We recently connected with Tara Kromer and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tara, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Some of my most positive, life-altering choices have resulted from mustering up the courage to take a big uncertain step. One of the most impactful risks that I’ve taken in my career happened about a decade ago: I had earned my undergraduate degree and had been working professionally for about 8 years, mostly as a stage manager, props artisan, and jack-of-all-trades theatre technician. I had finally landed in an open-ended position as the resident Equity stage manager at the Hippodrome Theatre in Gainesville, FL- making a decent salary at an organization with a solid foundation. It was an alluring gig because of its stability, and the productions that we were staging there had great range- from Shakespeare to popular contemporary plays to fluffy summer comedies and musicals… it was a position that the last stage manager had held for many years. I loved it: the theatre, the people, the material, the small-town atmosphere, the financial stability… but something was missing. I had always wanted to try my hand at directing, but the schedule of a stage manager and the fact that my only significant directing experience at that point were a few studio productions that I had done as an undergraduate student several years prior meant that nobody saw me as a director at the time. After a couple of years, I realized that if I wasn’t careful, this was a comfort zone I could get stuck in for far too long. I had some old friends that I would occasionally visit for long weekends down in Orlando who urged me toward applying for admission to UCF’s MFA program, but there were still lots of “what ifs”… what if I’m not cut out for another round of college? What if this program doesn’t fully prepare me for the professional work that I hope to pursue? What if I leave all of this comfort and stability behind and this doesn’t work out? What if I accrue a mountain of debt just to come out with less earning potential than I had as a stage manager? It was a risky venture, but I applied, interviewed, was accepted, and turned in my resignation letter. It was simultaneously thrilling and terrifying that I was taking a leap of faith and pursuing a path that would enable me to bring my own creative vision to the table, rather than taking notes and facilitating the execution of the vision of others. I learned so much from my years in stage management- working with amazing directors… working with terrible ones… taking notes along the way about what I’d like to incorporate into my own process and what mistakes I’d rather avoid. Ultimately the choice to abandon that security is what has brought me to a point where now I’m directing 4-5 productions a year, mentoring students and younger directors, and continuing to gear up for the next leap of faith- an undefined future risk that with any luck will lead me into the next major chapter. The life-altering allure of the next pending leap grows ever-closer, especially now (as so many of my fellow queer friends and colleagues seek greener pastures away from a Florida whose governor aims to force us back into closets and wipe the history of progress that so many marginalized communities have long fought to accomplish). In the meantime, the risks that I find myself most intrigued by are more creative in nature: stepping out on a limb to direct or produce titles with content that challenge me to dig deeper into places of vulnerability within my lived experience, focusing on more subversive content, casting more diversely, and making choices with regard to text interpretation and staging that will hopefully challenge audiences to think and feel things outside of their own comfort zones.

Tara, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a multi-disciplinary theatre artist with primary focuses in directing, sound design, and props design. I currently serve as the resident props and puppetry designer for Orlando Family Stage and I freelance as a director at theatre companies all over the central Florida region. My directing practice is primarily focused on plays and musicals that celebrate the queer experience, emphasize living authentically, and explore the notion being truly seen. Some of my favorite projects include “It Shoulda Been You” at Studio Theatre Tierra Del Sol in the Villages, “Perfect Arrangement” at the Ensemble Company in Oviedo, “Fun Home” and “The Prom” at Theater West End in Sanford. I’ve also directed a number of productions aimed at young audiences during my time at Orlando Family Stage, and will be directing their upcoming production of “The Lightning Thief”. I am currently in rehearsal for Taylor Mac’s dark comedy, “Hir”- which is a play that explores family trauma, addiction, gender identity, and the risks we take when we refuse to support systems of oppression. I am also an educator and occasionally serve as an adjunct professor, teaching Directing, Theatre Appreciation, and directing shows at local universities. In the future, I hope to pursue artistic direction and would love to provide opportunities for young and emerging queer artists to create and produce theatrical work in which characters like them are represented and celebrated.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

In an age when everything is increasingly expensive, and where the easiest choice may be to stay home and stream something, supporting live performances by attending shows, talking to your friends and families about productions that you enjoyed, and – if you have the means- donating to performing arts organizations would really help our companies and individual artists to thrive. Since the pandemic, it has been challenging for companies to get attendance levels back up to their pre-Covid levels, the expense of the materials to build our sets and make our costumes has become inflated right along with the cost of living, so it’s more important than ever for us to compensate our artists fairly for their time. We also need more readership of journalism that covers the arts- it is very unfortunate with a high-producing arts community like we have in central Florida that we have so few theatre critics to cover and help spread the word about the amazing work that is being generated by artists. The more clicks our theatre reviews receive, the more likely it will become for our news organizations to hire more journalists to cover more shows. So get out from behind your screens and have an adventure: show up to support live performing arts (not just the Broadway tours that cost an arm and a leg; there’s thrilling work being done at smaller grassroots companies and their cost of admission is usually not much more than a night at the movies)… give someone you love tickets or a season subscription to a local theatre this holiday season and encourage others to do the same!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I have always been very motivated to pursue making theater that encourages social change. Theater that dissects oppressive structures that keep minorities marginalized has always been the most compelling to me. More and more the progress that our society has made in terms of women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and racial equality has been taking steps backward and people who seek to keep these communities from having agency over their own lives in order to maintain the status quo of straight, white, male superiority have been emboldened by leaders like our current governor here in Florida and our country’s former president. The more that racism, homophobia, and misogyny is emboldened by conservative leaders, the more progressive artists like myself will continue to produce work that is aimed to call marginalization into question, dismantle these systems, and celebrate the beautiful diversity that is the fabric of society.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.TaraKromer.com
• Instagram: Tarakromer
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tara-kromer-53abb143?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

Image Credits
Matthew MacDermid Mike Kitaiff MacKenzie Lackey Steven Miller