Meet Cyndi Monroe | Founder and Executive Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cyndi Monroe and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cyndi, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
It is interesting to reflect on my thought process before I founded Christian Arts and Theatre. I never intended to start a business. Who did I think I was, anyway? I was a stay-at-home mom with four sons, ages 6 to 16. We were a Little League family, deeply involved with our church and school. However, it was a time when all the arts were being eliminated from schools due to budget cuts. I thought, wouldn’t it be great if we could offer children arts programming after school? I never intended to be the one to make that happen. I just knew how important the arts—music, dance, and acting—could be in the life of a child.

So, I started talking about it with people—others in my community, people I had done theater work with, those who understood the value of arts for families and children. Everyone thought it was a fantastic idea, but when I said, “Okay, you do it. You start it,” they would look back at me and say, “No, Cyndi, it’s your vision. It’s your passion—you do it.”

My passion? I was lucky to get the laundry done, the socks folded and put away, dinner on the table, book reports and dioramas completed, Little League practice—you know, everyday stuff. But there were enough people who said, “Okay, Cyndi, I’ll come along and help you. I don’t want to be in charge, but I’ll help you.”

We began with word of mouth. I gathered a few volunteers, and we started with 40 kids in four classes. I found space at a local church that allowed us to use their classrooms during the weekdays. If I’m honest, it was a bit terrifying. I had no idea what I was doing. I lived in fear that people would find out how clueless I was. But I was enthusiastic. I had a vision for what we could become, and I was blessed because the right kind of people caught my vision and joined me in this venture.

Now, it’s 25 years later, and 30,000 kids have participated in our program. I have witnessed children’s lives transformed, families restored, and children who once felt “less than” become confident, magnificent human beings.

In retrospect, I can say I never intended to start my own business. I am, in fact, an accidental executive director. It’s been an amazing journey of trial and error, extravagant joy, and ridiculous mistakes. Yet somehow, inexplicably, here I am, still standing. I can say with absolute certainty that CAT continues to thrive because I held fast to the passion, the vision, and the truth that what we were doing as an organization was so necessary and important for my community.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The interesting thing about my art is that while I pursue excellence in everything I attempt to do I come at it from a place of organic interest. I do not have a college degree. I never took theater classes, voice classes, acting classes as a child. I loved performing in my bedroom with a hairbrush for my mic fully believing I was the next Barbra Streisand. My upbringing in Southern Calif was very very middle class. I know Los Angeles was just down the freeway but we rarely went to museums or plays or the ballet. My only live theater experience was when once my mother took me to see Camelot with Rex Harrison at the Carousel Theater in the round in Anaheim. I loved it but outside of performing in high school plays and church plays I can’t say I had any great experience. When I found myself the artistic director of CAT. I was terrified because I knew so little. Was it hard? Ridiculously hard. Challenging? My catch phrase with my staff and volunteers,, when everything was going wrong (and it often did) was, “Its just the way we like it.”. I would lean into my faith, put on my best cheerleader smile and rally everyone to push forward, I realized early on that I knew more than I thought. I knew kids needed to feel valued. Kids needed to be taught to build confidence, learn to respect adults and their peers. Kids needed to understand team work and how to k keep commitments. I knew kids could be greater than they ever thought they could and that we should teach them wonderful skills and produce stellar shows but helping to mold them into future contributing citizens was the foundation we laid for CAT. Yes, we want to teach great auditioning skills but not many will use them to audition for theater in their future, They will, however, use those skills to ace a job interview or make a board room presentation. Grown up CAT kids may never use their tap or musical theater dance skills but they are more likely to live a life staying physically active, Kids may never grow up to pursue theater or be in a show cast again but they truly understand how to be a contributing member of a project whether its a civic committee, an organized church program or a parent teaching all his kids to help around the house. I know when kids are given boundaries, high expectations, respect , kindness and encouragement they can be beyond wonderful. CAT has always been a welcoming place for all sorts of kids. The quirky kids who don’t seem to fit anywhere else find their people but so do the athletes, the nerds, the supposedly cool kids. We love them all, and teach them to love each other, We help the older kids mentor the Littles who look up to them. I m aware that for some kids CAT is the first place, especially the younger children, where they discover that life is not always fair. It might be the first time but they don’t get exactly what they want like being cast in the main stage show or earn the part they want for example. and I spend a lot of time talking with parents (who are really mad at me that their little darling who will be the next Beyonce or Jeremy Jordan was not cast) how to deal with that disappointment, how not to tell their children that CAT is not the worst place in the world but rather if it’s important to them they’ll try harder next time, work on the areas that are weaknesses, and develop a healthy work ethic but never forget performing arts are fun and important. try their hardest and not give up and understand. And as I have built up CAT over the past 25 years, I have learned that too,

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love this. I often say that Corona is the center of the universe. Lets say my best friend, Ellen, is visiting from Santa Fe, NM, and we have a week full of exciting plans:

Day 1: Today, we’re going to Glen Ivy Hot Springs in Corona. Glen Ivy offers natural hot springs to soak in, and their famous Club Mud, which combines the detoxifying benefits of local red clay with geothermal mineral water. We’ll enjoy the natural clay mud pool and visit the Grotto, an underground cave where you can experience a neck-to-toe treatment with warm aloe vera, eucalyptus, and shea butter. We’ll float in the beautiful swimming pools for as long as we want. The grounds are gorgeous, with bougainvillea, Mediterranean plants, and mountains surrounding you, making you feel like you’re truly on vacation. Massages, facials, a delicious lunch beside the pool, adult beverages—everything a person could want for an absolutely full-on pampering day. Afterwards, we’ll head to Dos Lagos, a local hotspot, to enjoy an outdoor concert in the amphitheater.

