“Kym Pappas was both my first mentor in my young adulthood and my introduction to a lifelong career. If it wasn't for her and the internship program she led, I wouldn't be where I am now. I think about her words and spirit every day. She is a role model of wisdom, empathy, and love. Seven years later, she still answers the phone, replies to my messages, and says yes to a cup of tea. I am lucky to know her.”
- Bernardo Mazón Daher (TuYo Theatre)
“This woman changed many of our lives. Kym was the first adult that many of us grew to trust and love (aside from our parents) because she treated each and every one of us like humans with our own autonomy. She gave us a safe place to open up our hearts and minds. She taught us how to channel our love, joy and pain into beautiful things, and greatly encouraged self-expression in ANY medium (paint, words, dance, song, etc…). She showed us how to be empathetic with one another as humans, not just as students. She taught us to be honest in every possible way and was a pillar if we ever needed some guidance or support. Kym is the link from my high school work in theatre to my involvement in theatre in my community. She is the fire and the passion that lights us… to take life and steer it in whatever direction we need it to.”
- Dania Cisneros (Student and Activist)
“Kym Pappas has been my mentor for 10 years. I first met Kym when I was 17 years old, when she served as the Intern Director at OnStage Playhouse. Over the two years I spent in the program, I was offered workshops in all disciplines of theatre, exposed to the work of local companies, and taught how to write a play which we then developed into a full production. Once Kym Pappas enters your life, she stays in your life. She is genuinely invested in everyone one of her students and she shows up for them endlessly. She helped shape not only the artist I am today, but the person I have grown into. She instilled in me a passion for socially conscious work. To this day, Kym along with her company InnerMission Productions continue to do the work, through thick and thin, serving as a constant example that one can make a life for themselves as an artist.” - Santiago Iacinti (Roundabout Directors Group)
“Having Kym as a teacher and mentor changed my perspective on the arts forever. She taught me the impact theatre can have and made me think of the kind of art I wanted to create. This made me want to move into creating theatre with the goal of enacting change or making people think about the world differently. I no longer wanted to be a musical theatre performer, I wanted to be a theatre innovator.”
- Danielle Edmonds (NYU Class of 2019)
“Through Kym, I learned to be brave, diligent and to demand of myself my best work. Among many other things, she taught me and my class mates to know everything about our characters through text analysis and textually supported inference, to use and raise our voices, and she taught us how to use our bodies, hearts and minds to tell a story. She taught us the importance of taking care of our own bodies and minds through breath, yoga, exercise, and other physical approaches to acting. Working with Kym has been one of the most specifically tailored and holistic experiences I’ve had as a theatre student, or as a student in any capacity.
Years after being her student formally, I am still learning from her. She helped me to prepare my auditions for graduate school using imagination work, actions, exercises to help with the embodiment of language (especially for Shakespeare), building moment to moment, etc., and I got in to three major graduate schools for acting both in the U.S. and abroad.
Although my group and I were young theatre makers when we were Kym’s students, the exercises and lessons have been recurring throughout my entire journey as an actor. I’ve encountered similar pedagogy even now, in my classes as a graduate acting student at NYU. The skills in devising that we learned from her, the way she pushed us to “play seriously” and to always tell the truth are all skills that are currently helping me in every classroom and audition room I step into.
Overall, I believe it is important that young adults be exposed to the arts. In my case, this education has been instrumental in my professional endeavors, but learning to take up space, to use your voice, to speak in public, to know yourself and your identity, to be a story teller, to work and collaborate with others, to hone and nourish your creativity, and to be able to ground yourself makes anyone a healthier, more successful human being, ready with the tools to enter any field or life route. This is what Kym gives and teaches.” - Fedra Ramirez
“As a senior in college, I am more sure than ever before of how special and rare it is to be able to thank the universe for placing you in this classroom, with this teacher. When Kym was my teacher, I did that everyday.
Kym Pappas creates a precious space that fosters strength in areas of weakness, challenges artistic muscles, and requests the inner child to take the stand. To this day I ask my self what made Kym the teacher she is to countless kids.
Kym devoted herself to teaching us that our desire, our ideas, and more importantly our pain matters and with this, no matter how ugly, raw, loud, and painful our healing makes us, we shall keep moving. Kym promised us safety. Safety that our brokenness will not be ignored nor will it be be the end of our story.
Kym allowed us to be human, giving our pain a place and our hope for the future an even bigger one. Kym knows how to redirect the pain of adolescence into graceful expression that has lead me into an artistic profession with a lifetime of challenges but a powerful voice inside of me that values my inner child more than anything.”
- Hannah Vega (UCLA Class of 2020)
I am available for one on one private coaching for general or college auditions. Please contact me for pricing and availability.