Cambria Center for the Arts names new Managing Artistic Director
–Cambria Center for the Arts (CCA) has a new Managing Artistic Director. Local theatre veteran David Norum will be taking over the post from Jill Turnbow, who has held the position since 2017. Turnbow is remaining on the Board of Cambria Center for the Arts as Secretary and will also serve on the theatre’s steering committee.
The theatre program at CCA dates back to 1992 when Nancy Green and Judith Jesness formed what was then the Allied Arts Theatre Group. For years they staged plays in the old Cambria Schoolhouse in the West Village until they were offered the current theatre space in The Old Grammar School and became CCAT. Jill Turnbow took the reins from Green in 2017 and has continued to build up the theatre company’s profile in the SLO County arts community.
Norum is no stranger to the Cambria theatre scene, having appeared in many shows at the Pewter Plough Playhouse. Most recently he starred alongside Turnbow at CCAT in one of the greatest American plays, Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.” For over 20 years Norum has acted, directed and been musical director on many stages throughout the Central Coast, from Carmel to Arroyo Grande. He has a Bachelor’s in Music from Berklee College of Music in Boston. Norum was recently the Executive Director of Sol Treasures, a non-profit art, music and theatre education and enrichment group in King City. He is also a playwright, having numerous short and full-length plays produced all around the Central Coast.
“COVID-19 has brought a temporary halt to just about all of the performing arts”, said Norum, “but we are planning on opening as soon as we can with an original play, Cambria the Musical, written by local residents Ed and Linda Hughes. Directed by Turnbow, it had been already cast, rehearsed and was almost ready to open when the pandemic unfortunately shut it down.”
Another previously scheduled play, Arthur Miller’s iconic Death of Salesman is slated to follow. Other programming, including the popular staged reading series, will be announced as soon as re-opening of the theatre can be scheduled.
Norum also plans on continuing and expanding the live music productions that have been a staple of CCAT programming for many years. Jazz, classical, and Americana are certainly in the plans, along with some of Cambria’s favorite locals as well. Norum says he feels a bit like he was just made the captain of a ship in drydock, but he knows the vessel was shipshape when it was taken out of the water and it doesn’t need any great repairs, just a little tune-up.
“My wife Janene and I have been coming to Cambria for vacations and day trips for almost 40 years”, Norum added. “One of the main things that kept us coming back again and again was the vibrant arts scene in the local galleries, theatres and music venues. In these difficult times, the arts are more necessary than ever to help us recover from the craziness and return to normality.”
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