Betsy Bisson

It was spring’s last exhale until the impending summer. It was the tip of the iceberg unveiled. It was May 17, 1964. On this day, the earth opened its arms to welcome the birth of another miracle. Her name was Betsy Bisson.

Betsy grew up living with her parents and older brothers in Cullowhee, North Carolina. As a child, her heart thrived off every breath breathed in the open air. Each fort she built was a castle fit for Kings. Each tree she climbed was an escapade to another world. And when the doors of life held her captive inside, she practiced skimming her fingertips against the white teeth of a piano or donned a taut bun and rehearsed the strict erudition of ballet.

Years came and went like the wind; each adding a page to the story her life. Yet in her heart was carved the undying voice of a child, a being that feeds off the imagination, knows no boundaries, and is ripe with potential. It is this inner spirit that guided her into becoming who she is today. Riding life’s current, she journeyed to Western Carolina University, then to Catawba College to study theatre, and then was washed up on the shore of Flat Rock Playhouse, the State Theatre of North Carolina. Here she began the award-winning YouTheatre program, a program dedicated to helping young people “find their own voice and have no fear of expressing it.” The first class was held on a volleyball court. Fifteen years later, the Robin R. Farquhar Education Center was built to house the rapidly-expanding program. Six hundred students each year take classes in this 8,000 square foot building complete with “classrooms, art and costume space, a professional sprung dance studio, private lessons studios, offices and a library/conference room.” When asked her reasoning behind her push for the youth wing of the theatre, she replied, “The kids needed the challenge.”

In 2001, Betsy traveled to New York City where she stayed for three weeks. She said her purpose was to “…find out if [she] felt like [she] had ‘settled’ for doing youth theatre rather than big regional theatre, but [she] realized [she] didn’t respect the work more just because a lot of money was spent on it…[she] realized that [she] was doing exactly what [she] was supposed to be doing.” From that point on she devoted herself to educational theater. After getting YouTheatre on its feet, Betsy moved to Greenville, South Carolina where she now serves as the Artistic/Educational Director of the South Carolina Children’s Theatre. Having taught/directed over 4,000 students, she continues to impact the lives of young artists every day. “I spend 10-12 hours a day at the theatre, typically six days a week,” she says, “So pretty much, I go home, hug my dog and sleep.” Betsy is an AEA actress, has directed between 130 and 150 shows, and has also “worked as an AEA stage-manager, stitcher, production administrator, production manager, and has served as a designer of costumes, lights, scenery, properties and make-up as well as a technician in all the above capacities”. In 2000, Betsy Bisson was recognized by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and in 1998 and 2000 she was named to Who’s Who Among American Teachers.

Betsy has had a number of her students go on to make their mark on society. Chase Brock is now an international choreographer in New York City with his own company, The Chase Brock Experience. Nick Kepley is currently in the Broadway MARY POPPINS. Another one of her students is doing movies in Los Angeles, and another one is an AEA regional actor and wrote the music for BILLY, GOAT GRUFF which the South Carolina Children’s Theatre is doing next season. A quantity of her students are now teachers or actors. One is a model, one is the head of the Charleston Theatre Alliance, and one is a Vice President of a business in Greenville, North Carolina.

One of her students was a young girl who had been paralyzed and oppressed by the fear of failure. Because of this, she was never able to realize her own potential. She never took a risk. Upon going to class one day, the young girl was met with a startling revelation. The instructor, Ms. Bisson, was giving critique for the pieces the class had just performed. She spoke with conviction, “You must be willing to do something badly before you can ever do it well.” The child’s hungry ears urged her hands to scrawl those tiny words on the corner of her paper. The paper would later be lost, but the words had taken root into her heart. After that moment, the young girl’s life as well as her approach to theatre changed dramatically. Each challenge hurled against her was now seen as an opportunity to do something great rather than another chance to fail. Betsy Bisson changed the young girl’s life forever. That little girl was me. And I am only one of Betsy Bisson’s over 4,000 students. Imagine the impact she has had and the lives she has changed.

Former student, Olivia Palmer, writes, “…when you talk to her, she seems to already know what you are going to say, but she wants you to figure it out for yourself.”

When asked what she wanted to be remembered for, Betsy said, “My work. It’s what I devoted my life to.” This story is a tribute a woman whose work has changed my life as well as the lives of numerous others. I am eternally grateful.