Christina Lee: Theatre is my happy place
L.A. | The Atom
Lubbock native Christina Lee is a third-generation performer. Her grandfather was a fiddle player. Her mother was a hymnalist who played stringed instruments and Lee grew up traveling with her mom’s Irish folk band as a backup singer and roadie on the Celtic fair circuit in Texas and New Mexico. She started performing with Kathleen Finley and the High Plains Irish Dancers around age 11. Lee wrote short stories and poetry and helped with lyrics for her mother’s albums. There was always music at their family reunions.
“That has always been part of my life,” said Lee.
She discovered theatre in high school when she was cast in a homeschool modern adaptation of “Arsenic and Old Lace” called “Larceny and Old Lace.”
“They didn’t want us to get comfortable with murder, but robbing casinos was fine,” Lee explained.
She stayed active in the home school theatre program, but didn’t want to study theatre education as a college student when she began her studies at Lubbock Christian University.
“I started in theatre at LCU but at the time, the only theatre degree available was for teachers,” said Lee. “I transferred to humanities and LCU built their current theatre degree program from those humanities courses.”
As a student, Lee was cast in onstage roles for “Carousel” and “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and worked with director Don Williams shifting the script for “The Belle of Amherst” from a one-woman show to a production with a cast of 12. Lee also got her start inn devised theatre at LCU under the direction of Katie Wompler.
“We learned different creative generation methods to collaborate and build something together,” said Lee.
One of her humanities professors introduced her to CATS Playhouse when it was still in its old location further west on 34th St. Tim McIntyre was directing “Adam’s Eve.”
“I went to the read-through and found myself in two roles,” said Lee. “I was assistant director and lighting/ sound engineer. I’ve stuck with it ever since.”
She completed her bachelor’s degree at LCU and her master’s in theatre performance and pedagogy at Texas Tech. In 2018, she was part of a small group with Matt Schlief, Jacob Henry, Kelly Murphy, Eric Edison and Merideth Lyons that took an original show called “Morning, Noon, Evening, Night” to the Prague Quadrennial.
“We performed it every six hours starting at 6 a.m. for three days straight,” Lee said. “We didn’t sleep much.”
Lee performed a lead role in the Lubbock Community Theatre production “The Miss Firecracker Contest,” directed by John Packard and her first role in a period piece in “The Miser” at LCT.
“It took some getting used to wearing a corset and a hoop skirt and trying to navigate the furniture and props on the stage,” said Lee. “Some of the humor of that show just came from trying to sit in chair.”
In January, she was part of the creative team with Alan Winner and Llano Estacado Theatre Lab for the devised project, “Emergence.” She enjoys writing plays and collaborating with others to tell stories. Many of her scripts for children have been based on fairy tales. Most recently, she worked as a volunteer doing hair and makeup backstage with Yellow House Theatre’s premier show, “The Hobbit.”
“Transforming kids into dwarfs and hobbits was fun,” Lee said.
Her current favorite Broadway show is “Hadestown.”
“I love mythology and stories with underworld themes and love is the force that overcomes,” said Lee.
She is also a great admirer of Shakespeare. Although she has a soft spot for a good tragedy, she is now working as stage manager preparing for a lighthearted melodrama at CATS Playhouse. Under the direction of local playwright Whitney Ryan Garrity, she is helping to shape the musical production, “My Hero.”
“Whitney has been a friend and mentor for most of my theatrical experience, so it’s really exciting to get to be part of one of his original shows,” said Lee. “The script is so funny, and Edward Funderburke’s choreography is fun. It’s set in a little desert town with clever jokes. It will be great for a Lubbock audience.”
She’s having a great time coordinate the cast and crew and watching the theatre magic come together. Theatre has held an important place in her life, and through her dedication and contributions over the years, she has become a valued member of the creative community.
“Theatre people are problem solvers. Theatre is my home. This cast has been putting in so much hard work and I’m looking forward to seeing them take the stage and show off. Being involved in a show is a great chance to be part of a cool community,” said Lee. “Come see us in Desertville! If you’ve never been to a live theatrical show this is a great one. We’re having fun, and we think the audience will, too!”
Purchase tickets for “My Hero” June 20-22 and June 27-29 at https://catsplayhouse.ludus.com/index.php.
