Deirdre Kingsbury '98

Actress

After years of performing, Deirdre wanted to reinvent herself—but found the stage calling her back.

Foundations/Motivations: Had career as singer and dancer
Experiences:  Created performance series and one-woman show
Results: Uses SLC theatre experience in work for theatre, television, and film

Foundations/Motivations

Deirdre sang and danced her way across Canada and beyond, touring in acclaimed musicals and performing a successful one-woman show. She moved back to the States and stopped working to raise her children. Later, she performed in recitals and recorded CDs of contemporary music with a chamber ensemble on Long Island. But something was missing. Planning to study writing, Deirdre attended an information session at Sarah Lawrence’s Center for Continuing Education. While she was at it, she picked up a booklet about the Theatre program. She couldn’t put it down. Even though she was already an accomplished performer, she knew this was what she was looking for.

Undergraduate:

B.M. (Bachelor of Music), Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York (1969)

Work before Sarah Lawrence:

• American Chamber Ensemble core member, mezzo-soprano soloist
• Theatrical and musical credits include:
  • Tom Foolery (Tom Lehrer)
  • Blue Champagne (1940s revue)
  • Gee, Gertie! (one-woman show based on the life of actress Gertrude Lawrence)
  • Private Lives
  • Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill
  • La Traviata (Hamilton Opera in Ontario)
  • Hansel and Gretel (Hamilton Opera in Ontario)

Experiences

For Deirdre, Sarah Lawrence’s location close to Manhattan made a huge difference. “You have more opportunity to see the reality of the world,” she says. “And the faculty are working professionals. I saw them in plays and doing readings.” One professor even asked her to take on a small part in a piece he was directing at Ensemble Studio Theatre. Not wanting to forget anything, she began typing up and cross-referencing her notes, creating her own little reference books. She applied much of what she learned right away. But sometimes, it was years later that things clicked, and she would think, “Oh, so that’s what he was talking about.”

Thesis:

• “To Be Continued” performance series
• Toute La Gang at Eight Boulevard West
  Deirdre’s master’s project began when a professor inspired her to create “To Be Continued,” a performance series at Sarah Lawrence open to graduate and undergraduate students. But it was the public speaking she did to promote the series that really buoyed her confidence and inspired her to embark on a one-woman show, Toute La Gang at Eight Boulevard West, parts of which evolved from a piece she had written before Sarah Lawrence. “There are so many things at Sarah Lawrence that help you take your ideas and fly with them,” she says.

Results

Since finishing her M.F.A. at Sarah Lawrence, Deirdre has done a variety of film and theatrical work. She’s particularly proud of her starring role in Master Class, a tribute to the life of opera diva Maria Callas. “It took all of me. It was the acting, all my music, all my movement all joined in one giant force,” Deirdre says. “If I had not gone to Sarah Lawrence, I would not have been able to find the true place of Maria Callas.” Deirdre also feels like she’s found herself. “Going to Sarah Lawrence helped me become more of who I wanted to be,” she says.

Further education:

M.F.A., Theatre, Sarah Lawrence (1998)

Career:

Deirdre’s theatrical and film work since Sarah Lawrence includes:

• Theatre:
  
  • Fast Break (Gloria Allen), The Cultural Center, New York City
  • The Italian Lover (Claudia Bellini), Pearl Theatre Company, New York City
  • Wit (Vivian Bearing), Sarah Lawrence Health Advocates Symposium, New York
  • Three Tall Women (“B”), Northern Stage Theatre, White River Junction, Vermont
  • Getting Acquainted With Trees (Delores Redbone), Cherry Lane Theatre, New York City
  • Danny Ho (Mary Longley), Flea Theatre, New York City
  • Master Class (Maria Callas), Northern Stage Theatre, White River Junction, Vermont
  • Master Class (Maria Callas), Leatherstocking Theatre, Cooperstown, New York
• Film/Television:
  
  • As the World Turns (Rachel Gray, nanny)
  • Mind the Gap (Mother Zuback)
  • Fortunes (Courtney Race)
  • Student films at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College, and New York University