Six Shows, One Home: Keenan France and the Wayne Community
There’s something special about seeing the same actor walk through the Wayne Theatre doors again and again. Audiences begin to recognize them, fellow artists know the joy of sharing a stage with them, and somewhere along the way, they stop feeling like a guest and start feeling like part of the family. For Keenan France, Children of Eden marked his sixth consecutive production at the Wayne.
Keenan’s journey to the Wayne—and to theatre—wasn’t exactly a straight line.
His first introduction to theatre came through Tyler Perry’s stage plays, but it was the 2005 film Rent that opened the door to musical theatre. He began exploring musicals like The Phantom of the Opera, The Wiz, Sweeney Todd, Jekyll & Hyde, and Hairspray. Music had always been part of his life; he taught himself piano and drums before discovering his singing voice in college and eventually performing in Christopher Durang’s Titanic.
Then he stepped away from the stage for nearly a decade.
“I always told myself that I would return when the time was right,” Keenan says. “I just didn’t know when that would be.”
Then he saw that the Wayne was holding auditions for Rent. The musical that first introduced him to musical theatre became the production that brought him back to the stage—and ultimately, to Waynesboro. After that first experience at the Wayne, Keenan made the decision to move to Waynesboro, putting down roots in the community that had welcomed him back to theatre.
Since then, Keenan has played Jean-Michel in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Rod in Singin’ in the Rain, Carol Singer in Scrooge!, William Elliot in Persuasion, and most recently Adam/Noah in Children of Eden.
But six shows later, what keeps bringing him back isn’t simply the opportunity to perform.
“I’ve found a family, built some incredibly close friendships, collaborated with artists who continually challenge and inspire me, and discovered new sides of myself as a performer,” he says.
“It’s the people, the creativity, the community, and the opportunity to keep learning."
That sense of community is central to what the staff and performers strive to create at the Wayne.
The theatre’s commitment to consent-based theatre and actor safety is an integral part of the artistic process. Creating together requires trust, vulnerability, collaboration, and care. When artists feel comfortable bringing their whole selves into the room—asking questions, setting boundaries, experimenting, and trying again—they have the freedom to create work that is honest and meaningful to both themselves and the audience.
Keenan brings his own considerable talents to that community. He is a University of Virginia Wise graduate with a Bachelor of Science with a major in psychology and a minor in music, and he is a multi-instrumentalist with a lifelong passion for the arts. Offstage, Keenan enjoys time with his family, his girlfriend Cleo, playing music, gaming, and hanging out with his dog, Jax.
Six shows in, Keenan is more than an actor who has appeared on the theatre’s stage six times. He is part of the Wayne community—and the theatre is grateful that an audition for Rent became the beginning of a journey that brought him back to the stage, to Waynesboro, and to the Wayne.
