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Kat Anderson: Passion aplenty for family, stage

June 22, 2017   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

Atlas was one of the names her husband, George, suggested when Kat Anderson learned she was pregnant with their first child.

Naturally, as he included superheros in his list, she pooh-poohed it as silly. However, once they knew the baby was a boy, he returned to Atlas as a good name – everyone they asked thought it was a bad idea. So, they named their baby Atlas.

“He was born at [over] nine pounds,” she told us, “and he is so strong now, at age seven.”

Just a week after his second birthday, Atlas was diagnosed with autism and their lives of struggling with that new reality began. They went through the oft-known trials of trying to teach, to accommodate and negotiate with a child resistant to everything – parents with no background or training, only their instincts and love for the boy to guide them.

Finally, when he was four, Atlas began the Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) program and his life – his parents’ lives – were altered again, very much for the better.

When he was just three years old, Atlas was the youngest person in Ontario to be given a service dog, named Harris.

“He has the tendency to flight, so, he’s tethered to the dog when we’re out.”

It has been a full time of joy, worry and excitement for the family, adding to the whole the birth of their second child, a girl, Poppy, now two, precocious, loving to sing, full of fun.

Beside all this is Kat Anderson’s passion for theatre and the stage.

She gave us a brief history of her artistic life: “I went to Mayfield Secondary School – the arts school, When I was a teenager, I was scouted when I had the lead role in Cabaret and did film and television. I was working professionally as an actor when I was 16.”

Her acting career was eventually interrupted by her marriage to George Anderson and the birth of Atlas with all the extra demands of his needs. With the birth of Poppy, her time has become even more engaged with her family and they are, always, her first priority.

However, it has not stopped her from longing to exercise her creative and artistic side. Her latest stage appearance was last weekend for the Caledon Day celebrations of its 10th anniversary, when she had the pleasure to be the Emcee.

“I was on the main stage as the Emcee and the main act was Sloane – I had the privilege an the honour of introducing the acts – including Sloane!” She was still thrilled in the telling.

“When we were coming to Orangeville, I researched the theatre scene here because I knew I was missing something and I knew what it was,” she recalled. “I wasn’t happy with my body after having two children, so I began exercising, which I hate doing. To do something else, I discovered Zumba; it was like doing Spanish dancing instead of exercising and I liked it so much that I became a Zumba instructor! I also worked with a vocal coach to get my voice back in shape.

“I went for an audition with Orangeville Music Theatre (OMT) and got the role of Brooke Taylor-Windham in Legally Blonde, who is the fitness instructor in the show; I laughed and thought, ‘You guys should have seen me a year ago!’

“My first introduction to the stage for many years was that show. I was really wowed by the community of OMT – it really stimulated me creatively.”

Kat has also been on stage as a key note speaker for Caledon Parent Child Centre as part of a fundraiser called Laugh Out Loud, for which she shared her story on special needs parenting through comedy and songs.

“Taking familiar songs and changing the lyrics to tell our story – my life is full of challenges and questions and I told it through songs and comedy,” she related. “The second year I did it, my husband joined me on stage and we did a rap.”

She reflected, “In a perfect world, I’d say yes to all the opportunities that involve singing and theatre. [As it is] I dabble in the theatre and singing when I’m able to.”

Last season with OMT, Kat was the lead in their production of Mary Poppins.

She declared, “That just filled my soul! I can’t do all the shows and they’re patient and really such a great group of people. Six months of rehearsal – really a sacrifice and puts pressure on relationships and dynamics but my husband really supports me because he understands it’s important to me to follow my passion.”

She continued by saying, “If I were to split myself down the middle – my passion for my family – I’m a recent member of the Dufferin County Accessibility organization and I’m very proud to of being a part of this.

“We have to deal with invisible disabilities – Atlas is a beautiful little boy – to look at him, you would never guess anything is wrong until you see his behaviour and speech.”

In regard to her public speaking, Kat maintains, “It’s important people know about this.”

Through his work with IBI and the rigorous follow up, practicing at home, Atlas has come a very long way. From agreeing to eating only a very few types of food to “he’ll eat broccoli.”

“There’s a lot of time to follow through to understand, to expand and practice – we had charts to show how much he would chew – if he’s surrounded by people who are patient and believe in him and you’re going to see how that helps: he started Tae Kwon Do and the teacher was so patient. Now Atlas is keeping up with his peers!”

Reflectively pausing for a second, she said, “As a mother, my children have to come first but my creativity is important too. Sometimes, it’s tricky to find the balance.”

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