When Kathleen Long hits the stage, time stands still.
In an odd twist, the bright lights and the loud music is her quiet place. It allows her a space to put the world away for a while, and to be still in the midst of an ever-chaotic world.
Long is one of the senior stars for the North Myrtle Beach High School theatre program, leading the Chiefs to staetwide recognitions for recent performances. She has recently several leading parts, including most recently her role as Sandy Dumbrowski in the school’s rendition of Grease.
For Lewis, leading the way on stage is a joy-filled experience.
“I really can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing with my life than to be on the stage and performing and getting to live out my dreams,” Long said. “I mean that. There’s just something about being able to come up here and be totally entrenched in a role that people love. It makes me feel loved, and I can’t really describe how much that means to my heart.”
Long understands hard times, and she says those experiences have helped her to appreciate the mountaintop moments even more.
When she was an infant, she had to navigate the loss of her father. Through that process, she walked through her early childhood years in a one-parent home, something she says was emotional and “life-altering”.
Through the grief, she learned to perform.
“Growing up without my dad being here wasn’t an experience I would ever, ever, ever wish on anyone,” Long said. “I missed him so much, but that made me had to turn my attention to things that I loved and things that I was passionate about so I could get my mind off of it, and in a crazy way, try to make him proud.”
That’s when Long fell in love with acting and the life of entertaining others.
According to Long’s longtime best friend, Lillie Lewis, the performing side of Long took her spirits to new heights and her zeal for life “to the moon” during the toughest years of her growing up.
Lewis saw Long through every stage – the early auditions, the singing rehearsals and the initial practices to learn lines for youth theatre productions.
She knew from the start that her best friend was built for the lights and the action.
“When Kathleen first started acting, I think we all kind of knew that this was going to be something that changed her life for the better,” Lewis said. “If you knew her before she started acting, she was always sweet but there was always a missing piece in her life. A missing piece maybe isn’t the best way to put it… but yeah, a missing piece… She found her piece with this.”
Long found both the missing piece, and she found her missing peace.
Her grandmother, Carolyn Long, remembers the day well that her granddaughter started to find her spark.
“I think the one thing I will never forget about Kat’s start into acting and performing was the day she came back to the house when she officially got and accepted her first leading role,” Long said. “It was unforgettable. Me and Doug [Kathleen’s grandfather] just sat in the kitchen and listened for hours about how much fun she had, how thankful she was, how excited she was… It was a real joy for us.”
Kathleen remembers that moment, too. She agrees that it was a turning point in her life, both as an entertainer and as a teenager.
Now, as the years have gone on, she says the place she holds in her heart for memories of her father remains large. And admittedly, the hard days still exist. However, in the midst of the heartbreak and memories, she now has an outlet.
And as she prepares for her final full high school year as an on-stage performer, she views her life in a completely different light.
“Theatre gave me a purpose,” Long said. “It gave me immense light in a childhood that was dark. It was full of so much pain for a while, but I didn’t quit. I kept looking for joy. And I finally found it.”
This winter, she’ll prepare for her final spring leading role in a performance that is still to be determined.
But whatever that role is, she’ll be doing it with a bigger purpose.
“I can’t wait to be on the stage one final time,” she said. “I know my dad with me with be, too. I just know it.”
Joe Wedra - JMC 