Today we’d like to introduce you to Heidi Cline McKerley.
Hi Heidi, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I have been in theatre since I was extremely young. It’s what I always knew I would do – there was never any question. We had a children’s theatre in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, where I am from, and I also performed at church in concerts and plays. I had a music teacher in elementary school, Mrs. Betty Nudo, who thought I had special talents, and she gave me many opportunities at a young age. She taught me piano and cultivated my singing and acting. I traveled to speech tournaments from the time I was in the sixth grade through graduating from high school, and that’s when I became a character actress doing serious and humorous interpretation cuttings. I would do pieces with six to a dozen characters in scene cuttings. In high school, my Drama teacher, Pat Thomas, let me start directing the group interpretation pieces, and I have been directing ever since.
I knew I wanted to go to college, but no one in my family had ever gone away for school, and no one had finished their degree at the community college at home, so it was a new idea for my family that I wanted to go away to college, AND I wanted to study theatre. I got a double scholarship to the University of Southern Mississippi in theatre and music, which is a fully accredited school in fine arts. Bobby Funk was my mentor there and under Bobby, I built my foundation in Stanisloski’s method, period acting styles, voice, and physical work. One of the biggest things I learned from Bobby was the importance of an impeccable work ethic.
Between my freshman and sophomore years of college, I had the incredible good fortune to travel in a USO/DOD production of Hello, Dolly! The USO/DOD see shows in all states, and I knew they were coming to see our production but never thought they would pick us, and they did!. I had never been in a plane before, and before that summer was over, we went to thirteen countries in Europe and the Sinai, traveled by every mode of transportation imaginable, and I was paid to do what I loved to do. That summer changed my life. I finished undergraduate school in three years and moved on to Florida State to work on my MFA in Directing. Being at FSU was an essential part of my training. My love of Shakespeare developed under Roger Rees, who was the Reynolds Scholar. My love of other classics, Chekhov and Williams in particular and musical theatre grew under my mentor, Fred Chappell, who had been the artistic director of the Alliance for many years.
I did my assistantship for my MFA with Fred at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, where we were working on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Atlanta legend Mary Nell Santacroce as Big Mama. We developed a friendship, and I ended up auditioning for the Alliance acting internship, for which I was accepted. I landed in Atlanta in 1988, at the Alliance, for their two-year program. I had always wanted a career that included directing and acting, and it was great to get back to acting for those two years. I was trained by Brenda Bynum, Judith Sullivan, Al Hamacher, Bob Farley, and many guest artists. The interns understudied all the shows in the studio and on the mainstage. If you look at the professional actors in town, there are many of us still around. I wish that program still existed because it brought new talent to town from all over the country.
At this point, I have worked with most theatre companies in town during my thirty-three years of living here; including, the Alliance Theatre, Horizon Theatre, City Springs Theatre, the Jennie T. Anderson Concert Series, Georgia Shakespeare Festival, Atlanta Shakespeare Company, Aurora Theatre, Theatrical Outfit, Georgia Ensemble Theatre, Actor’s Express, Atlanta Lyric Theatre, Theatre Emory, Dad’s Garage, Fabrefaction Theatre, Jewish Theatre of the South, Theatre in the Square, Push Push Theatre. Some of those credits are acting and but many are for directing. I have been a guest artist for the Gainesville Theatre Alliance, Berry College, Kennesaw State University, the Lagrange Lyric Theatre, and the University of Georgia. I have taught for the acting intern companies of Actor’s Express, Horizon Theatre, and the Atlanta Shakespeare Company. I have been nominated for thirteen Suzi Bass Awards and won for Best Director of a Musical in 2011 for Avenue Q. The production of Sunday in the Park with George that I just directed for the Jennie T. Anderson Theatre won nine Broadway World Awards for 2021, including Best Productiton and Best Musical
I enjoy writing and wrote the book for one of the three first official entries to be showcased in the Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival, The Fine Art of Forgetting. I now serve on the selection committee for the festival. I am the Co-Producing Artistic Director of Soulstice Repertory Ensemble 2.0 and an Artistic Associate with the Horizon Theatre. Regionally, I have worked for the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia and the Oasis Theatre, and Hippodrome State Theatre in Florida. I am a member of the Southern Order of Storytellers, the National Storytelling Network, the Alliance for Theatre in Education, Georgia Thespians, the Georgia Theatre Conference, and the Educational Theatre Association of America. I also sit on the advisory board for the Atlanta Artist Relief Fund.
I have been on faculty with the Alliance Theatre and have been adjunct faculty at Berry College, George Perimeter College (now Georgia State), Kennesaw State University, and currently, I am the Director of Speech and Drama, Fine Arts Chair, and Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator at St. Martin’s School. Throughout my career, I have balanced my freelance work with teaching.
I have been married to the love of my life Jeff McKerley, for the last twelve years. He has been an actor/director in Atlanta for over 3o years and he is the Artistic Director of the Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival. I have two daughters; Hannah Rose Adams, who lives in Washington, D.C, and Arden Adams, who is studying theatre at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. Jeff and I live in Edgewood with our four rescue dogs; Roxie Hart, Picasso, Hero, and Samuel Beckett. We enjoy quality time together, travel, and all things Disney.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s a challenge to be a female director. I remember being told in graduate school how few women were professional directors and I should understand the road would be difficult. They were right. I also chose a life as a mother, which has not allowed me to go out and ‘prove myself’ in regional markets. Except for my relationship with Lisa Adler and the Horizon Theatre, I feel like I have to continually put myself out there to remind people that I am here and ready to work – even after thirty-three years. I will be directing the southeastern premier of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 for the Horizon Theatre https://www.horizontheatre.com/. It will go into previews September 30 and open on October 7.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Keep your energy centered and don’t let it spin away from you. Gratitude and joy will always help to balance a crisis. What’s the best that can happen instead of what’s the worst that can happen.
Contact Info:
- Email: hclinemckerley@comcast.net
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heidiclinemckerley
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hclinemckerley/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-cline-mckerley-46094b48/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hclinemckerley/_saved/
