We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Crystal Rae. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Crystal below.
Crystal, thank you so much for making time for us. We’ve always admired your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?
I blame my parents and the thousands of aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents whose song and humor and nose shape I share. The Wiley’s are an optimistic people. Wildly so. I am saddled with homemade songs, scriptures, and peach cobbler recipes that have made me nearly invincible. My family is often my muse and telling stories about them is my way of honoring home. The risk then is, will those who do not share my nose, my humor, and my hope, find respite in my words? The risk is the razor’s edge I’ve let myself dance on a time or two in self-producing shows with no guarantees and no pre-sold tickets. The risk then is someone misunderstanding or mauling the work into something unrecognizable. The risk is being hidden in shadows for all of time despite my best efforts. Luckily, I am more than my work. If the writing falls short, it can be rewritten or abandoned. My soul isn’t there. My identity isn’t trapped in a medium of performance anymore than a caterpillar is trapped in a cocoon. It is the making or art in defiance of risk that transforms us, not the accolades, or the empty seats. So, I try to embrace the risk the way one might an old high school friend that smells of bourbon and is sloppily reliving how much you doted on your crush in front of said crush. The opportunity on the other side of risk is worth it. Hiding is not an option. Waiting until the risk has passed and your old friend sobers is to resolve to never leave the cocoon- forcing the changing room into a coffin. Risks are butterfly wings taking us to new heights. There is nothing more tragic than a butterfly crawling on its belly or an artist afraid to create. Who knows maybe your crush likes you too, maybe the theatre will be sold out and the critics will love every word penned. If not- don’t worry; there will always be songs, scriptures, and cobbler. You were never your work anyway, you’re something far more.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I was born in Austin, Texas raised in Chicago, Illinois and lived those early formative years of adulthood in Abilene, Texas. In 2013 I moved to Houston to find out if I could do art with the big kids. I was too scared to go to NYC alone and while I have plenty of open arms in Chicago to welcome me home I wasn’t ready to return to the WIndy City. My best friend and now fellow producer on our first documentary, let me sleep on her couch those many years ago. With a part time job at my church and backstage work with The Ensemble Theatre I was making just enough to figure it out. I knew eventually I wanted to be on stage and even more have the scripts I was writing produced and neither came very quickly, but the journey from 2013 until now has been everything lovely. Houston has been so kind to me. I’m grateful. I want to tell difficult stories beautifully so you’ll often see me approach crazy big hairy topics and attempt to bring light and hope to them. For a list, if you’re into such things I write plays, musicals, and screenplays for the small screen. I am a puppeteer and a film producer.
New launches! Oh there are a few that I can talk about and one or two simmering in a pot on the back of the stove. Making Elijah, is a documentary that I had the pleasure of co-producing with Jesssica Jackson. The film shares the stories of couples who have experienced child-loss. These interviews are different in that each couple interviewed wrote a theatrical piece that is performed by some of the finest actors in Houston. So it’s a theatrical, spiritual, thoughtful, piece that speaks to brokenness and resilience. It is everything difficult and lovely. I am also at the very embryonic stages of learning and pursuing getting my play Tied on Broadway. Talk about audacious, but dreaming big is my favorite pastime. Tied was named Best New Play by the Houston Press in 2023. It will be produced in New Jersey in the summer of 2024 and in the spring of 2025 in Chicago. I’m learning about investors, venue rentals in NYC, everything I can get my little hands on. It stars Jason Carmichael who was named Best Actor for his role in Tied which just tickles me. Code Feet is the next kid out of the womb in the workshop process. It had a lovely festival presentation at the A.D. Players New Works Festival about 2 or 3 years ago and since then has been through the wringer to get it ready for a possible sharing in 2025. It has tap dancing, music, and puppets in it. I also have a few pieces being produced in the Touring Education series at The Ensemble Theatre in Houston and at times am blessed to get to share puppetry with incarcerated youth through Brave Little Company and Young Audiences. I’m working on a new script with Ray Wiley and a very rough draft of it will be shared in the fall of 2024 the working title is Sam Saves the Day which features puppets and family friendly fun.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I drove some 16 hours from Abilene to St. Louis to audition for the touring production of Lion King the Musical. It was the only time in my life I ever wanted to be cast as a baboon. The “Thank You.” I got from the little guy behind the white plastic table sent me home early and back down the road in tears. It was then that I decided I would write, produce, and be in my own plays. No’s are gifts. I would figure out how to harness my defiant spirit sooner. I would look for walls to climb, giants to slay, and people better than me to spar with. I would have gotten better at acting and writing faster if I had let myself get scuffed up sooner. My advice: get scuffed up.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
I’m a person of faith so the Bible is important. I want to be a wise little old lady one day so I spend a lot of time in Proverbs. I enjoyed The One Thing by Gary Keller, also making the top list right now is Oversubscribed by Daniel Priestly, and The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ Demarco. I will say though that De Marco’s book is a little crude. It’s like a business book for the boy’s locker room or a local fan favorite bar where they throw the peanut shells on the floor and pretty girls in tiny shorts bring you fermented drinks. Lastly, anything written by Suzan Lori-Parks wins hands down every time.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.crystalraeproductions.com
- Instagram: crystalraeprod
- Facebook: Crystal Rae
- Youtube: Crystal Rae Productions
Image Credits
Justin Taplet (headshot with earrings) Darreather Wiley (Crystal Rae with Granny puppet)
