{"id":39756,"date":"2015-08-12T17:00:49","date_gmt":"2015-08-13T00:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/?p=39756"},"modified":"2016-02-05T17:19:41","modified_gmt":"2016-02-06T00:19:41","slug":"for-kathleen-walker-acting-was-the-beginning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2015\/08\/12\/for-kathleen-walker-acting-was-the-beginning\/","title":{"rendered":"For Kathleen Walker acting was the beginning"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kathleen
Kathleen Walker, actor and educator, is the artist of the week. Walker stars in Stratford Player\u2019s September production of \u201cThe Lion in Winter\u201d by James Goldman. Photo by Marshall Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Kathleen O\u2019Boyle Walker, soon to star in Stratford Players\u2019 \u201cThe Lion in Winter,\u201d acting was the beginning \u2014 of everything. \u201cIn school I was very shy,\u201d she recalled. \u201cThere were problems at home and I just went into a shell.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as it has been with many artists, personal demons and difficulties can be the formative Petri culture out of which a career in art emerges. \u201cIn high school, I stumbled into an acting class,\u201d said Walker. \u201cI discovered for the first time there was something I could do very well. I could do or say anything I could not in my real life. I was hooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walker attended Stevens College in St. Louis and then Penn State University in State College, studying acting. After receiving her bachelor\u2019s degree she remained at Penn State to complete a master of fine arts in acting. \u201cIt was glorious,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter college I was courted by Julliard and asked to audition for their acting company.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, Walker was offered a role in an off-Broadway production, \u201cMoonchildren,\u201d by Michael Weller. \u201cIt was a chance to get my Equity card and understudy all three female roles,\u201d remembered Walker. \u201cI thought it was a great opportunity, so I took it. The play was a hit and ran for over a year and a half. Later, I was offered the lead role that Jo Beth Williams had played.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven with the success of the show and my prior university training, I still felt as though I lacked sufficient [acting] technique,\u201d said Walker. \u201cI began a three-year intensive course of study in Sandy Meisner\u2019s [acting] technique with Robert Patterson of the Neighborhood Playhouse. It was just what I needed. I supported myself as a waitress and went to auditions in New York. It was a treasure of a time, and something I will never give up or forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, drawn by her desire to act Shakespeare and the classics, Walker joined a Shakespearean touring company. \u201cI had a ball touring the country and later appeared with the Missouri Rep Company. I had several agents in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1980, then-Kathleen O\u2019Boyle married actor Channing Walker. \u201cI took a 10-year break from acting, became a teacher, both elementary and high school, and raised my children,\u201d she said. \u201cI loved teaching. I got to introduce my students to great literature \u2014 Shakespeare and Harper Lee\u2019s \u2018To Kill a Mockingbird.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cLater, I thought the acting bug was gone, but it was not. We were living in Glendora, California, and I got involved with an acting company in Hollywood, The Grace Players. \u201cWe did good work as an ensemble \u2014 terrific plays, classics and new plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then in 2006, the family moved to Idyllwild. \u201cMy husband loved the mountains,\u201d said Walker. And, as many have done before, Walker brought her performing art training and career to Idyllwild and became involved in its art scene, in Walker\u2019s case, with the Stratford Players because of their emphasis on the classics.<\/p>\n

Asked what it is about acting that has sustained her, Walker said, \u201cFor me, it\u2019s about connecting, playing a scene with another actor, being in the moment. There is something very special about bringing an audience into what you are feeling and experiencing. And if you are honest and in the moment, you can sometimes hear and feel this hush that comes over the audience. It is why we do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking back over her acting career, what it has given her, and why the theater is so important as a civilizing influence, Walker referred to Arthur Miller\u2019s play \u201cDeath of a Salesman.\u201d Linda, Willie Loman\u2019s wife, is speaking to her sons and to the audience about her husband: \u201cI don\u2019t say he\u2019s a great man. Willie Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He\u2019s not the finest character that ever lived. But he\u2019s a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walker believes and cherishes the fact that theater takes us on a journey into the lives of others \u2014 others we might otherwise overlook and to whom we must pay attention. \u201cPeople walk around oblivious to the needs of others. As actors and audience, we are forced to look at the lives and needs of others.\u201d And that, according to Walker, is a very good thing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Kathleen O\u2019Boyle Walker, soon to star in Stratford Players\u2019 \u201cThe Lion in Winter,\u201d acting was the beginning \u2014 of everything. \u201cIn school I was very shy,\u201d she recalled. \u201cThere were problems at home and I just went into a shell.\u201d And as it has been with many artists, personal demons and difficulties can be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"amp_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,791,19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFor Kathleen Walker acting was the beginning • Idyllwild Town Crier<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2015\/08\/12\/for-kathleen-walker-acting-was-the-beginning\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/\",\"name\":\"Idyllwild Town Crier\",\"description\":\"Almost All the News \\u2014\\u00a0Part of the Time\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2015\/08\/12\/for-kathleen-walker-acting-was-the-beginning\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/artist.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2015\/08\/12\/for-kathleen-walker-acting-was-the-beginning\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2015\/08\/12\/for-kathleen-walker-acting-was-the-beginning\/\",\"name\":\"For Kathleen Walker acting was the beginning • Idyllwild Town Crier\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2015\/08\/12\/for-kathleen-walker-acting-was-the-beginning\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-13T00:00:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-06T00:19:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#\/schema\/person\/800eebb80d1e5e36859dc6c5cb500784\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/2015\/08\/12\/for-kathleen-walker-acting-was-the-beginning\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#\/schema\/person\/800eebb80d1e5e36859dc6c5cb500784\",\"name\":\"Marshall Smith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6f832ebbb90c77ae40e932b1b868a8db?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Marshall Smith\"},\"description\":\"Marshall Smith has been writing for the Town Crier since 2005. His favorite quote is: '\\\"Some men see things as they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not.\\\" Robert Kennedy quoting George Bernard Shaw\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39756"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39765,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39756\/revisions\/39765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/idyllwildtowncrier.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}