CREATIVE KIRKLAND

How long have you been in Kirkland? How did you end up here?
My grandfather was a Kirkland resident. I was born in Seattle and raised in Hawaii. I moved back here when I was 18. I have been in Kirkland for the last seven years. Studio East has been in existence since we incorporated in 1994. I was organizing a youth theater program with kids at Northwest Actors’ Studio in Seattle... and was hired by Kirkland Junior High to direct their first drama program (which we’re still doing). I had this following of kids on the Eastside, so as I branched away from Northwest Actors’ Studio, I came to Kirkland specifically because that’s where my kids were. Bill Woods, who was Kirkland’s past mayor and owner of Woods Pharmacy, was one of the leading figures to start the Kirkland Performance Center.  I came in and spoke with their board about what I wanted to do, and helped them get their existing site via my kids [the Kirkland Junior High students] – they talked to the council members about how a theater can be a teen center. Bill was very thankful because the kids swayed the split vote, so in return he helped us set up camp.

What do you find special about being a creative professional in Kirkland?
I love it because it’s so open to the arts. Kirkland has an appreciation for it; they know the value the arts have in addition to the academics that are in our schools... We have a really loyal following. Even as those kids outgrow StoryBook, we just keep having new kids introduced to it. I think it’s because it’s participational: they ask questions at the end of the show, they get to meet the actors, they participate in the show, sometimes onstage and sometimes in the audience, and the parents participate too. Bill Gates had to do the Macarena once when his daughter said ‘Stand up, daddy!’ I love the artistic environment; I love that there’s art everywhere in Kirkland... I love that it’s not a strip mall; that there isn’t so much of the chain stores. There are original stores. It’s community-oriented, not masses-oriented. You can be an individual in this town and be appreciated for that. It’s great for us, and it’s great for the kids here.

Has Kirkland influenced your creative outlook? If so, how?
I write all the plays for StoryBook Theater, so it must since I’ve been writing them since I’ve been here! I live on Finn Hill, and I drive into Kirkland. My shortcut is through Marina Park, and I do that specifically to look at the water. It’s all of 30 seconds of a shortcut depending on the time, but it’s beautifully tranquil. I love it in the morning when there are people in the Marina Pavilion doing Tai Chi. It’s lovely – I get to absorb a little of their relaxation. I love seeing the ducks crossing the street, watching the drake and the mom, and 8 or 9 little babies. People are patient, and can breathe and absorb that life... When the train used to run, we had a tradition of stopping rehearsal and running down to wave to the Dinner Train whenever it would pass by. Not having to be on the freeway, and taking beautiful back roads home – even when it took three hours during the ice storm here a few years ago, it was still gorgeous, and people were out helping each other. How can it not influence a person creatively when there’s such a sense of community and being there for one another?