Today we’d like to introduce you to Carolyn Choe.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Carolyn. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Be careful when you ask someone my age to give you their story! I could go all the way back to my first production as a space creature when I was 12 years old. But truly that is where my story started. I stepped on stage and I have never lost the passion.
My road took me to from high school to the University of Southern California, where I grew both as a person and as an actor/director. The training that I received there was exceptional and really think helped shape who I am today. I stayed on in California after school and did lots of theater and got this wild idea to move back to Georgia and start again there. At 24, I thought things were “too easy” for me there and I wanted more challenges. I still laugh at the thought of that now. But luckily, I did find the road to be challenging and rewarding . I worked all over town, grew my skill set and had built up a great network of friends and co-workers.
Before I knew it, family life and children took my attention away from theater, but as they grew, I stepped back onstage and the next chapter in my life began. I had aged myself up a bit and I came back to the stage and it has been a non-stop whirl since then.
In the last several years, I made many new friends, developed a new and larger circle within the theater community. I have worked for several theater companies in many different roles, and the drive and desire to step out and start one on my own grew until I finally took the leap in 2012.
Has it been a smooth road?
I don’t think a smooth road makes for the best path for an actor. How in the world can we grow as actors and have a deep, deep well of experiences to add to our toolbox? I think I faced many of the usual bumps in the road, lots and lots of rejection, doubts about my abilities, etc… but this is all a part of life in general. For me, the way I deal with all the bumps and obstacles is to look at what I can learn from them. Accept my part and look to see where I got it right, and what I did wrong, and how do I move forward to make it better next time.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Out of Box Theatre story. Tell us more about the business.
I started Out of Box Theatre in 2012 with a simple concept – produce excellent shows with a smart and practical budget. Working with companies over the years, I saw so many suffer from blowing through money they didn’t have, to meet what seemed to me like over-blown ideas about what you needed to do good work. For me, it all comes down to what the audiences connect with and what makes them want to return. I wanted it to be small, intimate and more importantly, I wanted it to be excellent.
Out of Box Theatre is a professional, non-equity company, and we have become known for producing offbeat, exciting, daring, and thrilling works that aren’t always widely performed, in an intimate, black box setting. Our tagline became Intimate. Thought-provoking. Unexpected. Because that sums it all up for us. We work to take advantage of our small space and create a place where the audience can’t help but be a part of the production. They become witnesses, collaborators, and sometimes instigators.
We believe theatre can serve a purpose beyond entertainment. Theatre expresses that which is otherwise inexpressible. It forces conversations we didn’t know we needed – conversations about value, relationships, responsibility, human condition, social justice, spirituality, and equality. Theatre celebrates all that is good in us and shines a light on that which needs to be repaired.
On either side of the footlights, those involved represent a diversity of age, culture, life experience, and a strong appreciation of the importance of the arts. Theatre compels us. Theatre connects us. Theatre defines and questions creates community and connection. Simply put, theatre changes lives. And we at Out of Box are thrilled to be a part of that.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I love seeing and exploring the ways we can as a community work beyond thinking and talking about inclusion and diversity to the point that it is an integral part of all we do.
Contact Info:
- Address: Out of Box Theatre
Artisan Resource Center
585 Cobb Pkwy S..
Marietta, 30060. - Website: www.outofboxtheatre.com
- Phone: 6786534605
- Email: carolyn@outofboxtheatre.com
- Instagram: @outofboxtheatre
- Facebook: @GotNoBoxTheatre
- Twitter: @outofboxtheatre
Image Credit:
Out of Box Theatre
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