Shirley A. Rumierk
Currently: Appearing as the only female in Rick Najera's Latinologues, a collection of Latin-flavored monologues, at the Helen Hayes Theater.
Hometown: New York, New York. Rumierk was born and raised in Hell's Kitchen, enabling her to participate in the 52nd Street Project, a program that matches area children with theater professionals so they may create and attend theater. "The very first play I saw was Our Town with adult chaperone Jim McDaniel," she explains. "I remember saying to him, 'God, the narrator is so rude. He keeps interrupting the actors onstage!' He sat there trying to explain what the deal was. But when you're like 10 or 11 you're like, "What?!? My mother told me not to do that!'"
Knowing Your Business: Rumierk had aspirations of being an actress professionally, but her parents steered her away from a job in the arts. She began Harvard University with an economics major, quickly switching to Hispanic Studies when she found economics "boring." Rumierk took culture classes and learned several languages, but nothing pointed itself to a career.
Before The Break: During her education, Rumierk decided she would in fact try to be an actress, regardless of parental blessing. After graduation, she moved back to New York and enrolled in a year-long program at The Actors Center Conservatory. She landed voice-overs, commercials, plays that lasted two weekends at most and began hosting a small-time television program Cool in Your Code on NYCTV. Then she got called in for Latinologues.
The Audition: Rumierk was far from the most experienced person to tryout for Latinologues. "They looked at my resume and they were like, 'Are you psychotic or something?,'" Rumierk laughs, pointing out that her credits are kind of sparse. "I was like, 'If I could put small readings on there or shows that last one weekend, I'd fill it up. It ain't easy being an actress in New York! And if you don't have some nine degrees of some hookup it's harder.'"
Asking Around: In Latinologues, Rumierk portrays a Dominican, a Cuban and a Puerto Rican. That is a lot of accents to master and, because she a self-proclaimed perfectionist, she felt the need to study. The actress who herself has a Puerto Rican mother and a Colombian father went into a Dominican restaurant and talked to the owners to get their mannerisms and accent down, asked Cubans questions and relied on her own family to achieve Puerto Rican perfection.
Meet Cheech: Latinologues star Eugenio Derbez is very popular in Mexico, but of the people involved in the show, it's director Cheech Marin who is most famous to people raised in the States. "I was anxious to meet him because I really wanted to see what he looked like now," the actress says. "He's great. He won celebrity Jeopardy! For me that is huge!"
Remaining Calm: Despite the fact that this is her Broadway debut, Rumierk has not felt any nerves. "I have this feeling of 'I've got nothing to lose!' I am a total newcomer, fresh off the block. If there is anything that I am lacking, I'm here to learn. Prior to this when I would do a show, I was just getting into character when the show's run was up. With this, I keep carving every night, learning something new. It's been a ride."
What The Future Holds: Latinologues is scheduled to end its Broadway run on December 31 and there is a tour in the works that Rumierk may participate in. But her only concrete plan is to keep learning. "You know freshman year of college?," she questions. "I'm kind of like in my freshman year as life of an actor. I'm meeting all of these people and being inspired by these amazing actors around me. I'm enjoying it."