Kandi Brings Out Sweetness in her Dixie Alter Ego

Kandi Krumins is all sweetness and light
 as the fun former nun, Jeri Neal McFeeley

Kandi Krumins’ character in the Dixie Swim Club is Jeri Neal McFeeley, a former nun who has been called a “ditzy ray of sunshine.”  Kandi admits that she “struggled, at first, to find Jeri Neal.  In real life, ditzy women rather annoy me, and sometimes Jeri Neal says some things that sound ditzy. However, she's just naive.  I had to learn to give her a break, love her for who and what she is, and watch her grow into herself.”  

Kandi brings creativity and imagination to her portrayal of Jeri Neal, whose character really matures (literally and emotionally) during the course of the play.  Jeri Neal goes from pregnant nun, to unwed mother, to the bride of a younger man during the course of the play.  And with each scene, Jeri Neal grows up a little more.  As Kandi says, “Jeri Neal is the positive thinker in the group that's full of sunshiny love.  She's also the late bloomer in the group, off to a later start than her friends, but continually makes choices throughout the show that surprise them.  What I enjoy most about Jeri Neal is her ‘cup is half full’ way of looking at life.  No matter what happens, she ends up being positive; the one who reminds everyone about the good in life.”

Kandi’s own positive outlook is a great fit for Jeri Neal, and sometimes it’s hard to know who is rubbing off on whom.  Kandi “believes that if you truly ‘get into’ a character, you have the ability to take some part of that character with you and incorporate it, if you choose, into your own personality.  That said, the more I play Jeri Neal, the more I'm thrilled to have gotten her role!  I think that most of us could use a little more Jeri Neal in our lives.  I hope to keep as much of her alive as possible when the show's over.”

Kandi “wanted to be in the Dixie Swim Club because they are a diverse group that loves each other despite their differences.”  She finds it “humorous that the cast seems to be as diverse in real life as we are on stage, but that we still have a great bond.  In many ways it feels like we HAVE known each other our whole lives.  As we have spent increasingly more time together, the show has come more and more to life. Playing off my fellow cast members' emotions has become a rush.  I also find it humorous how Tim and Rick, being fine actors themselves, have become more of our ‘coach’ and ‘assistant coach’ than director and assistant director. After voluntarily directing a cast consisting of five diverse, headstrong women (and we are), they both deserve medals of their own.”

Kandi last graced the Barn stage a year ago as the adult Jean Louise Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird.

The Dixie Swim Club runs through October 27th.  Reserved seats for this comedy sponsored by Mall, Malisow & Cooney, P.C. are available now at www.farmingtonplayers.org or at the box office (248) 553-2955. Find us on Facebook under “Farmington Players.”