We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Megan Karr. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Megan below.
Hi Megan , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Lauren and I both came to find our purposes through different circumstances, but the drive behind those circumstances is the same for us both. We both grew up participating in theater both at school and in after-school theater arts programs. However, our faith in Jesus is what gives us our purpose in life. As Christians, our chief end is to glorify God, serve Him, enjoy Him for eternity, and to love others while teaching truth. We believe that theater and theology (the study of God) can be intertwined because every story points back to the story of Scripture. That is our purpose, and Jesus is how we found it. In knowing Christ, He has made it abundantly clear that this is what we should be doing; training the next generation as masterful storytellers who share the light of Christ.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
We began our official journey in 2019, but God was working in the hearts and minds of Lauren and me long before we made the official jump in starting this non-profit. We met in the fall of 2017 while both attending Dallas Theological Seminary to obtain Master’s degrees in Media Arts and Worship (Lauren Hensarling) and Christian Education (Megan Karr). A dream of Lauren’s and a passion of Megan’s came to fruition with immense prayer and quite a few leaps of faith.
Programs began with a musical theatre summer camp for PreK and elementary school children in 2019. Unfortunately, COVID-19 hit and we had to cancel most of our programming in 2020-2021.
We jumped back in the summer of 2021 with two musical theatre summer camps for kindergarten to 8th-grade students. Since then, we have successfully produced three full-scale musical productions, one play, one masterclass, multiple workshops, and two more summers of camp. We are in the middle of our production of Cinderella with a cast of thirty-nine 4th-10th grade students and a Masterclass with forty-one 1st-5th graders. Registration for our spring production of Mary Poppins and our Out to Sea Masterclass will open soon. (Be on the lookout!) We anticipate 100+ students to register for programs this spring.
We welcome any student who would like to participate in programming and have a scholarship application available to anyone for whom the tuition rates are too high. In addition, our production performances are open to the public and we do our best to keep our ticket prices low so they are accessible and available to anyone in our surrounding community. This leaves an open door for our community to regularly hear the gospel masterfully proclaimed through story!
Starting fall of 2023, Bright Lights offers a high school girls’ Bible Study free of charge. We want to provide a place for our high schoolers to continue growing in their ability to stand firm in their faith daily. We will encourage one another as we talk about what it means to live out our Christian beliefs and values, particularly in the theatre world and in light of what they are experiencing every day.
Lauren and I absolutely love what we do and that we get to do it together. These past few years have been some of the best years of our lives and we are excited to see what God has in store next for Bright Lights.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
A few qualities I think Lauren and I would both look back on as impactful are our work ethic and perseverance. Both of these characteristics are huge when beginning (and continuing) any journey. The age-old saying “anything worth having comes with hard work” is absolutely true. Growing up, my dad used to say, “If it was easy, everyone would do it.” I think that rings true here. Some moments are challenging, but you have to persevere. One way to persevere is by surrounding yourself with good people who deeply care about you. Lauren and I are thankful that we have those people, and ultimately our relationship with Christ, to lean on during harder times.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
We are always looking for people to collaborate with us! Bright Lights runs primarily on contract workers who are hired to teach certain classes, camps, or direct to certain shows. We are looking for people who love children and students and can manage a classroom. They must adhere to our core values and core beliefs since we teach our students from that worldview. We would love to hear from you if you think you would be a good fit!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.brightlightstheatre.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightlightstheatretx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightlightstheatretx
