Little Sister Stars in Mesa State Production "All My Sons"

Katie D.

April 15, 2011 - 12:55 PM

My little sister, Kelly, is a performer. All our lives she's been the drama queen, with the skills and flair to make a musical theater major the perfect track. She's larger than life in so many ways: tap dancing, singing, and wearing the kind of shoes that make me fall over just thinking about it.

We're different in many, many ways, but I am so proud she's my sister.

Tonight is the final night of the theater production "All My Sons" by Arthur Miller. Kelly was the lead in the play.

From the reports I've heard so far from my parents (who both attended the play last night) this play is horribly depressing, but a powerful drama about war and family. As such, it's outside of Kelly's norm. The last time I saw her lead in a play, she was Lola in "Damn Yankees," shaking booty and ordering folks around stage with comically overblown flirtation and some impressively high-heeled shoes. So I was surprised to hear that she was cast in such a serious part for this play. And then I was thrilled to hear that she carried it beautifully, and the performance was a huge success.

I so wish I had been there. Her senior year of high school I attended "Damn Yankees" instead of her high school graduation (her choice). One of the hardest things about attending school out of state has been the distance I've felt from her activities and successes. Mesa State is in Grand Junction, on the Western Slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. I had never even seen the city before I spent some time with her last summer. It's strange that something which has been such a huge part of her life is still so foreign to me. I so wish I had been there last night for the standing ovation, standing in the audience with my parents. Hopefully someday soon I'll make it out to Mesa for a play.

The best part of hearing about this performance was listening to Kelly talk about being in the leading role. She talked about how much she's learned, how hard she's worked, and what an amazing experience it's been. I love hearing her sound so excited and so proud of her theater experience. She's a busy kid: always rushing from one performance to another, always squeezing in time with her friends around the auditions, rehearsals, costuming, and other various (and to me, very foreign) aspects of her education. Tonight is the last night of "All My Sons," and tomorrow morning she has rehearsal for a dance recital.

As the two of us have grown up, we have become more and more different from one another. As I have pursued academics and social justice, she has pursued theater and the arts. As I have become more introverted over the years, she is increasingly in the spotlight. And yet. We have the same sense of humor, the same shared jokes, the same tendency to "kill" songs from over-listening, and the same tendency to re-watch MASH re-runs until full episodes have been memorized. While I would be vastly more comfortable writing a twenty page paper than performing a song onstage, we both love to be the focus of a large, laughing group. We share the inside jokes of eighteen years beneath the same roof, and have an alarming tendency for giggle fits when together.

I have this enormous sense of pride and love for my sister. I am so happy to know that she is happy and is increasingly successful in the field she has chosen. My little drama queen, growing up in the limelight.