By Otila Castaneda Posted June 8, 2023
Ms. Kelly Bales selected Kaylee Radtke as the Performer of the Issue for her hard work and outstanding performance in the school plays. Radtke has been an active member of Lowry Drama for a year and a half. Bales describes Radtke as having a smile that lights up the room and got her significant roles in the play.
“In fact, she smiles so much, she has to work extra hard to play the villain in both plays this year,“ said Bales.
In this year’s first play, “Mr. Scrooge’s Christmas” from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, Radtke was the star of the show.
“I was the main character in Scrooge, and the play was about a very hostile man who travels to different parts of his life, in order to learn a valuable lesson and the meaning of Christmas,” said Radtke.
Radtke has played several roles in the school’s play including two lead roles. She has played a soldier and king in “Robin Hood”, Scrooge in “Mr. Scrooge’s Christmas”, and the Queen for “My Name is Rumpelstiltskin”. Radtke has been an important member of Lowry Drama.
“It’s been a pleasure directing Kaylee, and I’m excited to see what she does in the future,” said Bales.
Radtke’s plans for the near future is to attend The University of Reno Nevada in the fall to pursue a future career.
“I’m undecided until I find a career that I’m passionate about,” said Radtke. “I wanted to be a lawyer but I just wrote an essay about how they have bad mental health so maybe I don’t want to be a lawyer. I’m going to go to UNR and explore career options.”
Through Radtke’s four years of high school, she enjoyed being with her friends every day and creating fun memories. Being a member of drama and stagecraft has taught her a valuable skill.
“Drama taught me how to become more extroverted,” said Radtke. “The benefits of performing in theater is it helped me break out of my shell a little bit more and allowed me to meet new people that I wouldn’t have met without theater.”
At first, drama was not something she was interested in at all but after her first play, she enjoyed it and continued to do so. She would also encourage others to try something new.
“You may like to do something that you’ve never even paid attention to before,” said Radtke.
Radtke has had past experiences with theater. She has done it in the past and is glad to do so now. By watching plays when she was younger she became more interested.
“I like to perform because I am able to be someone else and make people believe in a story. I also like to make people react to the character I am portraying,” said Radtke. “When I was little I did Missoula theater as a kid which showed me that I have an interest in theater. I also did a little bit of theater during Jr. High.”
She was able to develop new skills and receiving the title of being the performer of the year comes to show her hard work paid off.
“Getting the title of the performer of the year is a big homer and shows that all my hard work and effort has paid off and showed me I’ve done a good job.”
Radtke has enjoyed being a member of the drama and has gained much knowledge that will help her future.
