Today we’d like to introduce you to Li-Anne Rowswell Mufson.
Li-Anne, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have wanted to be an actor all my life. My earliest memories are of playing with an imaginary sword, saying “en Garde” to my brother in our Torrance, California front yard in the persona of Touchè Turtle and thinking, “I could play him on stage”- I wasn’t quite 3 when we moved from Torrance to Western New York so I think I can be forgiven for the confusion regarding cartoons, an actor’s life and what roles would be available to me. Throughout my life, I wanted to be an Actor “AND Scientist, Teacher, Astronaut, etc. I went to a SUNY school to get a BFA in Musical Theatre (though I eventually wound up with a BA and not from SUNY @ Fredonia) and when I left Western NY, I took a job with a 2-person adult/Family oriented puppet company when the company moved back to NY, I joined a Touring Company that did original Social Justice Musicals. Along the way, I met Storytellers and folks doing the kind of Creative Dramatics work with kids I had been intrigued by in college. And I met my husband, an amazing avant-garde theatre artist who brought us back out to California for grad school and has taught and directed at Palomar College for the last 30 years. Raising kids and remaining in professional theater was difficult for me; I wound up studying and practicing Holistic Health, and aside from teaching workshops in my kids’ schools and occasionally subbing in for a turn on the Palomar College stage, I was out for more than a decade. When my younger son was about 7, I ventured back onto the stage with a production of Blithe Spirit for the Moonlight at the AVO in Vista and have continued to work for most of the theatres in San Diego County at some point or another. Concurrently, I found myself longing to perform more often. I had been telling stories at my local UU church (UU’s take their Storytelling very seriously- I am guest preaching at Summitt UU on folktales and generosity on the 26th) And realized that that was another avenue open to me with more flexibility and control than in theater. I got involved in the local professional Storytellers of San Diego just as we were incorporating as a non-profit about 12 years ago and haven’t looked back. I continue to deepen my love of the arts of theater and Storytelling the longer I live, and I feel so fortunate.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Well, no. I don’t think I know anyone in the arts whose road has been smooth. I took a significant amount of time off to raise my boys. I know many people who were/able to do both, but for me, I couldn’t do it. We lived 3000 miles from family and support, and I think the theatre world wasn’t conducive to prioritizing family. I do think theatre in general and in San Diego especially, has gotten more family-friendly and humane lately. But, at the time I felt-Rightly or wrongly- like my kids would have suffered if I dedicated myself to theatre. Also, I had always had so many interests and a passion in life-long learning. I studied and got my HHP as a massage therapist and Holistic Healer, and specifically Western Herbal Healing.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As an actor, I am definitely a character actress. I seem to find humor in any role, and I like to think I leave people, places, and projects better than when I met them. I am very proud of my place in the lineage of Oral Storytelling as an Art Form. Something I like to do is Incorporate music into traditional tales or personal narratives, sometimes in ways you might not think would work, at first. In my version of “The Lute Player,” a Russian Fairytale that is at least a couple hundred years old. For example, I have the main character sing Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” to her husband while he is in prison.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
It is never too late or too early to try for anything truly important. But sometimes, it takes the stars aligning. If you can find a group of people who are passionate about what you love, find a way to hang out with them. There are fewer gatekeepers than you think.
Always make faces at the babies that you meet.
Contact Info:
- Website: storytellersofsandiego.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085378847676
- Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/li-anne-rowswell-mufson-b75425241
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/mxDKM-LK9gQ
Image Credits
Leslie Boehm
Dick Weaver
