SOMEONE YOU SHOULD KNOW: MIMI MCDONALD IS UPBEAT AND ONSTAGE

by Carol Shaughnessy | June 2, 2025

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Mimi McDonald is the longtime managing director of Key West’s popular Red Barn Theatre, which she and her husband Gary helped establish 45 years ago. CONTRIBUTED

As Mimi Madden McDonald prepared to audition for her elementary school’s third-grade talent show many years ago, the teacher in charge asked what her talent was. 

“Talking!” she announced blithely.

Though completely unaware at that moment, McDonald had just identified the trait that would carry her through a long and satisfying career in acting and theater administration. 

For decades, the articulate and energetic woman has been the managing director of Key West’s acclaimed Red Barn Theatre — a theater she and her husband Gary helped establish with colleagues, including Joy Hawkins and Richard Magesis. She’s also vice president of the theater’s guiding board.

McDonald earned a theater degree at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, then studied dance with the renowned Twyla Tharp at American University. She then headed for Key West, where college friends Rita and Roddy Brown had founded the Greene Street Theater. 

“The troupe that came from Richmond decided it was a whole lot more fun to start a theater in paradise than it was to beat the streets of New York City for jobs, with all the competition up there,” said McDonald. “Our impetus was to come down and start a professional theater, because we were interested in the craft — and running shows for longer periods of time, so that actors could really settle into a part.”

In the early years she earned much-needed extra money as a bank teller, which prepared her for handling theater finances and administration. She also choreographed Tennessee Williams’ “Will Mr. Merriwether Return from Memphis?” that launched Key West’s Tennessee Williams Fine Arts Center at the then-Florida Keys Community College. She and Gary house-sat for Tennessee Williams himself. 

At the same time, the McDonalds helped start the Red Barn Actors Studio, named for the small carriage house that stood behind the Key West Woman’s Club on Duval Street — the building that became the Red Barn Theatre and the company’s home. 

The Barn opened in 1980 and mounted five productions during its inaugural 1980-81 season. While funds remained tight, the theater founders’ creativity and optimism outweighed any financial lack.

“It was so much fun,” McDonald recalled. “It was amazing and stimulating, and the sky was the limit.”

Now, 45 years after its initial season, the Red Barn is recognized as a cultural cornerstone that helped set the stage for the creation of other Key West arts organizations. The theater’s successes have included a long-ago production of the musical comedy “Nunsense” that still evokes praise, the American premiere of playwright Hy Conrad’s COVID-era farce “Quarantine For Two,” the biannual and much-loved “Short Attention Span Theatre” shows, and thought-provoking offerings like “The Code” and “Lifespan of a Fact.” 

Guiding the Barn’s productions and progress is a family affair for McDonald. Gary, her husband of some 50 years, is the longtime technical director — now stepping back and turning over some duties to their son Jack, who has assisted behind the scenes since childhood. Their daughter Amber also embraced a theatrical career, acting in New York and Los Angeles before returning to the Keys and the stage where she grew up. 

While devoting most of her professional life to the Red Barn, McDonald is also the hard-working producer of the Masquerade March and other events for Key West’s annual Fantasy Fest celebration She choreographed Key West High School choral productions for 20 years and directed young actors in local Keys Kids shows for 10 years. 

Directing has become her primary passion. 

“I’d much rather direct than act right now,” McDonald said. “With acting, you’re reading a script and doing what the director tells you to do — but directing, I felt limitless.” 

Her latest directorial triumph was “Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson, Apt. 2B,” an irreverent mystery-comedy that reimagines famed sleuth Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson as an eccentric female duo. Debuting in January 2025, it earned stellar reviews and helped McDonald stretch her skills in new ways.

“It pulled out parts of me that I didn’t know I had,” she admitted. “I found it really liberating and refreshing and fun — that’s what happens when you have a good cast that can interpret what you’re saying.”  

She will next direct the Red Barn’s 2025 holiday play, “Scrooge MacBeth,” described as an off-kilter mashup of Christmas and William Shakespeare.

When she’s not involved in theater work or exploring her creativity, McDonald spends time cooking, recharging her batteries at the family’s inherited hardwood tree farm in West Virginia, and enjoying the Key West community. 

