When I was younger, my grandmother and my mother loved to watch their "stories" - or, soap operas as they were perhaps more commonly known.

For them it was CBS all the way: The Young and the Restless, As The World Turns, Guiding Light and, later, The Bold and the Beautiful. After a while, even if only peripherally, a person can get dragged into the stories pretty easily, and become familiar with the characters.

Fast forward to 2017. Guiding Light is off the air, having been cancelled in 2009 as the result of fewer viewers for the genre in general (really, ALL media has gone through that; the advent of multiple channels and emerging technologies has fragmented overall audiences for almost all media). As The World Turns is gone too; "Young" and "Bold" persevere along with a few others.

If you know the characters of Guiding Light, you certainly know Robert Newman's portrayal of Joshua Lewis and Kim Zimmer's Reva Shayne. They were right up there with daytime's power couples - Luke and Laura, Victor and Nikki - and Josh and Reva.

TSM WBCK
Robert Newman and Kim Zimmer with Richard Piet in the 95.3 WBCK studio. TSM WBCK
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Lucky for us in southwest Michigan, both Robert and Kim have done summer stock at the Barn Theatre numerous times over the years. And they join others who have gone on in the business (Jennifer Garner and Tom Wopat, among others) to sing the praises of the apprenticeships at the Barn and how it has affected them and others.

Zimmer is a Grand Rapids native and graduate of Forest Hills High School and Hope College. These days, she and her husband split time between their home base in New Jersey and travels around the country - lately, New Mexico. Newman, a Los Angeles native, has appeared in several Barn productions, including the Hunchback of Notre Dame earlier this season.

Now, they're back together again in "The Lion in Winter" through August 5, 2017 at the Augusta landmark, where the pair is playing a decidedly different power couple than Josh and Reva. Though, Newman points out there are some parallels.

Click the player at the top to hear them talk about it, as well as reflect on their Guiding Light experiences and more.

BONUS VIDEO - Actor Tom Wopat Talks About Augusta's Barn Theatre, Dukes of Hazzard and More | The Richard Piet Show

 

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