Interview: Theatre Life with Peggy Yates

Today's subject has literally been living her theatre life for almost her entire existence on this planet. Peggy Yates can currently be seen in the world premiere holiday spectacular Silver Belles at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, which plays through December 31st. She previously appeared at Signature in No Way to Treat a Lady and Crossing.

Peggy - a two-time Helen Hayes award nominee - has been seen at some of area's other top theatres including Dinner with Friends, Peter Pan, She Love Me and Hay Fever at Olney Theatre Center, Camelot at Arena Stage, Merrily We Roll Along and Noel and Gertie at Kennedy Center and A Christmas Carol, I'm Not Rappaport, and Paper Moon at Ford's Theatre. She has also been seen internationally in Play at MSC University and the Beckett Festival in Berlin. You might have also seen Peggy in the TV series Homicide: Life on the Street portraying Maria Delgado.

When not performing onstage, she can be found teaching and directing at Prince Georges Community College (PGCC) where she has the opportunity to pass on her knowledge about her craft to the next generation of performers.

As you will read, Peggy comes from a very large family of performers. The company her parents started over 50 years ago is still providing high quality children's theatre to this day. Yates Musical Theatre is still touring the east coast with Peggy's brother, Danny, overseeing the company's operations. Their version of A Christmas Carol features a skeleton dance like you've never seen before. It's done in blacklight to "Teddy Bear's Picnic." The company used to regularly take the show to Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey where I worked and it always made my holiday season complete. When I was hired as a production stage manager at PGCC, our paths crossed again after not seeing each other for many years, which was a welcomed opportunity.

Silver Belles has taken on a Hamiltonesque sort of quality as tickets were almost completely sold out before the show opened and it extended by one week. Tickets are still available for the extension so you still have a chance to see Peggy Yates - dancing, singing, and spinning a mean baton - and other amazing performers including Donna Migliaccio, Naomi Jacobsen, Dan Manning, Nova Y. Payton, and Ilona Dulaski. It could be the area's next holiday tradition with its charming small town feel. Do what you need to do and check out Silver Belles at Signature Theatre. Stand up, turn around, shake hands, sit down, everybody clap, everybody clap for Peggy Yates!!!

You were born and raised in New Jersey. What brought you to the DC area and what was your first performing job once you arrived here?

I came to DC in 1989 after being cast as Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Madeline Bray in Nicholas Nickelby, in a nine month tour with The National Players which was affiliated with Catholic University of America (CUA) at the time. We rehearsed at CUA and then traveled the country with both shows performing at theatres and colleges from September through May 1989-1990.

Can you please tell us where you received your theatrical training?

I started at the School of Hard Knocks, being carried on stage at six months as the Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, touring the northeast with my family's company, The Yates Musical Theatre. Later, I received a BA from Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. While there I also attended HB Studio and Albert Tavares Studios in New York (among other coaches and studios in the 1980s). In 1993 I received an MFA in Acting from Catholic University.

You come from a very large theatrical family. How many of your family members work in the theatre? Please tell us about the children's theatre company your parents started.

My dad was a WWII vet who studied at Juilliard and met my mom through a voice teacher who suggested they would "make beautiful music together." As a singing duo, they appeared in Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York City venues in the 1950s as well as the TV show Stars in Your Eyes. When they married and began having children (nine in all) they developed a theatre company that eventually became the Actors Equity Association (AEA) company, The Yates Musical Theatre. dad called it "The Farm." As a member of the family, participation was not optional. While producer, my father adapted scores of children's stories and wrote original music for most of the shows we toured. Weekends were spent performing in schools and theatres on the East Coast, most frequently in New Jersey and New York ( i.e. Papermill Playhouse, Playhouse on the Mall, Garden State Arts Center and Westbury Music Theatre). Summers were spent touring theatres such as Cape Cod Melody Tent, North Shore Music Theatre and Candlewood Playhouse. In the 1980s, we had the distinction of being the family with the most AEA members. Nine of us were card carriers. Although several of us continue to perform on stage our family now includes theatre directors, musicians, educators, entrepreneurs and therapists.

Can you please tell us almost everything we need to know about Silver Belles and the character you play in the show?

Everything you need to know? Get your tickets NOW since we are almost entirely sold out! Silver Belles is a funny, heartwarming alternative to the traditional holiday offerings. I play Ruth Ann, one of the four Silver Belles; a baton-twirling, cookie-making, aging Catfish Queen Pageant winner.

Silver Belles is your second time performing in a musical by composer Matt Conner at Signature Theatre. What do you enjoy most about his scoring?

Matt's music is a joy to work on. The three works of Matt's I am familiar with - Crossing, Silver Belles and Nevermore, which I only saw - couldn't be more different. His compositions are complex, but also have a lightness and an inevitability. Because Matt is also an accomplished actor and performer, his songs are rooted in truth and driven in a way that makes them a delight to sing. In Silver Belles, Matt has weaved traditional holiday musical favorites throughout his original score creating a joyous celebration of friendship and the gifts of the season. Matt, Stephen Gregory Smith (co-lyricist), and Allyson Currin (book) - together with Director Eric Schaeffer - have created a thoroughly enjoyable holiday offering that I believe will be a favorite for years to come.

You are on the faculty at Prince Georges Community College. When you are rehearsing a show, how do you balance your class load with show stuff?

With as much pre-rehearsal prep as possible. It is a challenge, but the benefits outweigh the costs. Fortunately, I work in a supportive department and find that working professionally as an actor, teacher, and director each compliment the other roles.

After Silver Belles finishes, will you be performing anywhere else this season?

Nothing yet is definite in terms of performing, but my next two artistic projects begin two days after we close when I travel to Montclair State University in New Jersey to coordinate the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region 2 Musical Theatre Initiative. Following that, I've signed on to co-direct a new play commissioned by The Farm Theatre's Barnstorming Project written by Christopher Gabriel Nunez for students at three area colleges.

Special thanks to Signature Theatre's Deputy Director of Creative Content and Publicity James Gardiner for his assistance in coordinating this interview.

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