“It’s exotic and beautiful and colorful all the time,” she summed up, displaying her still-keen talent for talking. “It’s a very special place where we’re all connected to each other, and we all share the remarkable history of this crazy island.”

REVIEW OF SAST: “ALTERNATIVE FACTS” AT THE RED BARN THEATER

by Guy DeBoar | April 10, 2025

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Photo by Roberta DePiero

Red Barn Theatre’s “Short Attention Span Theatre: Alternative Facts” Delivers Comedy, Heart, and 45 Years of Excellence

For 45 years, the Red Barn Theatre has been a creative cornerstone of Key West’s cultural landscape, thanks in large part to visionary artists like Mimi McDonald and Joy Hawkins. Both have shaped the theater’s identity, helped nurture local talent, and sustained a reputation for professional-level productions in an intimate space. While Joy Hawkins has stepped back from day-to-day operations, her legacy lives on in every show mounted on the Red Barn stage. Mimi McDonald continues to lead with passion and precision, serving both on and off stage as a guiding force for this enduring theatrical institution.

“Alternative Facts” is a high-energy, fast-moving series of short plays, each offering its own unique twist. It’s a format the Red Barn has mastered over the years, keeping audiences engaged with variety, surprise endings, and characters you can’t forget.

This year’s production is expertly directed by Mimi McDonald, Gary McDonald, Jack McDonald, and Amber McDonald Good—a family of artists whose collaboration is clearly rooted in shared sensibility and deep theatrical intuition. The show features a strong and versatile ensemble: Erin McKenna, Cassidy Timms, Nina Pilar, Mathias Maloff, and Zach Franchini—all of whom handle multiple roles across various genres and tones with impressive dexterity.

The evening opens with “I Saw This in Paducah” by Rich Orloff, directed by Gary McDonald. This clever piece features Erin McKenna and Nina Pilar as two eccentric theatre lovers who obsessively travel across the country in pursuit of one thing: world premieres. What begins as a charming quirk quickly unravels into something more complicated, proving that obsession—especially theatrical obsession—is fertile ground for comedy. Both actors hit just the right tone, blending naive enthusiasm with suspicious intensity, creating a laugh-out-loud opener that sets the stage for the unexpected.

Next is “Clean Slate” by Rajiv Joseph, directed by Mimi McDonald. Cassidy Timms, Mathias Maloff, and Zach Franchini portray characters tangled in a Kafkaesque web of miscommunication, paranoia, and darkly comic bureaucracy. Maloff plays a bewildered news anchor caught in the crosshairs of two overzealous FBI agents investigating a possible media hijacking at KWWP Radio. The skit plays like a fever dream, raising questions about media, trust, and fear. McDonald’s direction ensures that the ambiguity serves the comedy rather than muddling it, and the actors keep the tension high and the audience guessing.

Act One closes with “The Caterers” by Tony Meneses, directed by Amber McDonald Good. Set during a chaotic engagement party where the bride-to-be has vanished, the action unfolds in the kitchen, where the catering staff and family members try to locate both the missing woman and a sense of normalcy. Erin McKenna shines as Garcia, a catering employee who takes a romantic shine to the bride-to-be, Josephine, played with emotional nuance by Nina Pilar. Their flirtation provides a charming and heartfelt undercurrent to the otherwise frantic family drama.

Act Two opens with one of the evening’s strongest comedies, “Veronica’s Test of Worthiness” by Eddie Zipperer, directed by Jack McDonald. Mathias Maloff plays a man so desperate to avoid commitment that he hires a ragtag group of actors to impersonate his dysfunctional family and scare off his girlfriend. Ironically, Cassidy Timms plays Veronica, the unsuspecting fiancée—and in real life, she and Maloff are married. Their real-life chemistry adds an extra layer of hilarity to the performance, and the skit builds to a wildly funny climax that underscores the show’s larger themes: perception, expectation, and chaos.

The penultimate skit is “Incident on the Golden Gate Bridge” by David MacGregor, directed by Gary McDonald. Zach Franchini delivers a heartfelt performance as a troubled young man contemplating his future on the edge of the bridge. Enter Cassidy Timms and Mathias Maloff, whose attempts to talk him down evolve into a deeply human exchange about life’s uncertainties and unexpected revelations. The scene shifts tone beautifully, offering a moment of genuine connection and introspection amid the show’s zanier moments.

