challenge. I wouldn’t be doing anything else.”

Gilmore recently talked about the new theater season; her love for high-quality, live theater; the importance of running the nonprofit like a business in order to maintain financial sustainability; the way the theater provides paying gigs for local theater professionals; and the way the theater’s youth program helps introduce young people to the joys of theater and, she hopes, create loyal patrons in the future.

Next up in the 2021-22 season is “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a quirky musical that won Tony and Drama Desk Awards. The show is scheduled to run Oct. 14-24.

“It’s a very, very funny show,” said Gilmore, who said the show should also appeal to young adults.

“One of our most difficult things right now is drawing in that younger millennial audience,” she said.

One of Virginia Samford Theatre’s best directors, David McMahon, will stage the Tennessee Williams classic “The Glass Menagerie” in the intimate Sykes Studio on Oct. 28-Nov. 7.

“No one is doing the classic plays,” Gilmore said.

The show Gilmore and her staff are “really excited about” is their production of the hit musical “9 to 5,” which has music and lyrics by Dolly Parton and will begin in January.

“Our patrons love the musicals,” Gilmore said.

The theater’s late January show “has always been a huge moneymaker for us,” Gilmore said. “Football is over. People are looking for things to do.

“Hopefully the virus will be under control,” she said.

Later in the season, the theater will stage two other popular musicals, “Company” by Stephen Sondheim in March and “The Sound of Music” in June.

Gilmore studied speech and theater at Birmingham-Southern College, graduating in 1968, and worked professionally in theaters in Birmingham, Atlanta and New York.

She later became an administrator, serving as managing director of Alabama Ballet from 1983 to 1996 and executive director of the Metropolitan Arts Council from 1996 to 1999.

Gilmore took part in the restoration and reopening of the Virginia Samford Theatre in 2000.

The theater has a 30-member board of directors, many of whom have been associated with the theater since the purchase and renovation in 2000, Gilmore said.

After the arrival of COVID-19, Gilmore said the Virginia Samford Theatre made a decision to remain open beginning last September. This choice was necessary because the theater owns its building, which is 95 years old and in need of regular maintenance, Gilmore said.

Utilities, insurance, maintenance and other expenses at the theater run about $5,000 to $6,000 per month, she said.

“Whether we operate or not, we still have to pay those bills,” she said.

The theater took numerous precautions against COVID-19, such as maintaining one-third seating capacity and doing temperature checks at the door.

“We did everything possible to be safe,” Gilmore said.

Gilmore was also committed to maintaining true, live theater. “Virtual shows don’t do anything for me,” she said.

The theater managed to make it through the year financially, despite having to cancel its January 2021 production. It received two federal PPP loans and has gotten some additional grants, Gilmore said.

“Our staff did not miss a paycheck,” she said.

It also had a big hit with a production of “Million Dollar Quartet” in June. “We had packed houses for three weeks,” Gilmore said. “People were thrilled to be back.”

When Gilmore, the staff and one or two board members pick the shows for each season at Virginia Samford Theatre, they ask themselves critical financial questions.

“Will it make money? Can we afford to do it? Will it have appeal?” Gilmore said.

Their projections appear to have been generally accurate.

“We’ve never had a show where we lost money,” she said. “There are some where we made just a little.”

As a small theater that can’t seat more than 325 people, it’s important to keep an eye on sustainability, Gilmore said.

“We pay our performers,” she said. “These are not volunteers. These are all professional actors, directors and choreographers.”

“Even though Birmingham is a relatively large market, there are only a couple theater companies in town that have the facilities to produce large-scale productions like those mounted by VST,” veteran local director Carl Dean said. “It is a paying company, so its artists can supplement their incomes working on a contract basis for the theater,”

Running the theater, which has an annual budget of about $1.2 million, is very similar to running any other sizable business, Gilmore said.

“We have an accounting firm, and we have to show financial reports every month,” she said.

The important difference between the Virginia Samford Theatre and a regular business is that, as a nonprofit, the theater must also solicit contributions, Gilmore said.

“I’m constantly looking for ways for people to be engaged in the theater and want to make a contribution, because that’s your sustainability,” she said.

In remaining open, the Virginia Samford Theatre seeks to further one critical goal, Gilmore said.

“Our mission has always been to cultivate and feature our locally based artists,” she said, citing such veteran local performers as Jan Hunter and Kristi Tingle Higginbotham.

The theater seeks to feature “all of these wonderful artists who live in Birmingham,” she said. “The theater is kind of like a creative oasis just for them.

Higginbotham said the Virginia Samford Theatre is “like my home away from home, and has been for many decades," noting that she played her first part there in 1982 when the facility was still called Town and Gown Theatre.

Higginbotham has since played lead roles in such plays as “The Music Man,” “Gypsy,” “Chicago” and — just before the COVID-19 lockdown — “Cabaret.”

In running the Virginia Samford Theatre, Gilmore makes good use of her own background as a professional actor and ballet dancer, Higginbotham said.

“I think those skills have truly helped her, along with her passion for the arts in Birmingham, to be able to run such a large theater that is such a highlight to our community,” Higginbotham said.

Dean has worked at the theater for almost 20 years, he said. “It has truly become a creative, artistic home away from home for me,” he said.

Gilmore and the Virginia Samford Theatre are “terrific at finding and identifying artists with vision, who they can trust to create unique and powerful theatrical works, and they support them in bringing those visions to the stage,” Dean said.

Dean and Gilmore share a “raw passion for the theater,” Dean said.

Hunter’s next acting role at the theater will be what she called “the daunting and massive part” of Amanda in McMahon’s production of “The Glass Menagerie.”

Gilmore is “always inspiring to work with,” Hunter said. “She’s creative with a bit of a quirky sense of humor combined.”

The historic theater “isn’t only a beautiful theater to look at, but it’s an equally beautiful place to perform in,” Hunter said.

McMahon, a Birmingham native, has directed several shows at the theater, most recently a production of Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite.”

“I love coming back to Birmingham and working in the theater where I grew up, and Cathy gives me tons of space to be as creative as possible,” McMahon said.

He praises the staff and the reservoir of local actors. “Birmingham has some very talented people,” he said.

Another key goal for the theater is to build its youth education program — under the leadership of Education Director Jennifer Spiegelman — which “is growing by leaps and bounds,” Gilmore said.

Children and teens learn the craft of the theater and how to put on shows.

Participants in the youth program STARS (Students Take a Role at the Samford) will put on three shows this season, including the Disney musical “Madagascar Jr.” in November.

The youth program can be the source of the theater’s audiences in the future, Gilmore said.

“We hope that these kids grow up learning about theater and when they become adults, they have an appreciation of it, and they will in turn expose their children to theater,” she said.

Gilmore is also proud overall of the quality of shows that the Virginia Samford Theater presents using talented local professionals.

“I am very proud of the talent in Birmingham,” she said.

Gilmore also expresses pride in her staff.

“They do such a phenomenal job for such a small group of people,” she said.

Hunter said the Virginia Samford Theatre is an invaluable presence in the creative and cultural life of Birmingham. “Cathy and that theater give those of us who need it the opportunity to learn and grow in our talents,” Hunter said.

Gilmore — now entering her third decade at the theater — said her job has been very gratifying.

“It is rewarding to see that we were able to take this building back in 2000 when UAB put it up for sale and that we were able to work with Virginia Samford, who actually bought the building, and our board of directors that made a commitment to raise the money to completely renovate the building,” Gilmore said.

The Virginia Samford Theatre is at 1116 26th St. S. For more information, including the complete 2021-22 season schedule, call 205-251-1228 or go to virginiasamfordtheatre.org.