Christine Chapman loved acting, but between a full-time job and a family, she couldn’t find time to perform. For almost seven years, she says, “I didn’t do anything. That was killing me.”
One afternoon when she found herself watching The Rookie, starring Dennis Quaid as Jimmy Morris, a former baseball player turned high school coach. In a pivotal scene, Jimmy’s young son asks him if an old shoulder injury is what’s kept him from pursuing his big league dreams. Jimmy responds, “It’s never one thing.” That struck Christine. “How many excuses have I made?” she wondered. “How many times did I turn away from something that was an option because I thought it wasn’t practical?”
Inspired to recommit herself to theater, Christine founded a Shakespeare festival just two months later, in her hometown of Port Clinton, Ohio. “Once you jump on the wave and ride it, it takes you even farther than you could have even imagined.”
(Originally aired: February 26, 2005)
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