Debuting Artists: Marin Stumpf

OpenStage warmly welcomes another CSU alumni into the company. This week we introduce Marin Stumpf, playing Frenchie in Cabaret.

I’m a recent graduate of Colorado State University’s acting program! During my time there, I was able to be a part of several shows (both on the acting and technical side of the proverbial curtain).  I’ve been involved in theatre since high school, where I started out as a sound technician with an interest in costume design before finding my love of acting. My first exposure to OpenStage was attending some of their performances while I was still in high school and throughout college! I think from the time I saw OpenStage’s production of Monty Python’s "Spamalot" (dir. Emelie Borello) I was hooked on the idea of getting to be a part of one of their shows!

"Cabaret" was a soundtrack I heard all throughout my early years. I grew up in an environment that loved Liza Minelli, so “Maybe This Time” and “Willkommen” were songs I knew throughout my childhood before even seeing the show for the first time in early high school. I remember clearly my mom’s copy of the 1972 "Cabaret" soundtrack on vinyl, and remember even more clearly my various attempts to steal and listen to it in the late hours of the night. By the time auditions came around, I’d known the soundtrack by heart for years! 

I think of the dangers of political and moral apathy. "Cabaret" is a show that, from its conception to the modern age, speaks for the times and has something important to add to the conversation surrounding its themes in every new decade we enter. Through song and dance, it continues to have one of the best constructed arguments against apathy and political ignorance that I’ve seen, presenting it in a way that gets its point across to audiences of all ages and backgrounds. I think the show continues to be poignant far past its date of release, which is why it’s still being performed now. It’s a tale of caution-- a warning to those who are idle in times of mass destruction. It speaks to the past, the current, and to the future. 

I absolutely love vampires, so I would love to be a part of a team who could bring the works of Anne Rice to the stage! In a similar vein, I’d love to help bring something truly terrifying to the stage. As a horror enthusiast, I think there’s a huge opportunity to bring the horror genre into the realm of theatre. I think the concept has been done before with plays such as "Frankenstein" or "The Woman in Black" and, from the success of those shows, I think there’s room for more horror in theatre. I think my dream project would be to write or be involved with a project that was extremely large scale and truly terrifying!