Martha Cumming, also known as Martha Sue “Marsue” Cumming, is a former theatre executive whose documented work includes children’s arts programmes and college scholarship administration. She is married to actor Peter MacNicol, as EBSCO’s biographical profile confirms, but her own professional history centres on helping young people access creative and educational opportunities.
Her career connects two youth theatre organisations on opposite sides of the United States. Records from New York’s 52nd Street Project establish her leadership there, while playwright Leigh Curran credits Cumming with helping her set up the Virginia Avenue Project in Los Angeles.
Leading a children’s theatre organisation in New York
Cumming served as executive director of the 52nd Street Project, a nonprofit organisation in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood. Its October 2013 newsletter identifies her as “Marsue Cumming MacNicol” and describes her as a former executive director, providing a direct institutional record of her position.
The Project’s website explains its approach through programmes that bring neighbourhood children together with theatre professionals. Young participants write plays and work with adult artists to develop and perform them. The organisation provides its programmes free of charge, with additional educational and mentoring support.
Helping establish the Virginia Avenue Project
Cumming later helped another youth arts initiative take shape in California. In her first-person biography, Curran recalls moving to Los Angeles in 1991 to found the Virginia Avenue Project and relying on Cumming for guidance with grant applications and the practical work of establishing a nonprofit.
Curran’s account makes Cumming’s contribution specific. She brought experience from the New York organisation to the new venture’s early development. Curran identifies herself as the founder and Kendis Heffley as the founding executive director; Cumming’s role was to help guide the setup process. The Project’s first production opened in April 1992.
Working with the Corie Williams Scholarship Fund
In December 2003, the Los Angeles Times identified Marsue MacNicol as a volunteer administrator for the Corie Williams Scholarship Fund.
EBSCO also records her involvement, describing the fund as an organisation established in 1997 to provide college assistance to students from South Central Los Angeles. These accounts document an administrative role supporting access to education. They do not establish that she founded the fund.
A later visit documented with Peter MacNicol
The 52nd Street Project’s May 2024 newsletter includes a photograph caption recording a visit by Cumming and MacNicol. It identifies her as the organisation’s first executive director, showing that her connection to the Project continued long after her leadership tenure. The issue dates the published record; it does not give an exact date for the visit.
As of October 31, 2026, the sources reviewed do not establish Cumming’s current employment or whether she continues to administer the scholarship fund.
