Women Today

Women magazine's Women Who Inspire feature examines the ways acting impacts local women's lives. Today we feature Mary Kohlbeck:

Mary Kohlbeck
Oshkosh

What made you get into acting? I wanted to act in high school and college. I went to a tryout or two but never had the courage to read for a part.
It wasn’t until my late 20s, when I had moved to a new city, that I finally had the courage to read for a community production of “Happy Birthday, Wanda June.”
I loved the warmth of that spotlight and wanted to do it again and again.

What has been your most exciting acting experience? Every production I have been in has been my most exciting acting experience.
When the lights go down and the curtain goes up, and you know as an actor that this is the moment, and nothing other than intermission or an actual death on stage will stop the production until the last line is spoken. This other world of the play has begun.
An actor moves through two realities, her own and that of her character. Will lines be dropped or, even worse, a section of the play, possibly paralyzing other actors? Will the door on the set close properly this time?
Will the sound cue be heard by all? Will I be in character enough to be spontaneous and rescue another actor who may become temporarily lost?
Will my shoe fall off, will I drop a prop, will I forget my blocking? All are possibilities.
That excitement, that tension, that energy is theatre and is why each performance is my most exciting acting experience.

If you could change one thing about acting, what would it be? The need for memorization. The theatrical experience I currently enjoy is play readings.
Actors are seated on stools with scripts placed on music stands in front of them. Rehearsals are held with the emphasis on the delivery and interpretation, just as in a full production.
The script is not read, some actors have it memorized, but you have that parachute right in front of you. The panic is removed and the fun is multiplied.