CONFESSIONS FROM THE LADIES ROOM Staged Reading Next Up At Cumberland Theatre

The Cumberland Theatre will present a stage reading of the play Confessions From the Ladies Room written by Shane Riggs as part of its CT Season Too! Series this month. The performance will take place at the theatre on Wednesday, September 25th at 7:00 pm and will also serve as a benefit for the remaining shows in the theatre's 2024 Season.

The play centers around four actresses made famous by a fictional television show reunite years after its cancellation to plan a reunion special on a new cable network. The creator of the show hosts the reunion, where the passage of time has seen the actresses' stars lose much of their luster. Their opinions of themselves, however, have suffered no such loss, as each faithfully grasps their celebrity, and each carefully hides a shadowy secret. So, with egos drawn and vanities flared, the women of the TV show "The Ladies Room" take their ambitions center stage. The results are wildly humorous and played out in living Technicolor.

The play has been produced twice before in Cumberland. It was first produced in April, 2007 in Cumberland and starred Kimberli Rowley and Coty Forno (among others) who also appear in this special reunion presentation. It was staged again in 2012 and at that time starred Bill Dennison and Nicole Halmos, who are also involved in this latest iteration.

"It has been produced 'somewhere' annually ever since," said Riggs, "and is my second most requested play - Lightbearer being first."

Appearing as a special guest star in this production will be Cumberland native and professional actress Rebeca Arthur. After graduating from Fort Hill High School, Arthur left home for the University of Maryland at College Park, but finished her education at New York University.

Along with theater appearances in various off off-Broadway theatre productions, she started appearing sporadically on soap operas in New York.. Her comedic turns caught the attention of her agents and she was talked into going to Los Angeles for pilot season. She continued to work in television and film for that first year in LA before auditioning for a guest star role in a new sitcom called Perfect Strangers.

The part of Mary Anne was supposed to be a guest stint for just one episode; however, Arthur was made a regular in season two and then a costar of the show in season three. She remained with the television series -- a staple of ABC's TGIF line up for the 1980s, for eight years.

Other notable film credits include, About Last Night, Scrooged, A Dangerous Woman, Get Shorty, Men Seeking Women, and Every Breathe.

"When I developed a friendship with Rebeca Arthur after featuring her on the cover of Allegany Magazine in 2016, she asked me to send her the play and nearly immediately she said 'I want to come home when the time is right and do something with this,'" recalls Riggs. "But a pandemic and a Hollywood writers' strike delayed things just a bit. While Rebeca is briefly back in Cumberland renovating the house she grew up in, she thought the timing would be perfect to be involved in a special concert reading that helps the arts in Allegany County."

In addition to Arthur, the show will also feature Coty Forno (owner and operator of Mountain City Center for the Arts), Nicole Halmos (recent Helen Hayes Award Winner) and Kimberli Rowley (Artistic Director of the Cumberland Theatre). Also appearing will be veteran actors Bill Dennison and Seth Thompson and FSU Theatre student Stephen Hess.

The Cumberland Theatre will present a stage reading of the play Confessions From the Ladies Room written by Shane Riggs as part of its CT Season Too! Series this month. The performance will take place at the theatre on Wednesday, September 25th at 7:00 pm and will also serve as a benefit for the remaining shows in the theatre's 2024 Season.

The play centers around four actresses made famous by a fictional television show reunite years after its cancellation to plan a reunion special on a new cable network. The creator of the show hosts the reunion, where the passage of time has seen the actresses' stars lose much of their luster. Their opinions of themselves, however, have suffered no such loss, as each faithfully grasps their celebrity, and each carefully hides a shadowy secret. So, with egos drawn and vanities flared, the women of the TV show "The Ladies Room" take their ambitions center stage. The results are wildly humorous and played out in living Technicolor.

The play has been produced twice before in Cumberland. It was first produced in April, 2007 in Cumberland and starred Kimberli Rowley and Coty Forno (among others) who also appear in this special reunion presentation. It was staged again in 2012 and at that time starred Bill Dennison and Nicole Halmos, who are also involved in this latest iteration.

"It has been produced 'somewhere' annually ever since," said Riggs, "and is my second most requested play - Lightbearer being first."

Appearing as a special guest star in this production will be Cumberland native and professional actress Rebeca Arthur. After graduating from Fort Hill High School, Arthur left home for the University of Maryland at College Park, but finished her education at New York University.

Along with theater appearances in various off off-Broadway theatre productions, she started appearing sporadically on soap operas in New York.. Her comedic turns caught the attention of her agents and she was talked into going to Los Angeles for pilot season. She continued to work in television and film for that first year in LA before auditioning for a guest star role in a new sitcom called Perfect Strangers.

The part of Mary Anne was supposed to be a guest stint for just one episode; however, Arthur was made a regular in season two and then a costar of the show in season three. She remained with the television series -- a staple of ABC's TGIF line up for the 1980s, for eight years.

Other notable film credits include, About Last Night, Scrooged, A Dangerous Woman, Get Shorty, Men Seeking Women, and Every Breathe.

"When I developed a friendship with Rebeca Arthur after featuring her on the cover of Allegany Magazine in 2016, she asked me to send her the play and nearly immediately she said 'I want to come home when the time is right and do something with this,'" recalls Riggs. "But a pandemic and a Hollywood writers' strike delayed things just a bit. While Rebeca is briefly back in Cumberland renovating the house she grew up in, she thought the timing would be perfect to be involved in a special concert reading that helps the arts in Allegany County."

In addition to Arthur, the show will also feature Coty Forno (owner and operator of Mountain City Center for the Arts), Nicole Halmos (recent Helen Hayes Award Winner) and Kimberli Rowley (Artistic Director of the Cumberland Theatre). Also appearing will be veteran actors Bill Dennison and Seth Thompson and FSU Theatre student Stephen Hess.

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