Today we salute a strong young woman who taught Molly and me to stand tall, celebrate passion and eat copious amounts of chocolate.
Molly’s sister Katherine turns 23 tomorrow.
A working actress, she lives in Chicago now where she frequently freaks us out with her casual mentions of late night bus rides, and impresses us with her dogged pursuit of her dream. Her daily schedule exhausts us as she cheerfully negotiates a steady day job, a heavy audition schedule, rehearsals, classes, workshops and a social life.
Just four-years old when she first took the stage in our community theater’s production of Evita, Katherine has maintained a steady focus on her true love ever since. In pursuit of her particular dream, Katherine has traveled to London, where she saw as many stage productions as time and her strictly kept budget would allow, and to a tiny town in Mexico, where she taught little children to appreciate Shakespeare in a language she didn’t even speak.
We’ve seen Katherine transform herself into a 10-year old girl (no easy trick for a 5-10 inch actress) in a high school production of Secret Garden, into a free loving hippie in a college production of Hair, and into Witch Number Two in a Chicago production of Macbeth. We’ve enjoyed her performances in beautiful performing arts centers and, last summer, in a non-air conditioned church during which the director thoughtfully provided each audience member with a hand-held fan.
We’re curious, amused and just a pinch nervous about her latest project, a horror film.
For as long as she has maintained her dream, Katherine has dealt with people who try to discourage her. She fields questions about a backup plan practically every day and she auditions relentlessly in a city that draws aspiring actresses by the thousands.
But Katherine believes strongly in both the passionate pursuit of goals, and in the disciplined development of talent. Her dreams have nothing to do with monetary gain or fame. Mentored by gifted directors during her formative years, she just genuinely craves quality theater.
We’ll close this post with a sincere Brava! to Molly’s favorite sister Katherine. May all your birthday wishes come true.
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