Arts Alive! podcast: The stars of Jobsite’s ‘Misery’
Since the beginning of March, they’ve been Paul Sheldon and Annie Wilkes, the characters at the center of the storm that is Misery, the stage drama based on the classic scare novel by Stephen King. Every performance of Jobsite Theater’s production of the show (with a script by William Goldman, who adapted King’s book into the beloved 1987 movie) has sold out; it continues through April 8.
Photo: Ned Averill-Snell
They are, in fact, David M. Jenkins and Summer Bohnenkamp, two familiar faces from the Tampa theater scene. Jenkins is the co-founder of Jobsite, as well as the company’s Producing Artistic Director. Bohnenkamp is Chief Marketing and Programming Officer at the David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, a multi-venue downtown complex that includes Jobsite as its resident professional theater company.
They also happen to be married. To each other.
That fact, of course, imbues Misery with an extra level of suspense – as crazy ex-nurse Annie inflicts both physical and psychological pain on bedridden novelist Paul, and as he attempts to returns the favor, just how much of that fiery give-and-take mirrors their own lives as a couple?
In this interview we discuss not only the power of good storytelling but the tricky economics involved in planning a post-Covid season – putting such sure-fire crowd pleasers alongside more experimental fare when audiences are still tentative about coming back full-time.
In the final few minutes, Jenkins reveals the full slate of productions planned for Jobsite’s upcoming 25th season.
Misery details and tickets here.
Click on the arrow below to listen to the interview.
