When a person is truly destined for something, not even a 17-year hiatus can keep them away forever.
For Bensalem’s own Rachel Fingles, her passion for theater withstood nearly two decades away from the stage as she pursued a law career and started a family. Now, she’s not only back in the spotlight, but she’s sharing it with her daughters, Lillian and Julia, who have also formed a love of the arts.
“It was like scratching an itch that had been there for a long time,” Fingles said of returning to community theater. “I think sometimes when you’re getting older, you’re entering adulthood, you think you have to put certain things behind you because you’re supposed to be doing something else. But I got into being a lawyer because I liked the feeling of being in the courtroom. It felt like a performance of some sort. It kind of took me a little bit to realize that theater, it fills my cup. It makes me happy. And the fact that I can share it with my kids, it’s extremely fulfilling.”
Fingles is a regular cast member of Music Mountain Theatre, based in Lambertville, New Jersey. Most recently, she portrayed Nancy in Oliver!, which wrapped up on the mainstage April 9. Sometimes, she, Lillian and Julia are on the same bill, including last year’s Sound of Music and A Christmas Story.
Outside of Music Mountain, Lillian successfully auditioned for iTheatrics, a five-day program in New York City that workshops “junior’ versions of hit productions. She’s heading to the Big Apple in July. Then, in August, she and Julia are participating in the summer program of The Drama Club, based at 2307 Bristol Pike, Bensalem.
“I love that it’s not really about them doing something that I like. It’s that Lily has found something that makes her happy, that makes her shine, that makes her light up. And Julia, I think at first she wasn’t sure, but there was an opportunity after the pandemic when Music Mountain Theatre was starting to reopen and they were trying to keep their casts sort of within families, and they needed a couple of kids,” said Fingles. “Julia’s first show was actually really cool, it was with me and her sister.”
When asked if there’s a dedicated practice space in the Fingles household given its three theatrical residents, Fingles laughed and said, “It’s funny, I would say every room is a practice room in my house. We listen to musicals, we talk about musicals, we often refer to them whenever it’s relevant, which in my house is pretty much all the time.”
Though she’s now a regular on the Music Mountain stage, as well as a board member, Fingles didn’t become involved until just after the COVID-19 pandemic. After falling in love with the stage in high school, during which time she was cast in several Bucks County Playhouse productions, she took a break — a 17-year one — before delving back in.
“Once I was just about done with [Bensalem Township School District] school board a couple of years ago, I started getting back into it,” she said. “And it’s not just the shows I’m in. It’s who I’m in them with, the connections you make and the friendships you make. It’s just really healthy connections.”
Ultimately, Fingles has reconnected with her fellow “weirdos,” a term she uses endearingly: “You’ve gotta find your theater people. I guess it’s not much different than a Comic Con-type of thing, like a Broadway Con. You just gotta find your weirdos, and I mean that with all of the love because I am one.”
Fingles’ return to the stage has been a rather full-circle experience. Not only did she meet the folks who would someday create Music Mountain Theatre during her years at Bucks County Playhouse, she’s working alongside one of the biggest influences from her youth: her seventh-grade English and humanities teacher, Anna Hentz.
It was Hentz who suggested Fingles audition at the Playhouse all those years ago. Now, Fingles and Hentz often find themselves in close proximity, with Hentz directing Oliver! and serving on the board alongside her past pupil.
“The people that you meet along the way, even when you’re very young, they really do find a way of making their way back,” said Fingles. “She’s the one who encouraged me to get back into theater. She would say to me, probably at least once a year, ‘When are you gonna go do another show? When are you gonna get back to the stage?’ My life is just infinitely better because she’s in it.”
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
