“Springfield Little Theatre has 100% been in my life some way every day of it. I know that’s crazy,” Rachel Peacock-Young admitted. By the time she finished her story, however, Peacock-Young had proven her claim. SLT has been pivotal in the life of the performer, nurse, and mother since before she was even born, and she is now carrying the tradition into the third generation.

Born to parents who established the family’s Springfield Little Theatre ties, her own marriage that began backstage, and now raising young performers, the Peacock-Young clan can trace nearly all of their major milestones to the Landers.

After serving together in Danang, Vietnam at the 95^th Evacuation Hospital Peacock-Young’s parents – her mother a nurse and her father a pharmacist – continued their relationship in Missouri after the war. Her mother had relocated from Pennsylvania to be near Peacock-Young’s father who was originally from Niangua.

“In 1973 they went to see BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE at Springfield Little Theatre. They left there and went home, and my dad proposed to my mother,” she revealed. “Their ‘date’ that evolves around their engagement was to Springfield Little Theatre.”

The family settled in Lockwood, MO. Peacock-Young recalls always being surrounded by music. Her signature warm, powerful, low belt came naturally and without formal training.

“We sang a lot. We sang, and it wasn’t like we were magnificent or great,” she confessed. “We just sang because we had a song in our heart.”

A beloved guiding force soon stepped into Peacock-Young’s world giving her a vision for what she could one day do with her powerful pipes. The connection was unlikely and, Peacock-Young admitted, a little odd. Teenager Ross Snodgrass was hired by the family to babysit Peacock-Young and her sister, but they adored his creative spirit.

“On so many levels it’s weird that my parents were like, ‘Hey, there’s a high school boy that wants to watch our girls,’ but Ross was the very best-est babysitter in the whole world,” Peacock-Young gushed. “We played make believe all the time. He made us the coolest E.T. gingerbread cookie. He dressed us up. We put on plays all the time in our house because Ross was our babysitter.”

The family attended every performance Snodgrass was in at SLT, energetically cheering him on. In 1986, they moved to Springfield and became season ticket holders. Peacock-Young still vividly remembers shows like THE WIZARD OF OZ, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, and DRACULA, which scared her so badly she could hardly see star Fred Schweitzer in public.

“I was kind of starstruck,” she recalled. “I watched all these people and thought they were magnificently amazing and untouchable. Now they’re my friends.”

Her passion and talent pushed her to try her own hand at auditions. Her standout performances over the years might imply that she was a natural, landing lead roles with ease. In reality, Peacock-Young was left off the cast list so many times that she nearly walked away, determining that the stage wasn’t for her. Looking back, she can identify objective factors like vocal range and being between ages for roles that weren’t a fit, but the rejection still stung. After seven failed attempts, she was ready to quit.

“So, I auditioned then for seven shows and didn’t get cast. Isn’t that crazy?” she laughed. “It took seven times for me to get cast, and I was finally cast in MAME. I was just a nobody. I remember telling Connie Henry I wasn’t going to audition for MAME. Connie was like, ‘Rachel, now, you’ve gotta keep trying. I don’t know why they don’t want to use you.’”

Peacock-Young’s perseverance paid off, but she applauded the education programs that have developed since she began auditioning. Her own children have participated in the youth camps and workshops, and she recognized the added benefit they offer auditioners.

“If it was now, I would probably go to a workshop and I would be cast, even if I was Rachel at 15 or 17 years old. But they had nothing [back then],” she noted. “There wasn’t Summer Stages. There weren’t places these kids could go and be seen and people go, ‘Hey, they’re really good. They’re fun to work with.’ There wasn’t that group of people unless you had done a show before.”

In fact, Peacock-Young had to make her own way using her intuition. She had no formal voice training and even had cruel experiences in music.

“I didn’t have a teacher that really encouraged me to sing. I would almost say the opposite of that. I had some teachers that discouraged me to sing,” she revealed. “I had people that had told me, ‘We don’t want a girl with that low of voice.’ I always have had this voice.”

Peacock-Young’s performances are notably moving, boisterous, grounded, and expressive. Years later, audiences still cite her unforgettable portrayals of Yonah in CHILDREN OF EDEN, Asaka in ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, and more. Above all else, however, she is always a team player.

Peacock-Young understudied for Becky in WAITRESS this season, but she has been called upon to fill in more than once throughout her career. When actor Tim Caldwell was out sick during tech week of STARMITES, she filled in as Space Punk. She also dubbed vocals for an ailing Cynthia Heister during a performance. The shortest notice she had was appearing in YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN with no rehearsals.

“I went on as Lucy because Lucy was stranded in Dallas. I had not been to a rehearsal,” Peacock-Young recalled. “Ali Smith was the director. They called me at like 4:30 and were like, ‘We need you to go on as Lucy at 7:30.’ I went down, immediately left work, went down to the theatre. I went on for the first four scenes. She landed and drove straight to the theatre and she was in the wings waiting for me to come off. I just handed off the wig onto her head. She was dressed in her other clothes ready to come on and we just exchanged. I had this clipboard and a big pencil, and I marched around like I knew what the hell I was doing, and I had no idea what I was doing. Live theatre at its best!”

When she wasn’t cast in a show or had a conflicting schedule, Peacock-Young would joyfully plug in behind the scenes. She hid under a table through a long CINDERELLA scene to run the “magic,” assistant stage managed for ANNIE, and operated a slide deck of graphics that was suspended above the stage during THE WHO’S TOMMY.

She also fell in love backstage when former Technical Director, Matt Young, began his position. The two married and share sons Elliott and Jerryt. Both boys are musically gifted and have been involved in SLT programs. Jerryt can be seen in THE LITTLE MERMAID this season and studies voice with Mark Lawley.

“I think that Jerryt – I don’t want this to sound like I think he’s amazing, but he’s amazing,” Peacock-Young shared. “I knew that he could sing very, very, very early in his life. By early I mean one, maybe months old, because he could match pitch. I knew that I couldn’t teach him how to sing because I wasn’t really taught how to sing.”

Even without professional guidance, Peacock-Young always considered herself a singer first. That is until her comedic performance in WAITRESS this season.

“I’m a singer that they sometimes give lines to. That’s how I address myself. People are like, ‘Oh, you’re an actress.’ Nope, I’m a singer that sometimes they give lines to,” she insisted. “Now, I will say that [director] Josh [Inmon] blew that idea out of the water in WAITRESS because I didn’t sing. I just had lines. I didn’t sing!”

However, after a hiatus from the stage, Peacock-Young’s power can still take audiences by surprise.

“One night, [actor] Sheristen [McCullah] didn’t have a voice and the band wanted to practice, so they were like, ‘Rachel, we just want you to sing it,’” she explained. “Well, 90% of this cast had no idea I could sing. They thought that I was just there to be a comedic relief, which is true in this script. They went nuts. They were like cheering and jumping around. Like, ‘Rachel, I had no idea you could do that. I had no idea you could sing.’ I was in the middle of changing for Norma and then I ran over there and sang, then I ran back and finished getting ready to be Norma and we went on with the show. It was crazy.”

After decades of involvement with SLT, Peacock-Young still comes by magic moments easily. The joy of being on the Landers stage never grows old.

“I can say that for me, WAITRESS, I needed that,” she reflected. “I needed to audition for a show. I needed to go through that whole process. I needed to do that for me. It was really just a very beautiful show to be a part of. That cast was really special. Some shows are really special and that is definitely one that will always be very special to me.”

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