Stephanie
Cason
one more time...Again
I love teaching. I love casting. I love directing.
I'm grateful to be right where God wants me to be, doing what I was born to do.
Actors! Let's get to work.
Yeah, this pic is a few years old but I like it. So there!
Hi there! In case we are not already acquainted, here's some background on me and my theatre and teaching experience. If you have any questions feel free to contact me from this site, or you can email, Facebook messenger, or text me. What you really need to know is that I genuinely love my students and the wonderful folks that help to make the shows I direct possible. We become family through the trial-by-fire that is a theatrical production. We challenge each other to aim higher, to dream bigger, and always to glorify God in what we produce and how we get it done.
If you already know me and have heard it all before, please feel free to skip to the page with the Acting Classes info or Say Hello.
Hugs to you all!
My Grandpa introduced me to movie musicals when I was young and I will be forever thankful for that day on the couch watching The Music Man while he sang along, "Whaddya talk, whaddya talk?" I watched all the classics on VHS and never missed the yearly televised airings of The Sound of Music and The Wizard of Oz. I noticed that Disney was making musicals with cartoons and that other movies, TV shows, commercials and music videos had elements of musical theatre in them too. Of course I didn't know it was theatre back then.
BTW This is Michael, my dance partner. Hi Mike!
Fast forward that VHS tape to my 9th grade when I sat in the back row of the auditorium, having been dragged to see a cute guy that my friend liked perform in our school's production of Guys and Dolls. I had forgotten that I knew this music from the movie, and as my peers played gamblers, flirts, and mission dolls on the stage where last month there had been an assembly about "cool things with dry ice", I realized that I still remembered the words to If I Were a Bell. Shortly after that I had an epiphany; I wanted to be UP THERE. I decided right then to audition for the school musical next year. I'll never forget it. I sang Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid and no one on the creative team had heard it before. #auditiongoals I was cast as one of Laurie's girls in Oklahoma! and I had a solo line in Out of My Dreams. I was thrilled! The best part of it all was not the spotlight or the applause, it was all the new friends that I made.
Throw out your tapes and replace them with DVDs while we cut to my college years, all 7 of them. When I started at The Ohio State University as an English major, I thought being in a show would help me make some college connections and I was not disappointed. In fact my cup runneth over because I was cast in a leading role for the first time, learned what a showmance was, and became part of the local theatre community all from that first show, Once Upon a Mattress. I played Lady Larken. After that, my life was classes, work and a seemingly endless stream of shows. I changed majors and schools for the chance to earn a BFA in Musical Theatre from Wright State University. Those were mind-blowing days of learning everything from Stanislavski to Sondheim, from ballet to tap dancing, from casting to directing, from Shakespeare to Shephard, and so on... Good times.
That's me in the blue hat with my very talented and attractive Senior class of 2001. Our incredible, fearless leader professor Joe Deer is the fella in the blue bow tie, of course.
I kept at it after graduation and started trading in my CDs for mp3 while auditioning, performing, working, moving to New York, moving back home, and eventually having to get a "real job" and figure out who I was without a script. Again, mind-blowing days of learning, but not as much fun as college. The break did me good though. I made my world smaller and got down to what was precious to me. God, family, friends, and helping others. When that happened I learned to like myself without wondering what this director was looking for or how can I be better in my 60 second audition than the other 3 girls just like me that they already saw. I had been doing "fake it 'till you make it" for years. Finally, I had learned to be happy with "here's what I have to offer today" and if I got no takers, then God had other plans for me.
That's when I met the love of my life, my husband Kelly Cason. The theatre took a comfy backseat to my joy-filled marriage, travel, children, and making a home for my family. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed this role of wife and mother immensely and, while I still listened to musicals now and then, I was alright with not being in that world anymore.
So, of course out of nowhere, I get offered a job teaching Drama for a local homeschool co-op. This was new territory for me. I had never even thought of teaching before, but I knew plenty about theatre and maybe I could make some new friends on Facebook. I knew this was what God was calling me to do now. All the pieces fell into place as I dug out my books and audition portfolio from college, developed the curriculum, and began to teach my students from 6th-12th grade. I took a leap of faith and chose to direct Fiddler on the Roof for our first big show and it was a hit! My husband and my mother were so supportive, I couldn't have done it without them. Kelly built the set for that show and the next thing he knew he was performing in shows. Mom made the costumes for Fiddler and watched our son when we were busy with rehearsals. Plus, I made some wonderful new friends!
Little did we know that 9 years later we would still be playing these roles and our 2 little boys would be joining the ranks. The Theatre has become like a member of our family. We all make time for it, spend money on it, think about it, pray about it, get worn out by it, and find great joy in it.
That's my beautiful Mom there in the bright light. This is during the last bows for Fiddler on the Roof with YMV in 2008.
As I enter my 5th fabulous year working for Norfolk Christian Schools as the Drama Teacher/Director, and I exit Young Musicians of Virginia after 9 years of truly blessed service with them, I have a lot to reflect on once again. God has stripped away the white noise of my busy life this summer. He has given me more time with my family, brought me closer to dear friends and introduced me to some marvelous new folks.
I am branching out by offering my own Advanced Acting class in Norfolk and working with CAST Family Theatre in Chesapeake as they begin their journey in our community. I'll be learning about "acting for the camera" and collaborating with some terrific young filmmakers to teach it as part of a class at NCS later this year. It's an exciting time of growing as an artist and stepping out in faith. You should reallyget in on this!
Hugs to you.
