We recently connected with Kelly Pekar and have shared our conversation below.

Kelly, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I knew that I loved to perform from the time I was five or six years old. Two years later I did my first community theatre production, and I never stopped – but I didn’t fully grasp that acting could be a career until I was 16. I was cast in a regional production of The Music Man, and had the opportunity to experience juggling an eight show week performance schedule with going to school full time. This was also the first time I received a paycheck as an actor, and the first time I worked alongside professional actors from New York who flew to my small Ohio town to take the same job I had! After our ten week run was over, my only wish was that the show ran longer. The experience really cemented my desire to continue acting as a profession as I moved into adulthood.

Kelly, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I grew up in a suburb of Cleveland, OH to an electrician father and home-maker mother. We didn’t know anything about “the business,” but my parents were willing to drive me to every audition, rehearsal, and voice lesson that was accessible to us in our small town. I spent my childhood doing theatre locally, went on to study and receive a BFA in Acting/Musical Theatre from Wright State University, and then moved to New York City upon graduation. A few weeks after arriving I booked my first job – touring the US as a singer with the circus! From there, a juggling act of day jobs, open calls, and devouring Backstage Magazine turned into a steady stream of work in regional, New York, and London theatre – and expanded to include on-camera projects and voiceover work in multiple animated series, and audiobook narration. Most recently, I’ve been recording the voice of the title character in upcoming Video Game, The Haunting of Joni Evers – a thrilling, first person adventure game with Causeway Studios. (Add it to your wishlist on Steam!) I love working in as many areas of the industry as I can, but theatre will always be my first love.

For a long time, I considered myself to be an interpretive artist only. Now my thinking is more expansive, and I own my identity as a writer with equal enthusiasm. For many years I unconsciously subscribed to the limiting belief that “girls don’t get to do both.” I’m currently on the writing team of upcoming UK/Hungarian action feature, The Last Train to Budapest, with Cardinal Media Productions. I am also the lyric writing half of Pekar and Cline, for which I produced and wrote lyrics for a concert and album, Letter to Spring. Pekar and Cline was recently featured in Cabaret Collective’s New Voices Night at The Green Room 42 in NYC. My solo play, Four Calling Birds, recently had an industry presentation at The Barrow Group Studio One space, and I am knee-deep in writing a new play. Additionally, I work with a number of playwrights and screenwriters as a dramaturg and script doctor.

I also work as a coach/teaching artist, and it lights me up to mentor young artists who are coming up in the industry. In these roles I am committed to creating spaces that are rich with empathy, trust, and the ability to be brave. I am passionate about exploring the relationship of class to creating a life as an artist. How to build a life in an artistic field if one does not have generational wealth or outside financial support to rely on.

Whether acting, writing, or coaching, the work I’m most interested in being part of is driven by action, gives everyone in the room a valued voice, honors that diversity improves every experience, and allows for every person who is part of the artistic process to show up without their armor on. I’m particularly drawn to pieces created by and for women, and love working on new plays that feature elements of surprise and wonder.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

If you are a person who is able to support the arts – in addition to giving to the companies and organizations that are meaningful to you, consider what it would be like to share that support with individual artists.

I remember being so moved by the story of Harper Lee being given a full year’s salary by her friends one year for Christmas (so she could focus exclusively on writing), and this resulted in her being able to write To Kill a Mockingbird.

Even a small donation could free up someone’s time for their art in ways that could make a giant impact. A few hundred dollars might be the reason someone is able to go to an audition instead of having to take a “day job” shift that allows them to buy groceries. Artist pay is often much lower than people imagine – and early on, this idea of working largely “for the experience” is something that companies would promote to entice young artists. I would argue that you cannot pay a medical bill with “experience.”

In addition to meeting one’s basic needs, there are so many expenses required to be an artist – headshots, lessons, a website, various subscriptions, union dues – these things barely scratch the surface! I really believe that the best way to support artists is by sharing funds directly with individuals and allowing them to decide how they can best use these resources to take care of themselves and forward their art. I think we all make better art when our basic needs are met. If you are an artist yourself, I think the best way to create a thriving creative ecosystem is to support the work of others in whatever ways you can.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is that I used to equate “suffering for one’s art” with hard work and building resilience. It’s taken me a long time to learn they are not the same. When I was coming up in the industry, there was a somewhat accepted mentality that a total lack of boundaries, a willingness to accept any kind of treatment, and restricting or dismissing one’s basic needs was considered noble – and a sign that one was a “real artist.” I think this is becoming less pervasive now, but I’m continuing to navigate the difference between vital resilience-building (when part of an artistic process is challenging and requires hard work, resulting in you showing up for your team and pushing through manageable discomfort) versus suffering (cheerfully accepting mistreatment, denying ones’s basic needs, taking on the emotional labor of appeasing an insecure leader who has the privilege of (but mis-uses) power). I grew up in the Midwest and have always had a deep respect for hard work. But I’ve had to adjust my mindset and can see now with increasing clarity that valorizing suffering can create negative patterns and work cultures that can be difficult to break.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kellypekar.com/
• Instagram: @kelly.pekar
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-pekar-2bb3b725
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2339845/
  https://store.steampowered.com/app/2828590/The_Haunting_of_Joni_Evers/

Image Credits

J. Demetrie Photography, Allison Lynn Photography