Today we’d like to introduce you to Jill Drexler.
Hi Jill, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I am the Artistic Director of a small professional theatre in San Diego. As with most theatre people, I started as an actress and am still a working actress at many San Diego theatres. My story can be filled in with an undergraduate degree at Scripps College, a graduate MFA from San Diego State, years of teaching theatre at the high school and college level, some years with SAG as a film actress, and a degree in Clinical Counseling thrown in – very handy I might add.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth road? Of course not. Life as an actress is always a struggle – dealing with rejection and putting yourself out there to get hired to do what you have been trained and love to do. I found out very quickly that Hollywood was not a scene I enjoyed. Luckily, my first love – theatre is more welcoming.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I have been an actress, a director, a producer, and a theatre board member. I’m proud of guiding our theatre from a volunteer community theatre to a well-thought-of professional one. I’m also proud of all the students I taught through the years. As an actor, I’m proud to have been described as “fearless.” I like to think that my psychology training has helped me talk an actor or designer off the ledge more than once.
What are your plans for the future?
I love what I’m doing. But eventually, I’ll pass the Artistic Director reins to someone else. Maybe I’ll continue to act if I can find parts where I’m not in a wheelchair or dying in the first act.
Pricing:
- Tickets at Scripps Ranch Theatre from $20 to $47
Contact Info:
- Website: scrippsranchtheatre.org