Day 2: We’ll make the 35-minute drive to Disneyland to spend the day. Why? Because it’s Disneyland!

Day 3: We’ll head up—yes, up!—to the beautiful San Bernardino Mountains, where, in less than one hour, we could be having brunch at Belgian Waffle Works right on Lake Arrowhead. It’s not to be missed. Then, we’ll explore the charming little Arrowhead Village and take in the beauty of the mountains.

Day 4: We’ll travel east to the desert, just a short one-hour drive away. From the desert floor, we’ll take the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway on a 10-minute, 2.5-mile trip to the most beautiful Alpine forest. Since I am not a desert girl, this is perfect for me. At the top of the tram, there are 50 miles of hiking trails in the forest. After a day of hiking, we’ll be rewarded with dinner at Peaks Restaurant along with delicious adult beverages to soothe our aching feet.

Day 5: It’s time to visit the famous beaches of SoCal, again just a 45-minute drive away. There are so many gorgeous beaches to choose from, but I especially love Newport Beach.

Day 6: Discover Corona! We’ll explore the mile-long, perfect-circle avenue that led Corona to be called the “Circle City” when auto races were held here from 1913 to 1916. Inside the circle are beautifully restored Victorian homes, like Lemonia Grove. This home was built in the 1800s, with the original carriage house still intact, all sitting on beautiful 5-acre gardens. We’ll visit the Corona Heritage Park, which celebrates the time when Corona was the lemon capital of the country. From there, we’ll head to the historic Corona Civic Center, on the National Historic Registry. The civic buildings are celebrating their 100th year. We’ll tour the CAT classes, rehearsal space, dance rooms, and black box theater. After the CAT tour, we’ll make a quick (and delicious) stop at a Corona icon—Miguel’s Mexican Cantina, founded by Mike and Mary Vasquez in 1973. No visit to Corona is complete without a Miguel’s Original Burrito. For a final Corona experience, we’ll return to the Corona Civic Theater for a fully staged Broadway show by CAT, like Mary Poppins in mid-November.

Day 7: Sleep.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My shout-out could literally go to dozens, if not hundreds, of people—those who encouraged me at the beginning to start CAT, those who have patiently served on my board despite my lack of knowledge and business acumen, and the volunteer parents who have given countless hours of their time to support their kids and CAT. All of them deserve recognition and credit, but there is one above all others.

On Friday, September 30th, 2022, I was just concluding our big CAT gala. It was a fancy ballroom event with 250 people dressed to the nines, much hilarity, and money raised to support CAT. I was so happy it was over, and I couldn’t wait to take my shoes off and crawl into bed to sleep for the next 30 hours after such a big event. Suddenly, one of my volunteers grabbed my arm and pulled me into a small side room. It was crowded with people, all staring at me. I kept saying, “What’s going on? I just want to go home. I’m fine.”

The next thing I know, EMTs and firemen are crashing into the room. One EMT checked my blood pressure and said, “Your blood pressure is 286/170. Why are you not dead?” I was immediately bundled into an ambulance and taken to the hospital, where I was told I was having a massive stroke. I spent six days in the ICU before being transferred to a rehabilitation hospital, where I spent five weeks learning to speak, walk, and use my left arm again. I was told repeatedly that it was a miracle, that I shouldn’t have survived, and yet here I am.

I spent a full year in recovery. My education director, Hollee, stepped up to become the artistic director. My four sons immediately stepped up to help care for me, even though all of them live a great distance away and have families of their own. The CAT families brought meals for months and drove me to physical therapy and doctor appointments. They cleaned my house and watched over me like a huge loving family. We had barely survived the destructive COVID years, and now this. But through it all, I knew that I was going to be okay because God, Himself, protected me. There were thousands of people praying for me. I have far exceeded all my doctors’ expectations for recovery, and now I’m back to work nearly full-time. I’m driving, and I’m again doing the things that I love at CAT. It’s all due to God’s faithfulness and protection over me. I am blessed beyond measure by God’s goodness and love.

Unequivocally, God gets my shout-out.

Website: https://www.CATCorona.org

Instagram: @catofcorona

Facebook: CAT-Christian Arts & Theatre

Youtube: CAT Corona

Image Credits
portrait shot – Sharon Vidano
theater shots – Rachel Solerio