PART 3 OF 4: AN INTERVIEW WITH KATHY BROMBACHER

Kathy's directorial finale, staging "Fiddler on the Roof" for Moonlight in 2012.  Photo courtesy of Ken Jacques.

What was the first musical you ever directed?  

“Fiddler on the Roof” was my first big, full scale production in college for my senior thesis.  It was given to me as a student and it was part of the college’s regular season of plays.  But it wasn’t a student production.  It was a fully fleshed out, professional production. 

What was the first play you ever directed?  

Then I came into teaching high school, so it would be there.  It was “The Miracle Worker.”  

Do you have a preference for working on musicals vs. “straight plays”?

I enjoy doing the right kind of musical.  You know, every director has their style.  I’m not right for “Anything Goes” I think.  I’ve never directed “Anything Goes.”  I have directed “Ragtime,” which I’m proud of.  I have directed “The Spitfire Grill.”  I think my taste ranges through the acting with musicals that have a good, solid acting script.  I’m not a choreographer.  I’m not a dancer.  I tend toward musicals that have a script and acting, as opposed to musicals that should be given to director/choreographers.  

And the question was “which do I prefer.”  I do prefer non-musical plays.  All kinds of non-musical plays.  And one of the things I felt so strongly about when we had the Moonlight going is that we should have a place in which we could do non-musical plays.  Hence, came the AVO Playhouse.   

When I started working full time with the City of Vista running the cultural arts program - coming out of teaching - I said we need a place where we can do a couple of non-musicals.  I really believe in that literature and I’m really proud that an organization that makes its name in musical theatre is also producing these non-musicals.  

The AVO Playhouse at 303 Main Street in Downtown Vista.

You mentioned that you came here as a high school teacher.  I’m curious, is there a story there of how you ended up in Vista…of all places?

Right, right!  Well I had been in Denver and came home to kind of recover.  Out of graduate school, I had done dinner theatre and had wanted to get my Equity card and go to New York, but things just kept not lining up for that.  So I came home for awhile, worked a variety of jobs, and then this teaching job came up.  Harold Warman who was band director and his wife who was teaching English at Fallbrook High School, as well as Pete McKew who was an activities director and a teacher of US History: they were friends of mine up in the Colton area and when an opening happened they said come down here to Vista High School.  They had a very short window of time - it was like a week before school started - and someone had left because they got another job.  So I auditioned for the role … I interviewed with the principal.  I had with me some letters of recommendation that were fine, but even though I had no teaching experience, they took a chance on me.  So I went up to UC Irvine at nights and got my teaching credential.  But, yeah, it was out of the blue.  It was like, “Are you ready for this?  Grab the ring and start teaching!”  And I had a great aunt living in San Marcos, so immediately I had a place to stay.  But it came very fast and furious.  And by Thanksgiving … I was ready to quit.  [laughs]  No, I continued on for 12 years.  

And the Superintendent of schools, Jack Price, who was a man who was very arts minded, came to me one day and said “What do you dream about?”  Because the high school theatre I was teaching at had 147 seats. So, it was a tiny place to be producing what I wanted to do – a combination of musicals and straight plays.  And I said, “I dream about having a place where musicals can be produced and there’s room for an orchestra, you could have production values, you could have scenery, etc.”  And he brought me out to this hilltop at Brengle Terrace Park, which was a flag pavilion for the 1976 bicentennial.  And he said, “Well, here’s a place.”  [laughs]  No running water, no lights, no electricity.  “What do you think?”  And I said, “Well … I’ll get my friends together and we’ll tackle this.”  And the city had to give their approval because it was a city park and little did they know what was about to happen to them!  

With my high school students, we built and painted scenery.  Ken Gammie - who is still conducting with us today - put together the orchestra.  And, to get this started, people volunteered for nothing, I mean just for the love of the arts. And then the Recreation Department had to help us with some infrastructure.  To get volunteers and help supplement everything.  And then, as they saw the theatre grow, they adopted us as a program of the city, which was pretty major for a city to say they’ll adopt this theatre program and help pay the expenses and help develop the land.    That’s the way it’s been all these years.  

