Meet Our Producer!

Meet Kimille Howard, co-producer of Wilde Tales!

Kimille Howard is currently a Venue Director for 12 shows in the 2013 NYC International Fringe Festival. Recently she was the house manager for Partly Cloudy People's Tigers Be Still and the marketing assistant for The Movement Theatre Company's premier of Look Upon Our Lowliness. Last fall, Kimille was the assistant director of Kevin P. Joyce's adaptation of Pierre Corneille's L'illusion Comique. In Orlando, Kimille wrote and directed the 2011 production of Christmas Cabaret for Disney's S.T.A.G.E. Kimille was last seen on the regional stage as Calpurnia in To Kill a Mockingbird and in the ensemble of 9 to 5 the musical. She graduated cum laude from Loyola University of Chicago with a B.A. in Theater and International Film and Media Studies. Kimille is also a proud Disney College Program Alumna. Special thanks to mom and dad! Your unwavering support drives me everyday!

Who are you?

Kimille Howard, co-producer, Wilde Tales

Tell us a little about the fairytale you’re working on.

You mean besides the one I’m living in? Don’t get mixed up though, fairy tales as I know them don’t always end happily ever after. Sometimes certain characters lose their eyes or a piece of their foot, or they turn into sea foam. Mine is a mixture of Grimm mixed with a little Andersen and a bit of Dickens thrown in. I know Dickens didn’t necessarily write fairy tales (although one could argue that Our Mutual Friend and Oliver are 400+ page ones), but they are allegorical much like Wilde’s fairy tales.

What drew you to this piece? Why is it relevant to a contemporary audience?

I enjoy Wilde very much, and I love fairy tales! I grew up on Disney, although their adaptations are a far cry from what Grimm and Andersen actually wrote. I had no idea that Wilde even wrote fairy tales until Kevin told me. Finally a literary land that hasn’t been adapted to death (how many versions of Snow White do they think the world needs!) And I think the morals/messages of the stories are always relevant. The world is still a pretty dark place, and fairy tales provide that escape from the mundane while not necessarily numbing the mind with blatant silliness. They send a clear message that is cleverly masked by the world and the characters created.

How did you get involved with Wilde Tales?

Simply put, Kevin sent me the fairy tales, asked me if I was interested in co-producing, I said yes, and the rest is history. Sorry, no epic tale!

What do you want to audience to take away from the Wilde Tales experience?

Honestly, I just want the audience to enjoy the show, and hopefully take in the messages of each fairy tale. This is a pretty unconventional piece with a mixture of music, puppetry, and acting. I hope the audience will appreciate the approach to telling these wild Wilde Tales (see what I did there!). 

Why theatre? How did you start?

I started as a dancer when I was a wee kid, about 3, and I had my first major tap performance to the music of West Side Story when I was 8. We were encouraged to watch the movie, so my parents got it for me on Laser Disc (ah, the 90s). From then on I was hooked! I thought, “Hey, they dance, I can dance. They sing, I like to sing. They play pretend, that’s like my full time job as a kid! Sold!” My first show was You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown my freshman year of high school (unless you count the Stations of the Cross in middle school). College was when I realized that I liked being on the production end as much if not more than being on the stage. So, here I am!

What’s your favorite Oscar Wilde quote or play?

“Let them eat cake!” That was Wilde right? Just kidding! “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth.” It’s also my favorite line from the film Velvet Goldmine, which includes a young Oscar Wilde confessing to his class that he wants to be “a pop idol”when he grows up. Success Mr. Wilde!

What’s your favorite non-Wilde fairytale?

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen  I read that book over and over again in school, and I even bought the Canadian mini-series adaptation on DVD starring Bridget Fonda in her final on screen performance. It’s epic and dark, the way I prefer my fairy tales (insert sinister cackle). Seriously though, the story gives winter a haunting beauty and sadness that I never would have considered otherwise. I’d also love to be friends with the Robber Girl and the talking reindeer!

What’s the darkest secret you can tell us?

I was afraid of the dark till I was 16! Pretty dark, huh?