Author name: Yash Chhabria

Tambry Kopp helps shape PTP’s next season and keeps productions running smoothly behind the scenes. She’s happiest in the charged quiet just before the first cue, when the house lights dim, literally or metaphorically, and the entire room seems to hold its breath together. It is a fitting image for someone who has become such a steady presence behind the scenes at Pine Tree Players, helping create the conditions for others to step forward, take risks, and tell a great story.

Ally Schuurman may be new to Pine Tree Players, but Ride the Cyclone has been living in her imagination for more than a decade. This fall, Ally directs Pine Tree Players’ musical production of the cult favourite show, bringing with her a deep love for theatre that is bold, strange, funny, heartfelt, and just a little bit twisted. We caught up with Ally to talk about the first time Ride the Cyclone knocked her sideways, what she loves about working with actors, and why community theatre matters.