And what were you doing at that time…were you producing musicals year round?

In the beginning, we were just doing the summer musicals and I was teaching full time.  

Kathy Brombacher and Ed Perez at Moonlight in 1982.  Photo courtesy of Moonlight Stage Productions.

How many years from when you started did the City of Vista step in and start investing in your company?

It was 1984 I believe.  And we started in 1981, so it was three years after.  

And the way we had funds to even start was back to that Superintendent of schools.  He said I have a way to get you some upfront money … I mean you need money for royalties, money to build scenery, money to get costumes … so, for the first couple of years we were an adult education program.  He said let’s offer this as an adult education program to the community and the actors will sign up for class, you will be the teacher, and we’ll have a few people who are independent contractors come in and provide support services.   

So, a $10,000 budget was allotted for the set of summer classes through adult education.  And it has always been a combination of the school district supporting us and then the city supporting us.  And it certainly helped that I had friends who were also teachers that were contributing to this who were certified to work with students.  They all had faith in us.      

Were you called Moonlight Stage Productions at this time?

No, we were called the Vista Summer Theatre Festival.  We started with two musicals and we didn’t know if we’d want to do straight plays, or some festival, you know, we were just being open to it all.  

Moonlight in 1983.  Photo courtesy of Moonlight Stage Productions.

And when did you change the name and how did you choose Moonlight?

We got together an Executive Committee composed of people who were volunteers - like a Board except they were more like an Advisory Committee.  And we sat around and came up with names and we eventually came up with Moonlight.  At the time, there was the Starlight Bowl in Balboa Park that was very familiar to everyone.  And we thought that keeping “Vista” in the name might keep away some of the neighboring communities who wanted to be involved, so we wanted something that was more umbrella-ed.  And we have gorgeous moons that appear in the sky over the amphitheatre and behind the trees!  So it just seemed a really graceful kind of name.  

And do you remember when-abouts you officially changed your name to Moonlight?

It was a couple years in because they didn’t have a name for the amphitheatre, really.  Even though it had existed since 1976, it was simply known as “the Amphitheatre at Brengle Terrace Park.”  I’m thinking it was the mid-80’s … 1984, 1985 … something like that.      

How would you characterize your working relationship with the City of Vista since then?

Well, I became a City of Vista employee and left teaching in 1989.  So the city was absolutely supportive from the beginning. 

At that time, there was a Vista press that existed.  And articles were written about us getting started, photographs taken, and we were really supported by the press in a big way.  Jim Porter, the Director of Parks, and Kathy Brendell both collaborated to write grants to improve the facility to bring running water and electricity.  They wrote a grant to build our patio area and restrooms…that was 1987 or 1988.  Jim also made sure we had a proper sound and lighting booth.  We’ve also had community projects to lay cement slabs and another project to build a side stage for us so that we could store scenery to give us more space onstage.  But the City of Vista has been very, very supportive of improvements, including putting roads in, parking lots in, and fences in … all kinds of infrastructure.  

Then in 1990-1991, we started discussing building a permanent stage house.  We had pretty much built everything ourselves until we had the new stage house built and so there was a long set of campaigns and fundraising efforts for that.  We also went out and did a feasibility study, we raised money for the architectural plans (there have been several renditions that happened during the 1990’s into the 2000’s)  and then in 2006 the voters of Vista voted on Proposition L, which included the upgrade of the fire stations, the city hall, the sports park and, of course, Moonlight’s new stage house.  So that support is indicative of the fact that our City Council and these wonderful people who ran Recreation always had us in mind as they were improving this park.  Jim Porter passed away last year and I will tell you I really miss the man.  He invested so much in this.  He believed in it completely as did many, many citizens.    

The Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista.  Photo courtesy of Ken Jacques.

PART 2 OF 4: AN INTERVIEW WITH KATHY BROMBACHER

Kathy Brombacher.  Photo by Ken Jacques.

When would you say was your very first time getting involved in theatre?

My wonderful journalism teacher gave me as a graduation present a two week workshop at the University of Redlands.  My mother thought “Are you kidding? What could she do with theatre!?”  But the teacher saw something in me.  And so I took summer school at the University of Redlands right out of my senior year of high school.  First, I was terrified at having to perform and sing and do the things that they did.  But then, I got hooked.  And because I was going to the university, I met actors: the teachers were students at the university in the theatre department.  So I met the people already and it was just a natural segue to getting involved with the theatre.  But I owe that all to my journalism teacher who somehow saw that that might be something good for me.  I had been a public speaker in high school also…I had done speech competitions, contests, that sort of thing.  So maybe that was part of it.  Then, I started taking those theatre classes in college and went on and focused on directing at one point.  

What was the first show you ever performed in?  What role did you play? 

I think that would be the “Merchant of Venice” my freshman year.  I played the role of Jessica.  And, heaven knows, I needed a lot of training!  [laughs] But the University of Redlands did one Shakespearian production a year.  And we all auditioned for everything and that was what I recall was my first official role.  And to this day, I love Shakespeare!

I want to talk more about your acting experience in the pre-Moonlight era.  Have you acted with other San Diego theatre companies, for example, The Old Globe or La Jolla Playhouse?  

Yes, with The Old Globe.  I did a production of Chekov’s “The Seagull” directed by Craig Noel.  At the time, I was teaching high school in Vista and they had open call auditions.  At that time, I think it was 1978, this was a production that went into the theatre-in-the-round there and they were not paying the actors, except there were two Equity actors that they paid, but it was essentially all volunteer at that time.  So my driving from Vista to San Diego while I was teaching full time was a little demanding, but it was something that I really wanted to do.  

Kathy and Craig Noel at the 2004 SD Theatre Critics Circle Awards.  Photo by Ken Jacques.

Kathy and Craig at the 2006 SD Theatre Critics Circle Awards.  Photo courtesy of the SDTCCA.

I also performed with The La Jolla Stage Company in “The Lion in Winter.”  I played Eleanor.  That was some years ago … I can’t exactly remember the date, but it was another one I performed in while I was teaching and I drove down.  And I became good friends with Walt Stuart, who was the artistic director of La Jolla Stage Company and directed the show.  He was a long time teacher of theatre at La Jolla High School and that theatre was on the campus of La Jolla High.  It was a community theatre that he helped develop. 
 

And I did a couple of things here locally before the Moonlight got started.  I did “The Lion in Winter” here for North County Community Theatre.  I was Eleanor in that.  And I did the role of Hope Harcourt in “Anything Goes” with that same community theatre.  

And onstage at Moonlight I played the role of Vera in “Mame,” the role of Jack’s Mother in “Into the Woods,” and Julia in “Lend Me A Tenor.”    

Wow.  You’ve had the privilege of playing some fantastic roles.  Have you worked alongside any memorable San Diego actors?  

Brian Salmon.  Brian, I met at “The Lion in Winter” that we did in La Jolla.  Thereafter, he came to our theatre to play Professor Henry Higgins in our first “My Fair Lady.”  And I have great admiration for Brian.  He’s a great person as well.  

Any particular funny stories or interesting experiences during your onstage acting career?

Well, when I was doing “Mame” at Moonlight in 1991, I decided to be on stage, which took a lot of doing, but meanwhile I was working with a new director, a new lighting designer, a new costumer.  Usually, what an artistic director does is integrate new staff in that direction from out front.  So, because I had a relatively large role onstage, I wasn’t able to sit out and integrate.  The director had a personal emergency, the choreographer left the show, and the costumes weren’t finished the night before opening.  And I thought: of all shows to be in onstage, when what I really should be doing is helping direct from out front, helping finish the lighting, etc.  So we just had to go forward and I called in some of my friends who helped with the costumes and the show went on … but it is not really a funny story.  It’s actually kind of sad.  [laughs]  That all these things happened in one production!  

