Attending Little Rock’s large Central High School, Patrice Phillips learned early the importance of finding her niche and expanding on it. She found hers in music and performance.
“It’s a large school, but you find your area and it becomes home,” she said.
Music and performance have been a part of her life for as long as she can remember. The youngest of three born to a mother who valued education and cultural growth and a father, who was a performer with a natural ability on any instrument, Phillips gained equal amounts of both traits from her family tree. Her involvement in church put her in touch with gospel outreach opportunities that took her around the state performing in gospel venues. A strong alto, she sang in the school choir. In band, she played the clarinet and was captain of the flag line. Performing was the spark that energized her and would prove to be the thing that paved her way to college.
“My parents are educated. They met in college. My mother was the cultivator. She is a reader and a writer and emphasized that school is important. She is the one who signed me up for dance and music lessons. My father actually paid his way through college by impersonating the Temptations. He and I have a special bond. We would sing in the car and he would use my leg as his drum,” she said, drumming her leg with her hand as she recalled the memory with a smile. “Music was always there – a part of our life – but they both wanted me to have a well-rounded experience in life, high school and all the way around.”
Though used to performing musically, her first shot at acting came in the sixth grade when she was introduced to drama by her youth pastor, Prentice Dupins, in his play “The Last Will and Testament of Jesse James” on the stage of Robinson Auditorium.
“He was a big influence on me. I liked how he was able to incorporate biblical lessons and principles into an interactive format to reach a variety of ages,” she said.
Though Phillips enjoyed the experience, music maintained top billing in her focus until her 11th grade year in high school. The addition to her focus came as quite the surprise to her parents, who found out in an unexpected way when they received a call from the school reporting their daughter had been skipping class. The class she had been ditching was one that she loved.
“They knew I liked drama and theater, but they knew music was my thing,” she said. “They were surprised that I was skipping band class for play rehearsal.”
Even as Phillips knew that she wanted to pursue a degree related to theater, SAU was not anywhere on the stage of her mind. That would change when she went to high school audition day at the University of Central Arkansas.
“I auditioned and SAU offered me a scholarship that day, which is unheard of to do it on the spot,” she said.
Still considering options, Phillips came to SAU for a tour. That day would seal her future.
“It was a great visit. I don’t think SAU could have chosen three better people to welcome me,” Phillips said, referring to Professor Judy Vasser, Theater Department Chair David Murphy and Kristen Larsen, former SAU acting professor. “They were so very personable and you could tell they truly wanted me to be here. This was a place I could call home for four years.”
Taking their advice to heart, Phillips believed that if she did the work, she would make a performance in her first semester. True to her natural drive, Phillips gave it all she had and landed in her first SAU production “No Exit.”
“I worked hard, they didn’t just hand it to me, but even so, getting a chance on stage as a freshman is not something that would happen at larger universities,” she said. “When you hit the stage, you forget everything else. You become a part of that story. You are in that world. There is no one else but the characters on stage.”
She was a Walton Scholar, a resident assistant (RA), actively involved in a sorority and in the Black Students Association, but if it had been an option, Phillips said she could have majored in Encore, a performing group who serves as a recruiting tool for high schools in the region.
“Any class under Mrs. Vasser was an incredible experience,” said Phillips. “She was your mom, your sister, your friend. She was everything and you really felt her love.”
Being involved in theater builds valuable character, according to Phillips.
“I definitely had to grow up and became a more responsible person,” said Phillips. “The biggest part of the process is learning to deal with rejection. I didn’t get every role or everything I wanted on campus, but whatever I experienced – good or bad – became a good experience because it taught me something.”
She is convinced that God puts people and challenges into life’s pathways as a way of steering people into previously unimagined directions. For her, that inspired path would veer into a desire to teach.
Phillips majored in theater and minored in print journalism while working her way through as a secretary in the theater department offices in pursuit of her bachelor’s degree. In the process, she had opportunities to teach through Continuing Education and Upward Bound programs on campus.
“I came to appreciate that there was more than the performing side of my passion. There is an entire creative process to it from set concept to interpreting scripts and expressing that vision to others,” she said. “I realized that I like teaching.”
She would receive her masters in teaching through the School of Graduate Studies. She taught on the high school level at Hope High School and now teaches theater arts at Liberty-Eylau Middle School in Texas.
Eventually, she sees herself following in the steps of mentors and teaching on the college level.
She has a philosophy she shares with her students.
“I tell them to reach for whatever their moon is. Even if you don’t get there, you’ll land on a star,” said Phillips.
An ardent advocate of SAU, Phillips shares her college experience with everyone she can. She is personally responsible for recruiting at least three other students to her beloved alma mater.
“SAU offers a well-rounded college experience without having to catch a bus to get across campus,” said Phillips. “Academics are strong and provide a competitive education that makes you marketable when you leave. I don’t have a single regret – not one.”
When asked what words of wisdom she would impart with potential newcomers to SAU, she said, “Expect great things.”
