Missouri State University music department head Paula Patterson has toured the country as a performer and even sang with the Spanish National Opera in Madrid, but she has come to realize in her travels that nothing quite rivals her hometown theatre.

“I lived in cities much larger than Springfield and discovered nobody had a community theater like we do,” she declared. “I just assumed that big cities would have a community theater like we do, but nobody does. They’re like a small room with folding chairs and the talent isn’t nearly at the same level.”

Patterson made her Springfield Little Theatre debut at the Landers in the late 1970s. After graduating from MSU with a bachelor’s degree in music education and a Performer’s Certificate in voice, her studies and stage career took her to Austin, TX, Charlotte, NC, and Santa Barbara, CA throughout the 1980s. When she moved back around 1990, she was craving to rekindle the connection she had with arts in the Ozarks before she left.

“I was looking for opportunities to perform and I went down to Springfield Little Theatre. It kind of became my family,” she smiled. “It was a great thing to come home to and be able to do and make new friends and reestablish old friendships.”

Although she has performed professionally for many years, Patterson never felt hesitation in skipping a paycheck for projects that she loved. When an opportunity came along that sparked her creativity, the money didn’t matter.

“When I moved back here, I felt like I had more performing opportunities than [my friends] did in New York,” she explained. “I had a day job, I wasn’t always getting paid for my performing, but it’s what I love to do. The fact that I didn’t have to rely on it to make a living meant that I could pick and choose what I wanted to do.”

When Patterson initially returned to Springfield, she was performing in NUNSENSE and working temp jobs. When the SLT education director at the time left, she even stepped up to that post for an interim period when, then executive director, Mick Denniston offered her the job.

“The education program, obviously, is not what it is with Lorianne [Dunn], but I agreed to do it,” she said. “Beth helped me a lot and so she kind of took over when I left and built up the program, then ultimately became executive director and Lorianne has the program now. But anyway, I did serve as the Y.E.S. Troupe director for a few months. It really was fun. I had a great time doing that.”

As a teacher, Patterson was a natural with kids, even young performers appearing in their first productions. She appeared as Mother Rabbit in THE WIND AND THE WILLOWS with Mick Denniston’s young daughter, Emily, and son, Colin, who went on to be a professional performer. She also worked with children in SLT productions of SECRET GARDEN, CADDIE WOODLAWN, and AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS. In THE SOUND OF MUSIC, she was Maria alongside Michael Spyres as young Kurt who is now the artistic director of Ozarks Lyric Opera.

SLT Executive Director Beth Domann even benefitted from Patterson’s vocal coaching when they auditioned together with their friend, Sharon Rector, for NUNSENSE in 1990.

“I helped Beth learn a song because I’m a voice teacher and she’s not a singer,” Patterson laughed. “We all auditioned and went to Village Inn like we always used to do in the 70s and we all got cast. So, it was special.”

During one performance, Patterson needed a little help of her own. She was playing the role of Sister Amnesia who suffers from memory loss after a crucifix falls on her head. When Patterson got off track, she found a creative way to cue the conductor that she was out of sync.

“One night, I literally got lost in the middle of [my song]. So, I kind of stayed in character and the band was dressed like priests and nuns,” she explained. “I was like, ‘Father Casey, I’m lost, and I don’t know where I am.’ I had to do that three times. The third time, I went over, and I was like, ‘Father Casey, I just need to look at the music.’ Well, it was the perfect role, doing Amnesia if you’re gonna forget where you are. I didn’t realize that in comedy, you do things three times. People in the audience thought it was real. So doing NUNSENSE with Beth and Sharon, that was probably my favorite experience and my funniest story of things that happened.”

In addition to NUNSENSE and THE SOUND OF MUSIC, she lists Eva in EVITA and Anna in THE KING AND I as two of her favorite SLT roles. Patterson is content with her catalog of work, but she still encourages students to get involved at the Landers Theatre.

“I had an opportunity to do all my dream leading roles 30 years ago and just had a great time. So, it was a real lifesaver for me. I still love it. I just got married and I got busy and never had time to do as much as I would like,” she admitted. “I make sure that when our incoming [university] students have auditions that I tell them about it. I teach voice, and we have voice majors who come in that really want to be musical theater majors, but our musical theater department is so competitive, so I will tell them about all the opportunities to do musical theater.”

Decades after first auditioning at SLT, Patterson still cherishes friendships, including with Beth Domann. The reward of those lifelong relationships has been worth every volunteer hour spent on the Landers Stage, she said. “[Beth] is still a dear friend and I’m so thrilled with everything she’s done for the theatre.”

See the upcoming Springfield Little Theatre audition schedule for opportunities to join us on stage.