Into the 1990’s I had decided - and it was a very good decision - to bring in some wonderful directors from the outside.  I had only had a couple of local directors work with me and I was directing most of the productions in the 1980’s.  So in the 1990’s, I said we’ve got to reach out and bring in more actors of a professional level.  So that was my philosophy in the 90’s: integrating the artists that come from Orange County, San Diego, wherever it might be.  And it was wonderful.  But “Mame” was one of those projects where things just didn’t line up. [laughs]

I want to talk about your educational trajectory from college to graduate school.  You mentioned you went to the University of Redlands where you got your…

BA in Theatre and then I went for my Master of Fine Arts in Acting at the University of Denver.  It was a two year program with summers included and that was really training to become a repertory actress.  And I loved the theatre department because they did musicals as well.  And we did Shakespeare, and lots of training in repertory literature with some fine professors.    

University of Redlands.  Photo courtesy of redlands.edu.

Any specific highlights or milestones you vividly remember from those years?  

It was a wonderful time of learning.  I also taught voice at that time because I was raising money to pay for college and I played piano for classes and that sort of thing.  What I remember most is the core of people and the achievements that we had.  I mean, this was a theatre program where all the costumes were built from design.  

I remember my training with John Powell who had worked significantly with the BBC in London.  He painted pictures on stage that were extraordinary.  I think it was during my MFA in Acting that I began to realize how interested I was in the directing aspects of theatre.  Largely because there were such great theatre directors there.  There were people who were "actor’s directors" who focused principally on the text and bringing that alive from the inside.  And then there were (like John Powell) directors of great pageantry and visual imagery and they directed in a very different way.  And then there was a third professor that I remember so clearly, Yayega Ziff.  She was with the Polish Lab Theatre and she gave us exercises and coached us in dialect and her insight into the characters was just on a whole different plane.  And very physically oriented.   

And then, I just started directing a couple projects myself there.  Even though I was in the acting program and required to be in all these productions, I started some outside multimedia directing and did some black box directing, too.  

PART 1 OF 4: AN INTERVIEW WITH KATHY BROMBACHER

The End of An Era:

As Moonlight wraps up its 32nd Season, its founder and ultimate “leading lady,” Artistic Director Kathy Brombacher, prepares to step down

By Donnie Matsuda

For the past thirty two years, the names “Moonlight” and “Kathy Brombacher” have been virtually synonymous.  The famed and fortunate leader of the Vista-based theatre company has had an incredible tenure as Artistic Director, taking the company from a small hilltop at Brengle Terrace Park – with no lights, no electricity, and no running water – and transforming it into the well-known and well-respected musical theatre institution that it is today, producing the highest caliber of theatre at two state-of-the-art locations.  Now that the long-time artistic chief is ready to hand over her reigns and officially retire, Brombacher sat down with me to reminisce about how it all began – her childhood growing up in Southern California, her early career as an actress and budding director, her move to the hills of Vista, and how the organization now know as Moonlight Stage Productions came to be.    

Kathy Brombacher, Founder and long-time Artistic Director of Moonlight Stage Productions.  Photo by John Koster.

PART 1: EARLY CHILDHOOD

Where were you born and raised?  

I was born and raised in the San Bernadino area of Southern California.  I was raised in Colton and went to Colton High School.  They call it the lovely Inland Empire.  [laughs]

Were your parents involved in showbiz?  

