A Visit With...

A Flair For Drama

Trudy Wheeler is the current president of The Woman’s Club of Louisville. She retired as drama teacher from Kentucky Country Day, where she taught middle school, and the University of Louisville, where she taught undergraduate and graduate students in the theater department. She retired in May 2021 from KCD and that same month took over as president of The Woman’s Club. Her term ends this May.

WHAT IS YOUR INTEREST IN DRAMA?

I have a passion for theater through the educational side. But, I also have performed in many plays, musicals, and drama productions. I have appeared in commercials, training films, and smaller venue theaters. I have taught voice for the actor, how to project accents…or alleviate accents. I specialize in movement and classes for the actor.

A FEW OF YOUR FAVORITE PERFORMANCES?

Wicked, which I’ve seen five or six times, Hamilton, and Evita. As for drama, I love ‘night, Mother; John Lennon & Me, a play that is for younger audiences; and Eleemosynary, about the relationship of three generations of women which I have been in and directed a few times.

WHAT IS YOUR TEACHING INVOLVEMENT CURRENTLY?

I teach presentation skills — in person and on video — to business people. I’ve worked with some of the agents at Homepage Realty on how to feel comfortable in front of a camera when making videos.

WHAT MIGHT SOMEBODY NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU?

I love tea. I collect teacups, silver teaspoons. I went to tea school at Elmwood Inn in Danville, Kentucky. In 2004, I started the Sterling Service Tea Ministry at Christ Church Methodist. We hold elegant tea parties for women with cancer. Even during COVID we had drive-by teas and tailgate teas during the summer. I started that ministry in honor of a friend who died of cancer in her 40s.

DO YOU MISS TEACHING?

I feel like I’ve accomplished what I wanted to. I miss my students and the parents. But, as president of The Woman’s Club of Louisville, I'm using leadership skills that I learned from teaching. When I miss the theater environment, I can walk into the theater at The Woman’s Club, and I just feel reinspired.

I am really proud of that space and how we use it. I am interested in preservation and love the history of The Woman’s Club of Louisville, how much they’ve accomplished. Our philanthropic work focuses on supporting educational needs in the community, especially for women and children, preservation and civic improvements, and cultivating fine arts.

YOUR FAVORITE ROLE?

In college, I played Dolly Levi in The Matchmaker which most people would know as the musical Hello, Dolly! That role helped me know what I wanted to do.

TREASURED POSSESSION?

I have a silver dollar dated 1890 that my father had in his collection of silver dollars. It is now the centerpiece for a cuff bracelet that I had made. I wear it not only in honor of my father, but also, that was the year that The Woman’s Club was founded.

Lucy M. Pritchett | Photos by Patti Hartog

Today's Transitions | Spring 2023