By Emily Soell

From the Spring 2026 Edition of our Curtain Up Newsletter

There was no “Sharon Playhouse” in the summer of 1989. At the time, Sharon Creative Arts Foundation (SCAF) inhabited the familiar barn building – the first of many courageous theater companies attempting to launch a successful performing arts business there. The show that summer was The Music Man. SCAF hired Ray Roderick to direct and his wife, Sarah Combs to produce.

If there is such a thing as destiny, its seeds were surely sown that summer.

But Sarah had no premonition that 37 years later, her unique contributions to what is now the Sharon Playhouse would be acknowledged from that same stage with the very first Spotlight Spirit Award, a new annual honor celebrating individuals whose unwavering commitment, generosity, and belief in the power of live theater illuminate the heart of the our Playhouse.

Were it not for Sarah’s tenacious devotion to theater and community, the joyous, magical, impressive performing arts venue called the Sharon Playhouse would simply not exist.

We would not be able to boast sold out performances year after year, not be mounting stunning productions, featuring Broadway professionals as well as local talent and I would not have been able to rely on a Board Vice President for whom no task was too small.

Today’s Playhouse originated in a rented tent in Pine Plains NY – a passion project from Sarah and a group of theater devotees who started Tri-State Center for the Arts (Tri-Arts), named to reflect the fact that the Board was composed of members from New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Sarah was Board President but also an actor, director, producer, stage manager – taking on any theater job that needed to be done.

Tri-Arts produced Annie Get Your Gun with Sarah in the title role. They performed Barnum with a real elephant. They relocated to the Carvel Ice Cream warehouse, which Carvel’s widow leased for $1 a year on the condition that it be called The Thomas Carvel Warehouse Theater. Audiences flocked to see the shows. Then, in 1999, realizing the barn in Sharon was dark, the Board cobbled together the money to buy it and Tri-Arts moved to Sharon.

In Sharon, Sarah directed Footloose, Aida, Annie Get Your Gun, Hairspray, All Shook Up and Crazy For You. She acted in Rip Van Winkle, played Maria in The Sound of Music and was the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. On the Board, she revived and helmed the Building and Grounds Committee dealing with the Playhouse’s structural challenges. She served as my Vice President for 8 years. Late last year, as her Board term expired, she was voted an Honorary Board Member for life.

While the Spirit Award is intended to be an annual event, it was Sarah’s dedication and contributions which inspired it. The standard she set for it will be difficult to match.