DaretoDreamTheatre.com - Biography: Rachel Elizabeth

Theatre and dreams have always been a part of my life. At a young age, I was already enjoying “becoming someone else” through Civil War Reenacting. In the middle of sixth grade my family and I moved from Wisconsin to Minnesota, and as the new girl, I began searching for a place to belong. At the age of 14, I performed onstage for the first time, and caught the bug. Theatre had become part of my life. I was hooked.

During my highschool years at St. Croix Lutheran High School in West St. Paul, MN I participated in every show either on or off stage. I became the head makeup artist and student “acting coach” by learning on my own. I looked forward to every possibility available, but before long I wanted more than the program could provide. I felt the most at home when I was intimately involved in a show, and most of the time I was usually “wearing more than one hat.”

During a visit to my brother’s college, Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee WI, I fell in love with the Fine Arts building and knew that I had to attend there. The theatre program was growing and the addition of a theatre major was close to being implemented, so I enrolled and began taking classes as if the theatre major was already in existence.

I also worked my way into the administrative areas of the theater department as well, starting out as theatre department student assistant. My first major project was reorganizing the prop and costume shops and helping the theatre department head become more efficient. I loved it so much that I decided to stay and work that summer. Through the remaining years at Wisconsin Lutheran, I remained theatre department assistant, as well as planning theater trips to New York in Spring 2002, Los Angeles in Spring 2003, and a number of other fundraising events for the theatre department.

Along with my position as theatre department assistant and my student classes, I also got involved in productions on both stages. I was introduced to working on more than one show at a time and I loved it. I had the opportunity to perform major roles in many genres of theatre from musical (Sally Brown in YOU’RE A GOOD MAN CHARLIE BROWN) to classic Greek (Messanger in MEDEA) to dramatic (Mary Warren in THE CRUCIBLE). I also had the pleasure of taking leadership roles offstage including Stage Managing (THE NERD) Costume Design (RUMORS) Dramaturgy and Props Master (THE CRUCIBLE) and Directing (THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK). By the time I graduated from college, I had decided that my life was to be deeply involved in all aspects of theatre.

After graduation in May 2003, I spent the summer as a nanny in the Milwaukee area. I hoped it would be an easy trainsition into a move to California that fall. But by the end of that summer, I was in deperately need of theatre again, and since I had not saved enough to make the big move, I went on an audition spree and landed two roles up in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. I was cast in a small role in the production of M*A*S*H at that Sheboygan Theater Company, followed directly by the title role in PETER PAN that Christmas. Playing the same role as Mary Martin and Cathy Rigby showed not only myself, but everyone who knew me, what can really happen when a person sets a goal and pursues it wholeheartedly.

That experience opened so many doors of opportunity and growth for me that I decided to put off the move to California again to continue acting in Sheboygan County. By October 2003 I had moved to Sheboygan to avoid the hour commute to rehearsals. Over the next 9 months I performed in 7 plays, including M*A*S*H (Agnes Bonwit), PETER PAN (Peter Pan), MAN OF LA MANCHA (Fermina), FOOL OF THE WORLD (Princess and flower girl), SOUTH PACIFIC (nurse and island native), RED WHITE AND ROSIE (Barbara Desmith), and OKLAHOMA! (Dancing Chorus). I found some friends for life, and I was chasing my dream. In April 2004 I was offered the position of Youth Outreach Coordinator at Theater for Young Audiences, and that secured my residence in Sheboygan County.

Who would ever have dreamed that a year after graduation I would be making a living in my chosen career!

Dare to Dream, the theatre education program I started for children, exploded into more than I ever dreamed, and by that summer I was offering sessions in five different cities. Everywhere I turned people were interested in my program, and before long, it was too big to handle alone. However, not giving up, I hired assistant teachers and kept moving forward. The addition of a tech to the staff dramaticly enhanced the performances, and dependable assistant teachers took some of the load off of me. Dare to Dream had become an entity faster than I EVER dared dream.

In September 2004, I moved into my own apartment after falling in love with Plymouth WI. For the first time in my life I was on my own, living in my own apartment, chasing my dreams and having a blast doing so. Opportunities and experiences began exploding faster than I ever dreamed, and I jumped at every opportunity. I was constantly going to auditions through my agent, and every now and then landing a paying job -- including a commercial and promotional modeling gigs.

By the end of September 2004 I decided to take a break from the stage and focus on steadying the speed of the ever expanding Dare to Dream program, my backstage work with Theater for Young Audiences, and my work with the Sheboygan Theater Company. Even so, another awesome opportunity fell into my lap and I found myself on stage again, but this time as an award Presenter for the annual Excellence in Christian Film and Television Awards held in Chicago, IL on October 9, 2004. What an experience to be surrounded by other Christians in the field, who shared my passion for Christ through work in the entertainment industry.

The future is now before me. Who knows where this path will lead, and who I will meet along the way. No matter where it leads, though, my passions, dreams, faith, friends and family will be right there with me. With God in control, I can only spread my winges even further, and Dare to Dream!

-Rachel Elizabeth