The evening concludes with a surprise short piece conceived and directed by Gary McDonald, bringing the entire cast together one last time. This final skit cleverly ties the previous stories together—sometimes literally—reminding the audience of the connective threads (and possibly one particular prop!) that subtly linked each play. It’s a satisfying and smart wrap-up, showcasing the production team’s attention to detail and commitment to narrative cohesion, even in a show made of fragments.

This year’s Short Attention Span Theatre is more than just a collection of quirky vignettes—it’s a reflection of 45 years of artistic innovation, community engagement, and fearless storytelling at the Red Barn Theatre. From set and lighting to costume choices and direction, everything is tight, efficient, and fully realized—no small feat in a show with this much moving parts.

If you’re in Key West this April, don’t miss your chance to see this annual favorite. It’s funny, thought-provoking, and deeply satisfying—not just as entertainment, but as a testament to what community theatre can achieve when it is led by people who care deeply about the craft and the audience.

Show Dates: April 8 – May 3, 2025
Box Office: (305) 296-9911
Tickets & Info: RedBarnTheatre.com
Location: 319 Duval Street, Key West, FL

Join the Red Barn in celebrating 45 years of theatrical excellence. With “Alternative Facts,” they’ve once again proven that short plays can leave a lasting impression.

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For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102

For Immediate Release

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Cast of Short Attention Span Theatre: “Alternative Facts”

There’s an old saying in theater: “When you find a gem, let it shine.”

Key West’s Red Barn Theatre found such a gem over a decade ago, and they’ve been letting it shine in most of their seasons since. It’s called “Short Attention Span Theatre”, and it’s proven to be one of the most popular shows the theater offers each year. This season will be no different.

It’s a simple concept – pick a mixed slate of funny, powerful, poignant, or simply off-the-wall short plays and populate them with some of the area’s top comedic talent, then string them together for an evening of stellar fun. Each year, the Red Barn’s resident family – the McDonalds – find six or seven wonderful new plays and pull them together under a title that relates to them all. This year’s theme: “Alternative Facts”, which anyone will agree, certainly is relevant to the times.

“One of the things I love most about Short Attention Span Theatre (SAST),” said the Red Barn’s Managing Director Mimi McDonald, “is that it gives us the opportunity to explore a number of different voices and new playwrights in one show. And it seems to many of us that the human condition is evolving right now, and these playwrights are noticing that and commenting on what’s happening in a very comedic way. And we have such great comedic actors all doing a variety of very funny characters in this one.”

This year’s rendition of SAST will star Erin McKenna, Mathias Maloff, Cassidy Timms, Nina Pilar, and Zach Franchini. They appear in various combinations during the evening of eclectic plays that focus on characters who are in conflict with larger forces – from a catering job for an engagement party with a missing bride; a chance meeting on the Golden Gate Bridge; two audience members who insist on world premieres; a fiancé is put to the test when she meets her possible in-laws; and two FBI agents who interrogate a newscaster when a newsroom is hijacked.

“It’s a fast, fun evening,” said McDonald, “but there’s a message or two in there as well.”

As they do every year, the entire McDonald family shepherds this show to the stage, with each of them directing, building sets, handling the tech, and more. Along with Mimi are her husband Gary, and their two (now adult) children, Amber and Jack.

“We’ve been a theater family for more than 45 years,” Mimi said. “It’s in our blood, and we have such a great time working together on this show. It’s always a big hit.” Or to put it another way – it’s a gem.

Tickets for “Short Attention Span Theatre: Alternative Facts” are available at KeysTix.com, redbarntheatre.com, or by calling the box office at 305-296-9911. Note that all curtain times are 7:30 pm.

PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102

For Immediate Release

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Michael Castellano and Jessica Miano Kruel | Photo by Roberta DePiero

It’s been said that chance meetings are often an aphrodisiac moment out of which true love may bloom. That doesn’t guarantee it will be an easy germination, of course…just that there’s an outside chance for an acceptable blossom.

Playwright John Patrick Shanley endearingly lets us watch such a flowering in his latest play, “Brooklyn Laundry”, running March 4-29 at the Red Barn Theatre in Key West. Shanley, author of the romantic megahit “Moonstruck”, is a master of the charming, imperfect love story, and this play fits his model well.

