Ginger Poole-Bella Muse photo
After 18 years at Mill Mountain Theatre, Producing Artistic Director Ginger Poole plans to take her final bow sometime during the 2024. Poole will assist with the search for her replacement. She first joined Mill Mountain Theatre as Director of Education and helped guide Roanoke’s only equity live theater space through two shutdowns – the first in 2009 due to financial issues, then during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Poole will help with the transition, as she tells WFIR:
MMT News Release: ROANOKE, Va. (Jan 22, 2024) – After a remarkable tenure with Mill Mountain Theatre, Ginger Poole will take her final bow as Producing Artistic Director during the 60th anniversary season. With an impressive season of productions planned in 2024, combined with the theatre’s vibrancy, Poole believes this is the right time to begin searching for her replacement. “I came to Roanoke 18 years ago as an actor and was asked back to perform and choreograph in the Main Stage Seasons. This turned into an opportunity to join Mill Mountain Theatre as their Director of Education – little did I know how much that experience would forever change my life,” said Poole.
“This theatre became my home and the place that I made my life. While leaving my role here is truly bittersweet, Mill Mountain Theatre remains a part of who I am.” Many credit Poole, the first female to hold this position, with reviving Mill Mountain Theatre not once, but twice. In 2009, Poole reinvigorated the theatre after it stopped producing due to financial struggles. Poole continued to keep the doors open with classes and a holiday show once a year for four years, and was the only full time employee holding the theatre together.
“The Theatre has thrived under Ginger’s leadership. She balances artistic excellence with fiscal responsibility and approaches every decision with the long-term sustainability of Mill Mountain top of mind,” said Cynthia Lawrence, Past President (2014 – 2017), Director Emeritus and Chair of the search committee at Mill Mountain Theatre. “While we are saddened by her departure, we
are grateful to her and support her decision wholeheartedly. We will conduct a thorough national search and will be very thoughtful about who we choose as her successor.”
