Watch out, Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Aaron Dean and Jason Rico at the first reading of 'ESCAPE...'

"Trade a coffee shop for a dive bar."

The last of our new five to make a blog appearance is Kate Holst. Kate makes the trains run on time, but she also tries to make the trains party trains. She isn't on board with Battlestar Galactica yet, so instead I'll speak her language and make a Deadwood reference: "This is her f*#^king blog entry, pardner."

Bloggtastic! Alright kids – I’m Kate, formally Katie, sometimes K-Ho. I’ve known Allison since we were in High School and the word on the street is hated one another for a majority of it. Seriously though, we didn't really become friends until we worked on our senior year production of Kiss Me Kate (I only wish I had a picture to include here).

[Editor's note: Kate -- you're welcome.]

After that our friendship was sealed after many conversations about where the best spinach and artichoke dip existed in Grand Rapids and whether or not one should eat it with chips or bread. Today we prefer pita bread, never fries.

So yeah…I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan (well Jenison, but Grand Rapids is much more interesting, trust me or ask Allison) and for me Chicago was the place I always wanted to be. When I was a freshman in High School my teacher asked us to write a paper about where we saw ourselves when we were 30 years old. Mine said that I would be living in Chicago, working in the theatre and married to an Art History Professor. We would eat Chinese food on the floor of our studio apartment and hang out at our favorite coffee shop on the weekends. My teacher told me that it was a bit idealistic, but he wished me luck. So here I am being a bit idealistic and not quite 30. For clarity's sake I think I should mention that a few key differences to this earlier plan: not married, no longer think Chinese food is the most exotic or interesting thing to eat, and trade a coffee shop for a dive bar.

My mom also likes to tell a particularly silly little story about bringing me on a trip to Chicago when I was twelve years old - I begged her to take me to the Art Institute immediately. Apparently, I couldn’t bear to be close to a Picasso without seeing it in person. My mom can be a bit dramatic in its retelling, however the truth is The Old Guitarist still has this affect on me when I am at the museum.

Needless to say, I have always been interested in art in its many forms and have been passionate about finding my place in this world for as long as I can remember. I didn’t start working in theatre until the end of high school and didn’t get to Chicago until just a few months ago – however I know that this is the place for me, even if (as they say in Avenue Q) it is only for now.

Kate Holst is a Chicago based theater professional and artist, and is one of the newest members of The Ruckus. She's worked with theater companies all over the country, from The Alliance in Atlanta to Vermont's Weston Playhouse and many in between. She's currently the Audience Services Manager at Evanston's Next Theatre and is working her way through all of Chicago's dive bars and spinach dips.