MCT is fortunate to have immensely talented and caring people as board members. In this and future blogs, we’ll be asking them about returning to live shows and other reasons why they love theater.

Sylvia Has Skills!

Sylvia Cagle is chair of the MCT Marketing Committee. Sylvia is originally a dancer and didn’t start doing theater until she was 30! She recently directed Love Letters that was held at the new Crawford County Historical Society Amphitheater in Shryock Park.

Q: What does the return to live theater mean to you?

It means I can stop dancing in the back of my garage! (Though it’s so convenient, I may never totally stop.) I had my first in studio ballet classes in over a year a couple weeks ago, and it was so lovely to have space. I also was part of a recorded performance during the pandemic, so it’ll be nice to perform in front of a live audience again. I never realized how much I would miss all the feedback you get from an audience.

Q: What is your favorite show/composer/writer?

I guess it’s no secret now that my favorite playwright is A.R. Gurney. Not just because the first straight play I ever performed was Sylvia, but because his style resonates with me. I feel like he is very specific in how he writes so that the dialogue is very natural.

Q: What is your best live theater experience?

Theater would be Sylvia, I totally lost myself in that character. Yes, I was Sylvia. But I also have to mention a concert I was a part of in high school. We sang Rutter’s Requiem at a venue outside of school with a live chamber orchestra also composed of students. Definitely a “musical moment.”

Q: If you could have dinner with one theater person, living or dead, who would it be and why?

This is such a tough question… Fosse… Limon… Balanchine… all dance greats known by their last names! I would love to find out what makes them tick, how they came up with their ideas.