“As a kid I thought I was not creative.” says Kathy Wise-Leonard who now dons the hats of owner and teacher of Dance Images and Board member and Director for Fountain Square Players. Experience has since taught her that creativity, like most things improves with practice and a willingness to try. And further she feels that exposure to and experience with the arts and exploration of ones creativity are invaluable endeavors that enrich our lives and boost our self esteem.

Kathy’s own love of dance began in the fourth grade when she began taking tap and ballet lessons near Lexington where she grew up. Though she saw a play in high school, she was not exposed to theatre very early in life and was afraid to speak in front of people. She continued her dancing lessons with the same teacher until she left home to attend Western Kentucky University to pursue a career in dance.

She earned a BA after majoring in recreation and minoring in dance and went to New York to begin her career. Rooming with a friend of a friend from WKU, she got a day job and began searching for auditions. But the culture shock and pressures were enormous and her roommate returned to Kentucky by the end of the first weekend. Kathy would also return after several weeks, but not before auditioning for Tea For Two in a cattle call with thousands of others and taking some classes with prominent teachers. She continued other lessons like these after returning to WKU to work on her Masters degree. Alvin Ailey and the Martha Graham and Joffrey Ballet companies were some of the prominent instructors that she had. Throughout graduate school she would utilize the summers to further her studies and during this time also did Summer Stock at the Lost Colony where she directed her first show, a dance concert.

She took three years soaking in knowledge and experience in graduate school, in part because she lacked previous prerequisites for the theatre components of the degree and in part due to her love of learning. Going back to school for further enrichment in classes such as visual arts, photography and history remains a goal for retirement. The college years also afforded her her first view of an art gallery when she visited the NY Museum of Modern Art. Over time she has come to realize that her forte lies in the realm of visual aesthetics and that she is most at home directing rather than performing.

Her first experience directing a play came with the show Aladdin at Gordon Wilson theatre. “I loved it!” She said, “The whole experience of taking a script and through your imagination and the people you have, interpreting it. So much depends on people, space and character.” Aladdin was a particularly good learning experience because the small theatre was set up for theatre in the round and the cast had a wide range of experience, causing each member to take a different approach to learning their role. A couple of members were veterans and immediately dove into their characters. The student playing the gypsy girl was particularly accomplished in her skills and according to Kathy “What she could do with a skirt was amazing!” But while the two veterans were adept at conveying their characters through movement and costuming, most of the cast were freshmen and the director got her first lesson in drawing characters out of the actors. The show was very successful and Kathy was hooked.

Her next production Ludlow Fair allowed her to delve even further into character development. Now at home with blocking and learning lines, these tasks were accomplished early in the rehearsal schedule. The one act play was a character study of two women. At first unsure of how to proceed, Kathy learned games that directors and actors often use to round out their characters. These involve role playing in which characters are put in situations outside the play and they react in ways which they believe their character would in those situations. The exercises were enjoyable and resulted in the portrayals to be more real.

Her next production would be her first with Fountain Square Players. One of the strengths she believes the WKU theatre department has is their willingness to let students gain a wide variety of experiences by supporting outside endeavors and student projects. When the scheduled director was unable to take on Dark of the Moon, Kathy was recommended and got the job. The production involved a dance sequence as well as actors of various ages. Community theatre can be very different than academic or professional theatre due to the wide range of people involved and the family-like repoire quickly developed among the cast.

Particularly apparent through her experience with Fountain Square Players was the realization of the impact involvement in a play could have on a child. “Community theatre is one of the few places where kids have the same responsibility as adults and are therefore peers. It’s a good learning experience for both. It evens the playing field.” She stated. The child actors have as much responsibility as anyone else in making split second decisions that can make or break the scene, for instance when someone messes a line up and the timing must be recovered.

She recalls doing four or five kids shows between WKU and FSP during her graduate studies. Though a stage mom is often used during the performance, it was the kids who were in charge and knew what their jobs were. One stage mom commented that she expected it to be like baby sitting behind the scenes, but everyone was busy doing their tasks and she merely watched in amazement as props were placed and characters moved to their marks on cue.

Upon graduation, Kathy began teaching dance at with community Education and got a day job at Williams drugstore. Soon she opened her own dance studio, on the third floor of the Kelly Parrish building where she would stay until the early 90s. During this time she also taught classes at the Capitol Arts Center and did several artist in residencies at area schools ranging from creative dramatics to puppetry and dance.

In 1982 she also married Bill Leonard who was the head of WKU’s Theatre and Dance department for years. Bill Leonard was also a founding member of Fountain Square Players and held a seat on the board. When he retired from the Board Kathy would join it and remains there today some fifteen years later. When she directed Dark At the Top of the Stairs for the group, she convinced her husband to join the cast, believing it would be good for his students to see him in a production. The experience reignited his passion for performance and though he still directs some of their plays, he more often acts in the productions.

Kathy Wise-Leonard’s adaptation of Annie was a highlight for the community theatre group. A big success, the show was held over and afforded the company enough money to buy a permanent facility at 1213 State Street for a storage and set shop.

Kathy began directing for FSP in their 4th season as a group and has continued with the group which is now in it’s 26th season. For many years she did three shows a season, a musical in the fall, a straight play in the spring and a children’s show during the summer. Some of the plays she directed included: The Fantastiks, A Funny Thing Happned onthe Way to the Forum, Oklahoma, Pinic, Peter Pan, Step In A Crack, On Golden Pond and Prides Crossing. She also acted as Choreographer for Dames At Sea for WKU and Nunsense for PTK. And one year when Bill took a sabatical the two orchestrated Tale of Tales a conglomeration of Indian legends developed into a script in conjunction with kids in classes at the libary.

But as the years passed, her dance studio expanded and required more of her time. Though Bill taught her the importance of not wasting peoples time and to avoid doing so by carefully scheduling rehearsals by scene so that only participating actors need be present, the director must be present for all rehearsals, which typically take place three hours a night five nights a week for about eight weeks. In community theatre, in the absence of a producer, the director is also deeply involved in other elements of production such as costuming. This was true especially after the loss of dedicated friends like Sandy Ford and Pat Sprouse who contributed so much to the costumes and productions of so many plays for the organization.

Nine years ago she relocated to a larger facility on Creason where Dance Images now stands and finds the time for only a play each season or two. With some 30 shows under her belt, she continues to collaborate on most of her productions with Debbie Lanham as the Music Director and Linda Travelstead as the Stage Manger. Their latest endeavor was the production of Big River last summer. Involvement in such productions, though rewarding is very time consuming. Kathy says that success of Big River was another example of how through gentle guiding and complementing when you see a performer hitting on what you want, rather than criticism and direct intervention, a director always gets more than they expect. Especially with young people, Kathy believes “They are more talented than they realize and if you expect a lot they’ll give it to you.”

Kathy Wise Leonard now chairs the Scholarship Committee for FSP. Each year they award money to two high school seniors who have been in an FSP show and plan to pursue a degree in theatre or dance. According to Kathy “The arts have so much to give to kids, teaching them team work like sports, and confidence at every level of involvement.”

In addition to directing for FSP Kathy Wise-Leonard continues to teach ballet, pointe, jazz and tap to ages four to adult at Dance Images. She also occasionally teaches yoga class as Crocker Chiropractic. The students from her studio do a recital each spring at the Capitol. They also do a more informal presentation at Christmas. Normally held in the mall, this years performance will be at the Capitol. Admission is a donation for a school in Thailand where one of her students is teaching students of missionaries and is in need of arts supplies and instructional materials.