Katie Patterson
@Ktpatterson.1
-Theatre-
Katie is a face folks in the Atlanta theatre scene are ultra familiar with but she is new to me. But she will always hold on fast to a certain memory in my mind.
She was in the last show I photographed before the shutdown. Some of my last photos of theatre from over three months ago are of her in fabulous 80s attire singing about trying to find a date.
Catching up with someone who will always be a part of my mental snapshot of what life was like was an opportunity I will always be thankful for. It allowed for some closure. She will always be one of the last images I have in my mind from “before” in my professional career. We had no idea what was coming. And now we were talking from a very different frame of mind.
Interviewed 6.5.20
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Casey: How are you holding up?
Katie: I've been doing well. It's been interesting because I just moved right before everything. I'm lucky enough to have a job that just lets me work from home.
Casey: And what is the work?
Katie: I work at a church in Midtown as the Assistant Director of the Arts. We have a concert series throughout the year. We'll have done, by the end of June, three concerts virtually either pre-recorded and edited or livestreamed. Then I also teach. I direct their music school as well and teach private piano lessons. So those have all moved over to Zoom which has been interesting, a little clunky, but overall has been fun.
Casey: How would you say mentally your state is?
Katie: Mentally I've been okay, you know? I'm lucky enough that I work with a therapist on a pretty regular basis. So we have that check in. I'm overall usually a pretty optimistic and happy person. So it's been great to have somebody to check in with. I've had some more space I think to work through things.
Casey: How's your family holding up?
Katie: They're all doing well. Yeah, they're all local. My immediate family is local. So, yeah, they're all doing really well.
Casey: Not sick?
Katie: No, nobody's sick.
Casey: Are they taking precautions seriously?
Katie: I think so. My dad is still golfing, he has just golfed the whole time and I was like, "I guess at least you're outside," you know? My mom said, "I'm being careful." She's like, "In case you need me”. Like, "I want to be safe enough now that if you needed me, I would feel comfortable going out and helping you."
Casey: So have you seen them?
Katie: Yeah. On Mother's Day, we sat in the front lawn in camping chairs. And then my dad's birthday was Memorial Day and same thing, I was like, "I'm not going to hug you." And my mom was like, "Really?" And I was like, "Yeah, I'm sorry." But it was good. I mean, they're close enough that we just roll up and bring out the camping chairs, can sit around, still hang out and see them, so it's good.
Casey: What have you been doing in quarantine?
Katie: So I’ve been practicing more, been self-taping which has been so interesting because it's definitely not my forte, you know, getting the whole set up and everything like that. Something interesting that I participated in was a flip cup tournament over Zoom, which was the craziest thing ever, well not the craziest thing ever, but the most, I would say, unique experience.
I usually play kickball and that league is a national league. And since we can't all be together they were like, "Everybody set up on your table or your kitchen counter or whatever it is and get a cup." So you're all there on Zoom and you have your team and you've got your order and everything like that. And we actually ended up going all the way to - we just kind of were like, "Okay, we'll do it and set it up." And we ended up being second overall. It was almost like 40 teams and for the whole nation we ended at second. So we kept winning, we're like, "Okay, this is fun!" It was for charity and so we got to pick a local business to donate to with the prize money. So it was really great.
Casey: Where did you donate the money?
Katie: Scofflaw Brewing because we were like, "Oh, it's flip cup." They've been really helping people in need. So that was really fun. I mean, it was fun and then good to, you know, be able to donate.
Casey: How has it been quarantining by yourself?
Katie: It's been okay. I've been going on a lot of walks. I have a boyfriend that's close by, so I haven't been totally alone, which is good. There's a nature preserve right behind here and so almost every day, I’m probably walking at least like two miles, I would say, just going on the trail or running and doing workouts on the bench over there. So yeah, it's been okay. I'm definitely more of an extroverted person, but it's been good to kind of just have time to settle in and have my own space.
Casey: So what do you miss about before?
Katie: Honestly, being around other people, being able to go to a concert or a show without giving it a second thought. Because now you have to have that second thought of like, “How many people are going to be there? Is it going to be distant? Is it safe? Where's my mask?” So yeah, just being able to kind of go out and make plans. I mean, even dating in this time has been weird. It's like, “Where's all the activities?” And like, “Oh, okay, we're going to cook dinner at home again and watch a movie”, which is fine and eventually you get into that kind of routine.
