Part IX:  Liz Kimball

Liz Kimball

Hometown: Philadelphia

Current Town: Brooklyn, NYC

Tell me about SOUTH PACIFIC:

It’s a musical composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. It originally premiered in 1949, and is based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-Winning Tales from the South Pacific. This production was produced by Gulfshore Symphony and performed at the Barbara Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Meyers, Florida.

Tell me about your process and concept of this show.

I began by immersing myself with anything I could get my hands on about the history of the original production. I read Michener’s book and I also read some of my grandfather’s letters to my grandmother during WWII (he served in the South Pacific). I did a great deal of dramaturgy around the military aspects of the story, a great deal of improv swing dancing by myself in my apartment, and I studied traditional Vietnamese dance.

What is most interesting to me about this show is that it addressed the question
of how we untangle and liberate ourselves from the patterns of bias and (often unconscious) judgment that are programmed into so many of us at an early age at a time when these kinds of conversations weren’t widely acceptable. When the original Broadway production of South Pacific toured the country in the early 1950s, elected officials in Southern States protested against the song, "You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught," declaring that singing about how prejudice, hate, and racism are handed down through families and communities was “a threat to the American way of life." Several Southern cities requested that it be omitted from the show, and, when the creatives refused to do this, the cities refused to book the tour.

I was in pre-production both before and after the 2016 presidential election, and the play felt more relevant than I had ever imagined it would. I was most interested in Nellie’s journey (the female heroine) to overcome her internalized racism, and felt that it was the same journey we as a country needed to reinvest in. I believe that plays find us at the moments in our lives when we most need them. For me, this play arrived to ask the questions: Why do we continue to hand down prejudice? And what do we do about it? 

Our focus in this production was on the music and the story, and the orchestra was onstage. The show was written to be performed with a large, moving set, and it was a wonderful challenge to figure out how to accomplish the storytelling with only a few set pieces and minimal props. The few set pieces that we have lived onstage and were moved by the actors; the show has three very distinct physical worlds - but I wanted the physical space to allow us to see all of the worlds living together - though a chair in one world may look different than a chair in another world - ultimately, it comes from the same place.

How would you define your job description for this piece?

Director/choreographer.

What else are you currently busy with?

A: The next two projects involve people extremely close to me – which is exciting and unusual. I’m assisting my partner, director/choreographer Michael Balderrama on a production of In the Heights at Pittsburgh CLO this summer, and I am also beginning development on a new piece in collaboration with my father, Leland Kimball, who is a director/performer. I will also direct/choreograph Oklahoma in early 2018.

Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a Director and/or as a person.

A: I was an incredibly shy kid, but when I was 4, I created an altar ego named Sally Kimball – a lady boss who was fierce and joyful and who didn’t take no for an answer. I asked people to start calling me Sally, and I remember that operating in the world as Sally was incredibly empowering. There is one old-timey VHS of Sally talking to the camera, and my perception of this person is someone who is confident in her own skin, who knows what she wants and communicates it directly to other people, who is deeply imaginative, and who is having a ball the whole time. When I went to kindergarten, I became very shy again and shed Sally as I tried relentlessly to fit my odd self into what I thought was the template of what I should be. During that time I became a really strong listener and an extremely sensitive and observant person – which was really useful and a bit lonely – but much of my adult life has been a journey back to Sally. Now I am that shy person and I am also Sally. And when I direct I need both of those versions of me.

What kind of theater excites you?

A: Theatre that reorganizes your neurons; theatre that provides healing; theatre that prioritizes compassion and empathy - both in process and in storytelling. Also – a selfish but a true thing I can say here is that I really like plays that address some aspect of my own experience that I feel uncomfortable or vulnerable about.

If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

A: I like questions like this and I’m going to dream big here: I would make it possible for everyone who had the willingness, drive, and enthusiasm to be a working theatre artist to be able to be a working theatre artist, regardless of circumstance.

Who are or were your theatrical Heroes?

A: Jonathan Bernstein, Susie Misner, Rebecca Taichman, Ann Bogart, Kate Whoriskey, Thornton Wilder, Tina Landau, Steven Sondheim, Jeanine Tesori, Bob Fosse, Anton Chekhov, most children under the age of five.

What do you know now, that you wish you knew when you were just starting out? (What advice do you have for Directors just starting out?)

A: Directing is a fairly new discipline for me, so in a way I am still ‘just starting out.’ But some things I now know as an artist (that I didn’t know when I was started my career as a performer over a decade ago) are: 

1. My instincts are my most valuable asset and I should always listen to them. 

2. The things I’m afraid/embarrassed to share usually make the most interesting art. 

3. Questions should be prioritized over answers. 

4. Doing the very challenging work to learn how to treat yourself with respect is essential and will pay off. 

5. Carve out time away from devices and constant pings. 

6. Surround yourself with kind people who have different and opposing skills sets than your own.

Anything else you’d like to add?

A: You are inspiring and thank you for interviewing directors.

Plugs, please:

A: I am in constant conversation about the creative process and being a creative person at lizkimball.com/blog.