Caitlin Wise as Congregant Jenny and Kevin Kilner as Pastor Paul in the DCPA Theatre Company’s ‘The Christians.’ Photo by Adams Vicom.

MEET CAITLIN WISE
Congregant Jenny in The Christians


At the Theatre Company: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (pictured at right), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Christmas Carol, Dracula and Othello. New York credits: Flirtation (Marvel Rep) and In Loco Parentis (ART/NY). At Creede Repertory Theatre: Kind of Red, Private Lives, Our Town, August Osage County, Harry the Great and Unnecessary Farce. At the Arvada Center: The Importance of Being Earnest, Around the World in 80 Days and Is He Dead. At Colorado Shakespeare Festival: Much Ado About Nothing and To Kill A Mockingbird. At Colorado Springs Theatreworks: The Game of Love and Chance, Girl of the Golden West and The Liar. She is married to fellow National Theatre Conservatory graduate and DCPA Theatre Company actor John DiAntonio, the Associate Artistic Director of the Creede Repertory Theatre.

• Hometown: Del Mar, Calif.
• Training: Brigham Young University;  MFA from the Denver Center’s National Theatre Conservatory
• What was the role that changed your life? I played Peter Pan when I was 16. It was a magical experience. A 17-year-old boy jumped off a ladder with my rope in his hands, sending me flying through the nursery window — it was terrifying and exhilarating. I sang about believing you could fly and I did that every night — hoped, believed and prayed that the wires would hold and the young people gripping my ropes would be paying attention. I found that magic is made through hard work, trust, belief and holding on to others. I think Peter Pan still lives inside me — I never want to grow up and leave the land of imagination. Were there any flying incidents? … Oh, yes, there were incidents … Please come ask me about them.
• When did live theater first open up a new world for you as an audience member? When I was 8, my 11-year-old brother played the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz in his sixth-grade production at his elementary school. I watched him practice his lines with my mother, work on bits and jokes, and even put on lion make-up in our bathroom before the show. I was awestruck at the play, the lights, the costumes. My favorite movie was being performed live in front of my eyes. I could reach out and touch Dorothy if I wanted. I’ll never forget leaping to my feet at the end of it and clapping hands so hard and so fast they started to sting.
• Why are you an actor? I have a fascination for people and why they do what they do. I love meeting new people and finding out about their lives and what makes them tick; be it peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, an outdoor symphony, collecting bird nests or counting stars. Theatre gives me the opportunity to dig into characters, find out all their juicy details and bring them to life. I can’t describe the feeling I get when I am telling a story on stage with fellow actors that is truthful, alive and in the moment — it is worth all the hard work. I also love to make people laugh, it gives me great joy!
• What would you be doing if you weren’t an actor: I might be a pastry chef, I love making beautiful sweets for people and myself. I also love the medical field. I would like to carefully stitch up wounds or find out what is wrong with a person by piecing together all their ailments.
• Ideal scene partner: I’d love to do a scene with Harpo Marx. I love his craziness, his brilliant improvisations,his beautiful uniqueness and of coarse his timing.
• Why does The Christians matter? The line from this play that sticks with me is this: “Which voice is God … and which one is your own wishful self?” This is something that will resonate with everyone. What do we want to be true? Do we live our lives according to what we believe or what we know, or by or what we hope to know?


More Colorado theatre coverage on the DCPA NewsCenter


• What do you hope the audience gets out of seeing it? I hope people leave with questions. I hope people dig into their own experiences and think about why they believe what they do. Every character in this play makes huge sacrifices in very different ways for what they believe and I hope that zeal and conviction reaches every member of the audience.
• Finish this sentence: “All I want is …”
  “… to eat lots of homemade chocolate cake.”

  On a more serious note, all I want is to connect.

The Christians: Ticket information
A new play about the mystery of faith and what happens when a doctrinal controversy shakes the foundation of a large community church.
Plays through Feb. 26
Stage Theatre
ASL and Audio-Described matinee at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12
303-893-4100 or BUY ONLINE

Selected previous NewsCenter coverage of The Christians:
Video, photos: Your first look at The Christians
Composer Gary Grundei on music to move the masses
Five things we learned at first rehearsal 
The Christians is ‘a pathway to empathy’
2016-17 season: Nine shows, two world premieres, return to classics

More 2016-17 ‘Meet the Cast’ profiles:

Steven J. Burge, An Act of God
Aubrey Deeker, The Glass Menagerie
Thaddeus Fitzpatrick, Frankenstein
Meridith C. Grundei, Frankenstein
Steven Cole Hughes, An Act of God
Sullivan Jones, Frankenstein
Mark Junek, Frankenstein
Charlie Korman, Frankenstein
Jennifer Le Blanc, The Book of Will
Rodney Lizcano, The Book of Will
Wesley Mann, The Book of Will
Robert Manning Jr., The Christians
Amelia Pedlow, The Glass Menagerie
Jessica Robblee, Frankenstein
Erik Sandvold, An Act of God
John Skelley, The Glass Menagerie