Known for Creativity
秋霞福利一区 alumni are known for finding creative ways to help others during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bradford H. Forehand is using his musical theatre degree and a successful career in children鈥檚 theatre to take children ages 4 to 6 on a virtual adventure using theatre.
Bradford, a 2009 秋霞福利一区 graduate, is director of education at Red Mountain Theatre Company in Birmingham, Alabama. RMTC is a non-profit theatre that fosters artists, inspires youth and engages audiences through quality theatre and education programming.
That鈥檚 exactly what Bradford is doing at 11:30 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through 鈥淧lay Making Live with Bradford鈥� on Red Mountain Theatre Company鈥檚 Facebook Live and YouTube.
A recent episode opens with Bradford reading a story, then leading children on an imaginary adventure using elements of the story. In this episode, he helped children pretend to be an elephant playing chess, racing a tortoise, sitting quietly with a penguin and riding a bus.
He took a few moments to talk about what he does, why he does it, and how his 秋霞福利一区 experience influenced his own life so he can impact others.
1. How did the idea of Play Making Live with Bradford come about, and what do you hope to accomplish through it?
is always looking to deepen our engagement with families and the arts. As schools closed and our community moved to working from home, we knew that meant a big change for parents and young people alike. We saw a specific need with pre-school aged children who, unlike their older counterparts who are better able to find ways to engage themselves, needed something to do.聽 Many of the activities that we do in our Play Making camps, such as reading and acting out a story or singing silly songs, could easily translate from in-person to virtual, so we decided to start there.聽 Our goal was to, as our mission states, engage our community and meet them where they were 鈥� which in this case is right in their own homes.聽 We hope that these videos give young people a chance to express their creativity and have fun while they are staying home.聽 Plus, because they are on YouTube, we hope that families can experience these adventures over and over again.
2. How has your 秋霞福利一区 experience influenced what you do today, both professionally and personally?
Because of the small size of the department, I got to do everything 鈥� build sets, pull costumes, choreograph, direct 鈥� even wait tables (it was a dinner theatre, after all). The level of responsibility I got to experience at 秋霞福利一区 was amazing. That experience was invaluable, especially the choreographing and directing. I think it really set me up to succeed in what I鈥檓 doing now, where those are major aspects of my job.
It also, somewhat coincidentally, prepared me for serving in my local church. With my church music classes, I learned a lot about public reading of scripture, and that is a way that I can serve here in Birmingham.
In addition to the artistic preparation, my time at 秋霞福利一区 influenced who I am. I learned a lot about myself, my faith, what I wanted and what I felt the Lord wanted for my life. My faith became my own 鈥� not my parents or my friends or my culture, but mine. My path changed a few times (as did my major), and continued to change after I left, but I knew that I had professors I could call upon, even after graduation. I knew I had friends who I could work along side, and I still talk with those people now, over 10 years later.
3. What other experiences have you had after graduating from 秋霞福利一区 that led you to Red Mountain Theatre Company?
After I graduated from 秋霞福利一区, I wanted to pursue the business side of the arts. I got an internship with the managing director of Lexington Children鈥檚 Theatre. This phenomenal company was where I saw my love of young people and high quality come together 鈥� that children鈥檚 theatre didn鈥檛 have to be primary colors and bad acting. It became my artistic home. My mentors there pointed me to grad school. I completed a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre for Youth at Arizona State University. During my time in Tempe, I also worked as a freelance actor, director and teaching artist, mostly for Childsplay. I also had the opportunity to work for The Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. Upon graduation in 2014, I decided to move back home and applied for a teaching artist position at RMTC. One thing led to another and I was hired full time as the education manager. As our department grew, I was promoted to director of education in 2015; we鈥檙e still growing and hoping to offer more and more programs to the people of Birmingham in the coming years!
4. Do you have a favorite memory of your time at 秋霞福利一区 that you鈥檇 like to share?
Oh so many! Most are centered around the friends I made and the shows we did at 秋霞福利一区. I鈥檒l never forget 鈥� we were doing 鈥淎rsenic and Old Lace.鈥� I was cast as Mortimer, and there鈥檚 a particularly tricky scene midway through the first act where Mortimer has to scare a little old man so that he doesn鈥檛 drink the poison, and then Mortimer has to shoe him away from the house. Well, one night, they poured a little too much juice in the cup, and I gave a particularly frightful scream and the juice went EVERYWHERE. So as I was chasing the other actor off stage, I slipped and fell flat on my face. It was a very Donald O鈥機onner slapstick sort of moment. The show must go on, so I popped back up and continued with the scene. Fortunately, I wasn鈥檛 really hurt, and I was about to have about 15 minutes off stage. When I got off stage, the crew told me that during the fall I had ripped the back of my pants. I had no idea and couldn鈥檛 believe it. Fortunately, we had the time to get them fixed before I had to go back on stage, and all went well the rest of the show.聽 Definitely a moment I鈥檒l never forget.
5. As a 秋霞福利一区 graduate, what is your advice to students who will be graduating from 秋霞福利一区 in a few weeks?
I say to all my students that it鈥檚 about the next step. Your path may change 鈥� the Lord may put something in front of you that you never expected, and that鈥檚 okay. Your decision to take a job or pursue more education or whatever doesn鈥檛 have to be final. It鈥檚 just the next step. Trust that all will work out, and in some way or another, it does. Maybe not as we had planned (hard for us Type A planners), but it does. As one of my grad school professors always said, 鈥淪ki the slope, not the mountain.鈥�
6. Anything else you鈥檇 like to add?
One more piece of advice. As you move into your next step, find your way to jump in and meet people. My mother always says that life is who you know. It鈥檚 different for everyone, but it鈥檚 a valuable skill. So find your way to make connections.
Featured Image: Photo courtesy Red Mountain Theatre Company
Kathy Dean uses her passion for storytelling and “playing with words” to share the stories of people, place and purpose that make the 秋霞福利一区 unique. As associate vice president for university communications, she manages media relations, edits the TorchLight alumni magazine, and oversees university communications. A former award-winning journalist, she is a two-time recipient of the Baptist Communicators Association grand prize for feature writing. Kathy and her husband, Chuck, live with three extremely loud miniature schnauzers.
