Today we’d like to introduce you to Sherrie Provence.
Hi Sherrie, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
My mother was a great writer and a pianist, and my father was an engineer by trade, but often created in his wood-working shop some of the most ingenious and beautiful pieces of craftsmanship. He said once that he was “compelled to create”. I completely relate to that statement, but did not realize this about myself until I was about 15 years old. I started in theatre as a high school student when my English teacher, who also taught Drama, saw something in me that he thought belonged on the stage. He asked me to audition for the play YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU, and I was cast as Essie Carmichael, the quirky and ridiculous wanna be ballerina who could not stop dancing and doing ballet moves the entire play. The physical comedy of the role got audiences laughing, which made me realize instantly that I had the capacity to make an impact on them, even if it was just bringing some joy through my comedic performance. I like to call this my alarm clock moment, when I “woke up” and saw that I could do something with intrinsic value, that was bigger than me all by myself. I realized that I could be part of telling a story, and I wanted more. During my first opening night, I found what seemed to be my life’s purpose and never looked back! I auditioned for a spot in the performing arts high school for the following year. I went on to study theatre in a conservatory environment, studied theatre for four years in college, and worked in regional theaters around the country during my summers. After graduating, I went on tour, embarking on a quest to do as much theatre as possible, auditioning in New York, but mostly traveling wherever the next gig took me. I ended up in South Florida, where I started a children’s theatre and a production company. There I began writing original works which led me to opportunities to direct internationally, on stages in Scotland, Moscow, and Kyiv, on multiple occasions. I moved to Atlanta in 2007, where I got involved in TV and Film. I began working with an agent and played a role on television with Tyler Perry Studios. I quickly became immersed in that world, working with talents like Jim Carrey, Tony Hale, Clint Eastwood, Donald Glover, and more. I started a production company, producing original content, writing, and pitching television and film to studios like Turner Broadcasting, A & E, and 20th Century Fox. I directed a feature film, produced a documentary and multiple commercials, but ultimately decided that producing TV and film was not for me. I was more interested in the art and the artist than the bottom line, and I decided to go back to grad school and get my MFA in Acting. While in school, I continued working as an actor, performing on stages in Germany and Austria during that time. When I finished school, I began teaching and training other actors in the Atlanta market while pursuing my acting goals. I became a Teaching Artist for True Colors Theatre, started a regional theatre in Atlanta and served on the board of another professional theatre, Marietta Theatre Company. While teaching at the largest actors training school in the southeast, Drama Inc., I coached actors who booked roles on many of the major shows and films shooting in the area, including The Walking Dead, Ozark, Stranger Things, Sleepy Hollow, Insatiable, The Vampire Diaries, Legacies, The Founder, Trouble With the Curve and many more. I have served as a professor of theatre for five years since 2015 and have spent the last year in St. Augustine serving as the Executive Director of The Limelight Theatre. Working as an actor when I can, I currently have a proof-of-concept short film at Cannes Film Festival and am producing an exciting season in the Limelight, with plans to get on the stage sometime soon. My goals for The Limelight are to develop a semi-professional stage and a conservatory educational program, while continuing to provide a haven for artists to come and share their talents in the art of storytelling, which is my calling and mission.
Has it been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The challenge of being a struggling artist is real. We can believe in ourselves until the cows come home, but if we don’t find someone else to believe in us, we have no one to share our gifts with. This business is full of rejection, and being persistent and enduring that volatility and instability can take its toll emotionally and mentally. The grit that this business demands is exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. As a single mother, I went to grad school and tried to quit twice, but my professors would not let me. I did not think I would make it. It was so hard. From single parenting, working full time and going to school full time, doing rehearsals and academics, while navigating my children’s school schedules and after-school activities and all of the financial hardship, I thought every day about throwing in the towel. But I made it! And every time I say that, I am still in disbelief that I did. I am so very grateful.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am very passionate about my work as a storyteller, whether acting, directing, writing, or producing, and I consider it a calling. My unique perspective in my approach to my work is that I see myself as a “Doctor of Humanity.” As a storyteller, I study the human condition to bring the greatest amount of truth to my performance or the productions I help create. That is the “research and development” side of the job, but the double entendre of “Doctor of Humanity” is that I can be part of the process of healing, by presenting or portraying something so meaningful, that it can help heal the human soul. When a story is truthful or representative of a person’s struggle, it helps them feel understood, seen, or not so alone, and there is an opportunity for healing in their spirit. My approach makes me take seriously the responsibility to create good work, because the stakes are high in being able to impact others positively. I am most proud of the lives I know that have been changed, through the stories I have helped to tell. That is what matters most to me.
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?
The most important lesson I have learned is that the artist’s soul, including mine, must create despite world crisis and pandemic. The number of online classrooms and audiences that emerged during that time over Zoom was inspiring. Nothing can quench a creative spirit- it is compelled to do what gives it life. I always want to provide space for myself and others to do that despite limitations. And, now that I am at the Limelight, I want to create a space for all artists to serve the art, share their gifts, and find community in the process. And through story, I want to leave people with light and hope and joy, if at all possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.limelight-
theatre.org - Instagram: limelightstaug
- Facebook: Limelight Theatre
