Meet Katherine McKalip (Vera) 
Tell us something about your family that has shaped who you are as a person.
My family is very musical, going back several generations. I was an elementary school music teacher for 30 years & started acting in musicals. Mom was an actress in her youth (she played the Pasadena Playhouse), made a gramophone recording of herself singing “Because” for her wedding, and sang the lead in “Amahl and the Night Visitors”. Grandma gave piano lessons, & Grandma’s brother sang in the King’s Choir at Windsor Castle from the age of 10 years till fatherhood demanded a higher income than that of a chorister!
What social issue(s) are you passionate about?
Water conservation, air pollution, care of the Earth are my top priorities. Without a healthy Earth, all our other issues are moot.
What was on your mind on the verge of the new millennium in 1999?
Being newly married to a very wealthy man, my solidly middle-class mind wondered if, when Y2K did happen, and all his money was lost, or frozen, or disappeared into the void, he would know how to live without said money. I would, of course, having been much poorer several times in my life! I also began to feel older, knowing I would live in two different centuries.
Tell us about one of your family heroes.
This one is easy: my father. He served in WW II on a submarine as the only radio repairman on board. He reported to work every day with a bucket, as he was seasick every single day. He lost 35 lbs. in his 6 month tour before the war ended. Later, for 37 1/2 years, he was a California Fish & Game Warden in Oroville, California, takin’ care of the critters & the bad guys in very different ways. He taught me to be honest & smart, and how to shoot 5 shots in the size of a silver dollar with my .22 rifle. I loved and respected him greatly.
What was your first job in theater?
The first non-paying job was our 7th grade play. I wanted to play the heroine, of course, but, as the tallest girl in class, that wouldn’t do, so I played the mother. The first paying job was acting in a rep company one summer & playing everything from the small role of Christine in Picnic, to the Queen of England in Tale of Two Cities, and M’Lynn in Steel Magnolias. That was a wonderful summer!
Do you have a favorite moment in the play?
There is much to ponder in this play, about family secrets or ommissions, about growing into full adult love of our families, about belief systems, right and wrong, truth and near-truth, but for pure humor, I really enjoy Vera’s old war horse of a story to Emma! I usually don’t talk like that!
If you met any of the characters on the street, who would you share a pint with and who would make you turn and walk away? And why?
Oh, I would LOVE to have a cup of tea with Vera! I’ll bet she’s dynamite! The older I get, the easier it is to recognize that under sags and bags lie events and emotions of which we outsiders don’t even consider. We were ALL young once, full of fire and passion, mistakes and braveries. Only with age are we free to finally disclose distant follies and excitements without fear of embarrassment, recriminations, or anger. The real Vera would enthrall me easily.
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