Valerie L. Cavooris

I fell in love with the stage at age 10... almost 2 decades ago. (Yikes!)  I attended a children's

theatre camp the summer after I finished the 4th grade.  I still remember the play we

did; it was a musical called Dear Veronica, written by two of the camp's instructors.  I had

one of the lead roles, and the rush of standing under the lights in front of an

audience for the first time was the same as the second time, and the twentieth time, and

the hundredth time.  The camp was pretty intense for little kids, if I remember correctly -  

8 hours per day, 5 days per week.  Nonetheless, I remember feeling like, "Yes, this is what

I want to do for the rest of my life."  And so it was.

 

I've rarely been thankful for anything related to my lifelong struggle with anxiety

disorder and low self esteem.  There is one positive thing, though, that I suppose I can

attribute to them. Throughout high school, undergrad, and eventually graduate school,

my performance in auditions can be likened to former President George W. Bush with a

pretzel stick... Choke.  My snackfood-snafu-like auditions often led to me being pigeon-

holed as an academic.  Being praised for my intellect wasn't such a bad thing, but I

value my creativity above anything else, and I wanted to create something other than a

well-crafted term paper.

 

While I've since (mostly) overcome my stage fright, my audition anxiety ultimately led

me to discovering the world of costume design and other behind-the-scenes

opportunities in theatre.  I already knew, of course, that there was more to theatre than acting, but I had never given it any thought.  If I had been a successful actor earlier in life, I may have never discovered my passion for costume design or developing marketing strategies.  There are many, many different ways to create in the theatre, and I am so fortunate that I have had the opportunity to explore so many of them.

 

What else can I say about me?  I also love music, and my mother taught me to read music when I was 2 or 3 years old.  She took the little color-coded music book that came with that yellow plastic Fisher-Price piano, and made a matching color code to go over the keys of the real piano.  The woman is brilliant.  My piano skills plateaued around age 7, and that's right around when people ceased to be impressed with my abilities.  I'll cover a pop song or write something now and then, but I sadly let the piano slip through my fingers. (No pun intended... Okay, slightly intended.)  I was a pretty stellar flautist in middle school, but braces put a damper on that endeavor before high school band.

 

My other loves include, the fashion / beauty industries, the color cerulean blue, and my little family made up of my husband Kevin and coonhound Jenna.