Casey: What was the Personals cancellation like? Cause y'all were canceled?
Katie: Yeah, we were. We opened right when everything closed down. I think everybody that was either opening or going to open, there was a little bit of like digging their heels in and staying open. But it just became evident that everybody's comfort level was just not there, whether it was people in the cast or people on the production team and people trying to come out. So it was just disappointing. You go through that process and then you're like, "Oh, we've got three performances." So it's disappointing to not go through; not see that all come to fruition.
Casey: When do you think theatre will be back?
Katie: Like in general? I don't know. I think the people who are able to adjust and be creative maybe will be back sooner, maybe this fall, but then there are people who maybe won't be back until next year. So, yeah, I think that's a big unknown.
Casey: When do you think you'll be comfortable going back to theatre? Because it sounds like you're like, "I'm ready to go."
Katie: Well, I'm going to the Legacy tonight. I worked with them a ton. And so, yeah, they've completely redone their whole business model. It's basically like you roll up, you park your car, you don't touch anything, you just find your seat with your name on it.
Casey: Inside, like in their space?
Katie: No. They're in the space where they're almost way in the suburbs. And they're on that big plot of land as well. So they just have a temporary stage set up.
Casey: Like where?
Katie: Outside.
Casey: Like in the parking lot?
Katie: No, next to the parking lot. So it's right off the parking lot, but it's just this big open, flat field. And I think depending on the number of reservations, then they set up the chairs that night. And then so the one interesting thing that they're doing, everybody's spaced with a limited number of people, so they're not doing it with any intermission. But they're saying, “just get up whenever you need to.” So, if you need to go into the restroom that way, it's not like the line.
Casey: Are you worried about that at all?
Katie: No, no, because we're outside and distant. The only thing is I'm like, am I going to wear a mask or not? Or like, is everybody wearing masks? Are we not?
Casey: So if everyone else isn't wearing masks, you won't probably?
Katie: I don't know. I think I'm going to bring it and then see how many people are there and see how far apart we are going to be from everybody. I'm pretty much better safe than sorry, you know? So. It'll be very interesting I think. But I'm excited at least to just go out.
Casey: Just a couple more questions. Are you creating at all for yourself? And how do you find the motivation to not only create for yourself, but also to do your classes and to practice?
Katie: I picked up my ukulele again, so that's what I'm doing more for myself. That's the one thing that's just kind of probably a total hobby I would say. And then otherwise, I'm still doing voice coaching and lessons and stuff for myself. Mostly as audition prep. That's pretty much what's keeping me motivated; submitting for auditions and just kind of saying like, "Okay, this is my time of either working on technique or working on material that I haven't had the time to do.” So even the self-tapes to me have been kind of a practice to get to know myself better.
And then staying motivated; I'm pretty goal and structure-oriented. So it's like, okay, “If I know I need to practice this amount of times this week or if I didn't practice yesterday then I'm…, you know, going to do it.” I always like to see growth and improvement. So I think that's kind of what I look for; is to discover something about myself.
Casey: Yeah! So kind of in summation, what do you think you'll take out of this whole quarantine experience? How do you think it's affected you long term?
Katie: I'm usually such a go, go, go type of person, so I think realizing that it doesn't always have to be like that. And just realizing that I have more time than I think that I do. There is space to get everything done, but then also to be creative and to make more time to be creative. Make more time to work on the bigger goals and less all the day-to-day, just getting up, doing the same thing, going to rehearsal, teaching a lesson, going to the gym, coming home, all that stuff.
So I think I'm always so, so busy, so this has really allowed me to change my life. I'd say now it's almost really been like a lifestyle change. I'm hoping to not be as overcommitted as I usually am and to really say, “yes” more intentionally, where I usually say yes to everything. So trying to give myself a little bit of pause and say, you know, "Okay, do I have the time to do that or do I not?" And just also knowing professionally that we've all had to get a lot more creative. And so just knowing that it doesn't always have to be the way that it used to be you can get more creative I think.
Casey: Yeah. That's great. Thank you.
