Who are you, where you are from, and how did you start in this field?Kym Dakin
I stuck my toe into Theatre in High school in Aurora Colorado as a dare. My best friend wanted me to try out with her for The King & I, & she dared me to do it, so I showed up….and got the part she wanted- Tuptim! I was also on the speech team- as a debater, but a pretty bad one – too emotional. So the coach suggested I do dramatic Interp instead…. Do they even do speech teams anymore?
I perform with Portland Playback Theatre, and am one of the founding members.
Kym with members of Portland Playback Theatre
Tell us something you know that we may not know, about yourself or the world.
The last stage production I did was at Madhorse Theatre…it was “Skylight” w/ Michael Howard 12 years ago. My daughter was a year old and I exhausted myself to the point where for the only time in almost 25 years, I got too sick to perform. It was the last show I did and I never looked back.What inspires you and keeps you motivated?I love bridging the gap between theatre and real life: using this art form in business trainings, in our work with doctors in LegacyMD and in narrating audiobooks! It’s always growing and changing, and demanding new skills…..Share with us something funny that has happened to you recently.My daughter’s school asked for parent volunteers to wear vegetable costumes to celebrate the new school garden. Skyler was horrified to see her mom at the head of the veggie parade in the “peapod” suit. You never know when that theatre training will come in handy!
How do you bridge the financial gap between what this profession pays and making a living? It’s a continual struggle. I wear many hats….teacher, trainer, audio coach and narrator plus a part time job …or two.What’s the best advice for the creative person that someone has given you? A creative endeavor demands as much time, energy, commitment & focus as a child.What projects are in the pipeline for you? Continuing to develop LegacyMD, complete three audio narrations by May, do a training on Trust in the Workplace for ICL, present at Maine Health’s Quality Counts conference, judge the finals for the high school one acts, and continue with my coaching clients.
Do you have a ‘dream’ project? I would love to record a weekly magazine publication …steady predictable work! It would not be a live radio production, rather a recorded version of say: the Wall Street Journal or USA Today…. but I would prefer a weekly in terms of time commitment.
Would you like to share your contact information? How can readers find out more about you?
Websites: sfiaudio.com. shortfusecentral.com LegacyMD.com www.portlandplayback.com Twitter: @KymDakin