Still Shining

Tina Davis used to be a lead in a touring Broadway production, but something began holding her back from getting more roles — her age.

Now, the 53-year-old is starring as Sally in Boom Theater’s upcoming production of the 1966 musical “Cabaret,” which runs from Sept. 24 to Oct. 9 at Akron Civic Theatre’s new Knight Stage.

“Her age was not looked at as a negative,” says Val Renner, associate director of programming, media and marketing at the Civic. “She’s amazing. She’s a dancer. She’s a singer.”

Renner helped launch Boom after she noticed older adults are often in the audience instead of onstage. She and development director Lisa Martinez researched where this age group fits into theater. They found there are around 800 theater companies worldwide that are dedicated to this demographic, but none of the 25 companies in Summit County are. So they created Boom, which complements the All-City Musical for high schoolers and Millennial Theatre Project at the Civic. Boom aims to have most of its casts and creative teams comprised of baby boomers and Gen Xers over 50 years old and to perform two or three productions each year.

For “Cabaret,” Boom’s debut production, 15 older adults were cast, the youngest being 53 and the oldest being a 73-year-old tap dancer with a three-page resume.

“They want to break barriers,” Renner says. “They’re beyond excited that somebody is looking at them and saying, Hey, you still mean something. You can still be talented at 50 years old, at 60 years old.”

The creation of Boom is even spurring some people to give theater another try. One man, 58, had a role in “Cabaret” when he was 17, during his high school’s production. When he heard about Boom, he told his wife he had to audition. “He said, I have to do it now before it’s too late,” Renner says, adding that he plays the conductor.

The Knight Stage allows for a minimalist performance and an intimate immersion into the characters’ stories, including the moments of uplifting fun despite the serious setting of 1930 Berlin. The show’s scenery and costumes are simple, so the spotlight lands more on the small orchestra and the performances by the older adults.

“Our goal has always been … to be the people’s theater,” Renner says. “It doesn’t matter who you are, what you are — this is your theater.”

182 S. Main St., Akron, akroncivic.com