Kim Zimmer is back at the Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan, starring in Driving Miss Daisy, which opens Thursday and marks her first appearance at the theater since 2023. The soap opera veteran, best known as Reva Shayne on "Guiding Light," sits down with Cara Lieurance to discuss the production, which runs through August 16.
Zimmer, 71, plays Daisy, a role that ages from 72 to 97 over the course of the play. She admits she resisted playing older characters until recently. "I'm embracing my age now," she says. "And it's the most freeing thing I've ever experienced in my life."
The production reunites Zimmer with actor Marvin Bell, who plays Hoke, after the pair performed the same show together in March at Cape Fear Regional Theatre in Fayetteville, North Carolina. "If I can bring my Hoke with me," Zimmer recalls telling Barn Theatre director Brendan Ragotzy, who agreed to cast Bell. Eric Peterson, who Zimmer calls "the master of comedy," directs the show while also playing Daisy's son.
Zimmer reflects on the play's themes of prejudice and change, noting playwright Alfred Uhry draws quiet parallels between Jewish and Black experiences of discrimination. "We are still struggling with what this play addresses," she says.
The conversation also touches on the Barn Theatre's apprentice tradition, where young performers work backstage jobs by day and perform in an after-show cabaret at night. Zimmer's own history with the Barn dates to 1991, when Robert Newman, her onscreen husband on "Guiding Light," introduced her to the theater's founder, Jack Ragotzy. She went on to perform alongside a young Jennifer Garner, who spent a summer there as an apprentice.
Looking ahead, Zimmer says she plans to visit Calgary, where her son, actor Jake Weary, is filming an upcoming Amazon Prime series, and will spend the winter in New Mexico with her husband.
Tickets and information on Driving Miss Daisy, and reservations for the Bar Show, are available at BarnTheatreSchool.org.
The interview was summarized by Claude AI and edited by the author.
