The Writing Life
Frazee began her writing
career by listening to stories from her grandmother--stories of growing up on a farm in Illinois in the early 1900s, stories of relatives long lost,
and stories created while sitting on her porch swing. At the age of 12, Frazee secretly
looked in her sister's journal (sorry Robin!). It was here that Patti
saw her sister's beautiful and often sad poetry. It inspired Patti to
write her own poems... which never compared to those of her sister.
Throughout Patti's K-12
experience, teachers often encouraged her to write. She was given the
honor of going to a state journalism competition in her senior year. By college, she was engaged in a theatre career
and left writing behind. It wasn't until she met some key people in
Minneapolis that she returned to writing--Jane Rice, a
retired teacher and former Board member of the Loft Literary Center, and Julie Neraas, a professor in the Graduate
Liberal Studies Program at Hamline University.
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The
Theatre Life
Frazee appeared in several productions at the
University of Nebraska/Kearney and received a Best Supporting Actress
award from Alpha Psi Omega, the theatre honorary. She also appeared in various productions
in Omaha at the Upstairs Dinner Theatre,
the Dundee Dinner Theater, and the Omaha Community Playhouse where she
was nominated for an Omaha Theatre Arts Guild award for Best Supporting
Actress in House of Blue Leaves.
Frazee's background in theatre includes work in administration at the
Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
A
desire to pursue professional theatre eventually took Frazee to
Minneapolis where she tired of the theatre life and decided to take a year off from acting.
She never
went back. Several years later, she realized where her creativity should
be directed and returned to grad school.
Frazee's theatre experience
played a major part in the development of Cirkus.
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