A Once a Month, Biopic of a WordPlayer For Life
These are people that have shared the face of The WordPlayers for years now, and chances are you have seen them perform. But who are they? Who is that redhead with the angelic singing voice and the hilarious delivery of dramatically-read “bad poetry”? Her name is Jeannine Brown, and she has been dear to this company for a long time. I asked her six questions, to give you a chance to know her a little better. These are by no means exhaustive interviews, but it’s a conversation starter, so you can pick up where we left off at our next fellowship gathering.
1. Where were you born/raised?
I was born in Arizona, raised in North Pole, Alaska. My dad was in the Air Force, and we moved there when I was about one and a half. My parents loved Alaska so when the Air National Guard unit opened there, my dad switched over so we could stay. We moved to Tennessee when I was 15.
2. What was your first thing with The WordPlayers?
My first show with The WordPlayers was “John, His Story” (2006).
3. With Theatre in general?
When I was in the 3rd grade I had a teacher that wanted to be a writer and thought writing was very important so she gave us time to write every day; anything we wanted. I wrote something like 30 plays that year, and my friends and I presented most of them to the class. Then I started acting in the school plays in the 7th grade and never stopped.
4. What did you want to be when you grew up?
I never could decide on anything for sure. I flirted with the idea of being a teacher, a lawyer, a pilot … I got a degree in vocal performance, with a minor in theatre and moved to New York to be an actor, but that wasn’t really for me. I ended up working full time for the Air National Guard for 9 years, and have just recently quit that job to be a stay-at-home mom and birth doula.
5. What is your favorite moment with The WordPlayers?
I have too many to count. I will say that I’m particularly proud of my roles as the bag lady in Nativity on the Square, Eve in the Diary of Adam and Eve, and Lucy in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.
6. If you had one thing (sentence, phrase, short paragraph) you could say to the next generation of artists, what would it be?
Find what makes you happy and go for it! And it’s ok if it takes you a while to figure it out.
The WordPlayers have lots of favorite moments with Jeannine as well, too many to count. Comment and let us know one of your favorite moments getting to see Jeannine perform. For more information about becoming a member of The Fellowship of The WordPlayers, or our next Fellowship gathering (Saturday, 9/23/17, at Jeannine’s farm). Email ethanwordplayers@comcast.net.