Happy spring! We certainly are enjoying a spring in our step as our Cannonball Festival shows begins rehearsal, the Outpatients are getting creative with their next show, and Jamie and Kristin are in the thick of planning next season. And, with our season launch coming up on May 4, we know we also have to get ready to say goodbye to our grads.

One of our grads has made her mark on CYPT in a very short amount of time, having only appeared in a few shows, and yet has become an integral part of our community. She is an inspiration to all around her, with her confidence, bravery, humour, intelligence, and talent. She’s also really nice and we are going to miss her very much. Thankfully, she’s got a festival and an Outpatient show to complete before leaving us, so don’t be surprised if you see us hanging on to her extra tight these next months. And who is this sassy, smart, and silly stage sorceress? April’s YP of the Month is none other than…

Kaylee Cavanagh!!!!

Around this time two years ago, Kaylee was gearing up for her FIRST EVER CYPT Cannonball! Festival production!!!… Except that didn’t happen because she chickened out and cancelled her audition. Luckily, the enticing yet intimidating doors of CYPT didn’t scare her away for too long, as she was back to audition that summer! She performed her first show as “Curly”  aka “Angry Leaf Boy” in Peter Pan (March 2018), and decided to devote her entire life to trying to recreate that feeling. That amazing feeling, however, was heightened EVEN MORE by her favourite show up to date, WAYWARD (November 2018). Unfortunately she loved it so much that she has no plans to stop acting any time soon, so you may see her handing out her resume in the streets or trying to shove them into local mailboxes.

After trying soccer, swimming, martial arts, gymnastics, dance, basketball, badminton, a social life, rugby, lifeguarding, track & feild, french horn, trumpet, and the gym, Kaylee FINALLY found her thing, and it’s none other than theatre. It’s been the best few years of her life at CYPT, and she’s so incredibly happy that she found CYPT before she gave up and settled for papier-macher or some other questionable hobby.

Kaylee jumps into any CYPT engagement she can possibly get her grimy little hands on. Last year she dipped into backstage work as an assistant stage manager for Cannonball! Festival, and fast forward to this year, she’s directing and co-designing her very own self-written Cannonball show and is more excited than is probably healthy. She’s also in the 2019 Outpatient Collective.  In case that isn’t enough, she’s always the first one to arrive and the last one to leave the theatre, because she can’t physically bring herself to leave.

More than anything, she’d like to thank CYPT for seeing something in her that she’d been desperately trying to get out, and for introducing her to the casts, crews, characters, shows, and experiences that she’s fallen head over heels for. CYPT will forever be a home for her and she carries the love and support from the community everywhere she goes. Sadly she’s graduating, so this is her last year, however she’s off to study theatre in university next year, which she eagerly awaits!

“Theatre feels like falling down a rabbit hole into beautiful and engaging worlds that are infinitely explorable by both actor and audience.”

Kaylee Cavanagh