Entrance, stage right

Local drama teacher, mom realizes her acting dreams in Seattle play

Paige Richmond

of the Gateway

When Casi Wilkerson takes the stage in Seattle next week, she will be fulfilling a goal she’s had for 16 years: Acting in a play and working with a theater she respects and admires.

Since she moved to Washington state in the 1990s, Wilkerson has dreamed of participating in a production by Taproot Theatre, a Seattle-based, non-profit company founded in 1976. She’ll get her wish by performing two roles — Emma and Aunt Sarah — in “The Christmas Foundling,” a story about two Goldrush miners who raise an orphaned child.

“I made it a journey to work at Taproot,” Wilkerson said.

That journey has been a slow and steady path for Wilkerson, a Fox Island mother of three. Now 38, she was first inspired to become an actress at age 10, when her parents took her to New York City.

There, she saw a musical production of “A Chorus Line” and decided it was going to be her career. She continued to work toward that goal in high school — she grew up in Albuquerque, N.M., where she attended theater competitions and performed in school plays.

But sacrificing the rest of her life to become a professional actress wasn’t something Wilkerson wanted to do. Twenty years ago, when she was fresh out of high school, she was offered a chance to attend school in New York. She passed on the opportunity, instead moving to Colorado and Los Angeles before settling in Seattle.

It’s a decision she said she doesn’t regret, because “the path I have now is so full and so blessed.”

Part of that path includes giving children an opportunity to act and experience theater. Wilkerson is the educational director for the Tacoma Little Theatre, the oldest theater company west of the Mississippi River.

“There’s so much more to theater than performance,” Wilkerson said. “It builds necessary life skills, like confidence and teamwork. I think it’s a key element for children, especially.”

Wilkerson considers herself fortunate to have attended a public high school where the drama department was well-funded and “theater was bigger than football.”

But she recognizes other schools may not have the same opportunities, which is why she took it upon herself to launch the theater department at Gig Harbor Academy last spring.

With the help of Ane Weber, the associate director of children’s ministries and performing arts at Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church, Wilkerson founded an after-school drama program for the academy’s students.

They even held a summer camp this year, during which the students performed “The Velveteen Rabbit.”

Wilkerson has also passed her love of acting to her own children, two of whom attend Gig Harbor Academy. Her son, Caleb, 11, will perform with her in January in “Final Toast,” a Sherlock Holmes play produced by Theatre Northwest, a newly formed professional theater in Tacoma.

“You don’t have to be yourself,” Caleb said about why he likes acting. “You can be a bunch of different characters. You can be wacky and crazy.”

Tony, Wilkerson’s husband, agrees. While he’s never acted in a play himself, he’s seen the positive effect theater has had on his children.

These past few weeks, he’s also seen how happy Wilkerson has been to be part of a play she enjoys.

“She’s a wonderful actress,” Tony said. “It’s always great to see your wife doing what she loves.”

What Wilkerson particularly loves about “The Christmas Foundling” is the play’s message. She describes herself as “a person of faith,” and in her experience, Taproot’s productions always provide thought-provoking and often inspirational subject matter.

“We’re a theater that is open to everybody,” said Daytona Strong, Taproot’s communication manager. “The aim of what we do — the whole purpose behind it — is to create theater that questions the meaning of life. We’ve been called a theater of hope.”

Hope, above all, has been a central theme in Wilkerson’s life. Being cast in a play like “The Christmas Foundling” was something for which she always wished — and she couldn’t be happier now that she’s accomplished it.

Even the 120-mile round trips to Seattle for rehearsals five days a week are worth it, because it allows her to live her dream.

“My truest passions lie with being a performer,” she said. “I love being an actor.”

Reach reporter and columnist Paige Richmond at 253-853-9243 or by e-mail at paige.richmond@gateline.com.