|
|
             |
Spotlight on Joanne Cummings Grant, BA’69, MA’76 Story by Jenny Drastura
Joanne’s
involvement in the entertainment business began when she served
as promotions director, then acting director, at the Huntington
Civic Center from 1980-1982. When director Ted Lewis left for
Orlando, Fla., he asked her to come along with him to the Orange
County Convention Center as events manager. This was a great
career move for Joanne, who would move through the ranks to
eventually serve as director of entertainment production at
Universal Orlando, where she oversaw a staff of more than 100
managers, supervisors, coordinators and technicians in the event
production department. It is through her company that Joanne became involved in Menopause The Musical®. “I received a call from Jeanie Linders, the show’s writer and producer whom I had known for 15 years,” Joanne said. “Jeanie asked if I would help her route the tour to the Greenville, S.C., area, to help raise money for ovarian cancer. Of course, I was happy to do so. We took the show to 51 cities in 2005-2006 where we raised more than $600,000 for local ovarian cancer support groups.” Joanne is now with the musical full-time, responsible for booking and putting together the cast and crew in six countries and 15 cities. Joanne has always been involved with women’s or children’s issues. She recently produced an event which raised $100,000 for SafeHouse, a domestic violence center in Orlando. Through the Center for Women’s Philanthropy, Joanne and others pledge funds and pool their money in a program called “100 Women Strong,” which determines which agency would best be served by the funds. Joanne’s upbringing in Huntington may have something to do with her desire to help others. “West Virginia was a wonderful place to grow up,” Joanne said. “A lot of values were learned from growing up in a community like Huntington.” Her experiences at Marshall were also a positive influence. “I got a scholarship to West Virginia University,” Joanne said. “I didn’t like the campus, so I came back home. Marshall had not started classes yet so I was able to enroll that semester. My professors – Dr. Herschel Heath in history, Dr. N. Bennett East and Bruce Greenwood in theatre, as well as Dr. William Denman, Dr. Maureen Milicia and Dr. Dorothy Johnson, all made my experience at Marshall very memorable.” Joanne was a Student Government senator representing the junior class, and a pledge trainer for her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega. “After I was married and my husband went off to Air Force basic training, I became house mother for the sorority,” Joanne said. “I was actually house mother for some of the same people who were my sorority sisters!” She and her ex-husband, Frank Cummings, have a son, Matt, who graduated from the University of Kentucky in May 2006. She is engaged to A J Gallant, former WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) wrestler, and shares her Orlando home with her three cats, Dude, Mookie and Coco. -------------------------- Menopause The Musical® was created by Jeanie Linders as a celebration of women who are on the brink of, in the middle of, or have survived “The Change.” A joyful parody of 25 re-lyricized classic baby boomer hits, the 90-minute show features such chart-toppers as "I Heard It Thru the Grapevine; You No Longer See 39" and the disco favorite "Stayin' Awake! Stayin' Awake!" Since its first performance, the show has evolved into a women's movement that targets the interests, needs, and sensibilities of women over 40. |
 |
Joanne
Cummings Grant will be coming back to Huntington in March for a
very special occasion, the Marshall Artists Series production of
Menopause The Musical®. Joanne is the national director
of production for the musical, and looks forward to the play’s
run in her hometown. The occasion will be bittersweet, however.
“I plan to see the show with my brother, Joe Chapman, owner of
Reuschlein Jewelers,” Joanne said. “The last performance will be
on our late father’s birthday, March 4. “My brother and I plan
to watch the show together, for dad.”     |