Not at all….well, my father was a musician and always played, up until 6 months before he passed away, in a band.  A small combo.  He came from the era of big bands and he played piano and was part of many music groups.  He was in the Air Force in World War II.  My mother played from music and my father played from cording and improvising.  So we had two pianists in the family growing up.  And I think all of us played piano, my brother took up the trombone, and we were the musical family singing in church.  We all sang harmonies and we read music and that sort of thing.  So, it was great at Christmas.  [laughs]  Essentially, that’s my background with a lot of music in it but no theatre growing up, until I went to college.

You mentioned one brother.  Older or younger?

Younger.  Everyone in the family is younger than I am.

And how many in the family?

I have three siblings.  A brother and two sisters.  My sister closest to me has passed away now.  

And are any of them involved in showbiz?

My younger sister sang with a dance band.  She sang in choirs in college and that sort of thing.  And up until recently she played the piano for church.  

I understand you got involved in dance at a very, very early age…tell me about your first time dancing onstage.

Well, it was sort of a disaster.  [laughs]  I thought it would be nice to take dance class and that was fine.  But when it came time to stand backstage and get ready to go on for my first recital … I just bolted.  I cried and I said “Get me out of here!” (or whatever I was saying as a child) and I think I was finally convinced to go onstage, but I was very, very unhappy!  [laughs]  So I just said “I quit!”  And I didn’t take dance classes again until college.  

How old were you at the time?

I think I was five years old.  And the idea of being dressed up in a tutu … ah… it just really frightened me.  I was very frightened.  

Not your thing, huh?

NOT my thing! 

How would you describe your childhood?

I was very engaged in academics.  I always wanted to be a good student.  My background was mostly spent in music programs.  I played clarinet growing up from junior high band through high school band, I also did choir during those times, and what was called “madrigals” (that’s a capella singing).  I was also in concert band, and marching band in high school, and I was in student government in high school.  The most important part of my time in high school was spent in journalism and writing.  I had a fabulous teacher who had almost gone to the Pasadena Playhouse.  She’s the woman, Christina DeBeeson is her name, who took me to my first professional play: she took a small group of students to the Pasadena Playhouse and she took me to the University of Redlands where the first play that I saw was “Death of a Salesman.”  And then we saw Shakespeare there.  So that exposure in high school, even though I didn’t really aspire at that time, really entrenched me and carried me away.  The power of Arthur Miller’s play was especially … I remember that had a huge impact.  

And then, our summers in that area, we had the open air Redlands Bowl concert.  And they usually did one musical a year.  This was in the town of Redlands which was close to me and is still a very vibrant cultural town.  They had the university, they had the symphony there, and the Redlands Bowl was an outdoor bowl where the association that put together the concert series believed that it should be free to the public.  So everything they did was free.  You could sit under the stars on the grass and hear great music, see a great musical, etc.   

The Redlands Bowl.  Photo by Mark Perrenoud.

And I have to say I was very much involved in church.  Being a camp counselor, I went on a missions tour, which took us up to the great fields of Delano and San Francisco learning about needs in the community.  As well as the inner city of Los Angeles.  This was in the 60’s when I was in high school and there was a lot going on … so my eyes were opened to a lot of things that the church was engaged in and needed to be involved in.  So I was grateful to a church that had its eyes open on the world and on society.  And I think that framed some parts of me. 

And can I ask what church you belonged to?

Yes, it was a United Methodist church. 

Ah, I grew up as a United Methodist myself.

Did you?  For Pete sakes!  I owe a great deal to those people who volunteered to be camp counselors.  I first was a camper and then a camp counselor and then was on staff teaching music.  So that was probably some of my first theatrical stuff.  In college, I got engaged right away in the theatre.  It was a small college at the University of Redlands, a great group of people.  I started as a music major and then moved to a theatre major right away at the end of my freshman year because of the people.  How exciting the atmosphere was!  And in a small college, you get to do everything.  You run the light board, you build the scenery, you do everything.  And I think that was a great way for me to embrace all the arts of theatre.  

Stay tuned for the remaining three parts of my interview with Kathy, posted over the next three days....