“Brooklyn Laundry” is about three sisters and a guy who runs a laundry in that New York borough. Fran is a single woman and bone-tired of being so, whose sisters each have their own crosses to bear. Trish is dealing with a threatening illness, and Susie with a dissolving marriage, and each of them is turning to Fran, who is feeling overwhelmed with it all.

Then one day, Fran takes a bag of laundry to the cleaners in her building and runs into the owner, Owen, whose sweetly gruff adorability breaks through her protective barriers and sparks something between them. Owen, too, has had to deal with some unexpected twists in his life, but he uncharacteristically rises to and goes with the moment, asking Fran to dinner. From there on, Shanley takes us on an utterly charming and very funny ride into a story of two people trying to find balance in their lives despite the bumps that come their way.

The Red Barn production stars a quartet of top local actors, including Jessica Miano Kruel, Michael Castellano, Donna Stabile, and Lauren Thompson. It is directed by Joy Hawkins, the Barn’s artistic director.

“It’s a beautiful play,” Hawkins said, “nicely written, funny, tender, and heartwarming. It does deal with some situations we sometimes have to deal with in life, and it might bring some tears here and there, but you’ll leave the theater feeling really good. It’s very life-affirming, with characters you can really root for.”

The New York Times called the play “Utterly charming.” The New York Theatre Guide said, “Forget the dating apps – maybe the laundromat is the place to find your next great love…”.

Tickets are available at KeysTix.com, or at redbarntheatre.com. For more information, call the box office at 305-296-9911. All shows for the March 4-29 run are at 7:30 pm. The production is sponsored in part by Florida Arts and Culture, and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.

PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102

For Immediate Release

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Mariah Woessner and Susannah Wells | Photo by Roberta DePiero

Everyone loves a good mystery. And who better to confound us with one than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who then sends his most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, to unravel even the most convoluted of mysteries for us?

Ah, but there’s a hilarious rub in all of this! In the Red Barn Theatre’s latest offering of their 45th remarkable season – “Ms. Holmes, Ms. Watson, Apt. 2B”, running January 28 through February 22 – we are presented with a tale that cheerfully desecrates the stories of Conan Doyle in a most unusual and very funny way.

Because in Kate Hamill’s energetic play, the world’s most famous detective is a frazzled female police consultant whose dazzling deductions astound everyone. She takes on a new roommate – a wayward American who Holmes determines is running from a past where she used to be a doctor and needs a little help and refocusing. Portrayed as a deeply co-dependent, quasi-dysfunctional Odd Couple, this duo proceeds into a fast-paced and wildly entertaining romp through multiple violent crimes that all seem to lead to notorious villains.

The pair solve a variety of these crimes, from the murder of a man found in a motel to the case of a right-wing politician who cheated on his wife. It’s a blend of classic theater and modern comedy that balances mystery with laugh-out-loud humor, playfully dismantling and, at the same time, celebrating the conventions of Conan Doyle’s stories.

“We’re really having a good time,“ said director Mimi McDonald. “The intimacy of the Red Barn allows the audience to take the ride with the actors. At the heart of it is a real mystery, with twists and turns, and a few real surprises. We know the audience is going to have a ball solving the mystery right along with us.”

Susannah Wells, one of Key West’s best comedic actresses, stars as Ms. Sherlock Holmes, and Mariah Woessner is the perfect complement as Ms./Doctor Watson. Joining them and playing a number of unexpected and mysterious/villainous characters are Arthur Crocker and Morgan Fraga Pierson, both no slouches when it comes to comedic chops.

”One thing I’m sure everyone will love are the costumes,” said McDonald, who commissioned iconic Key West costumer Gary Marion – better known as Sushi – to create original costumes for the play. “They’re really something – a kind of apocalyptic theme and a warrior vibe, that adds another whole dimension to the story.”

Called “…laugh-out-loud funny, incredibly clever, inherently theatrical, and a delight from start to finish..” and “…sharp, playful, and moves at a rapid-fire pace…” by the Portland Monthly, “Ms. Holmes, Ms. Watson, Apt. 2B” is a great way to spend an evening deducting, finding clues, and solving mysteries. The game’s afoot!

Running January 28 through February 22. All curtains are at 7:30 pm. Tickets at keystix.com. For more information, call the Red Barn box office at 305-296-9911.

Sponsored in part by the William L. Monroe III Foundation, and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.