Flight scheduler takes to stage

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap
  • 931st ARG Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  Long before Mindy Whiting moved to Kansas, she wanted to be Dorothy running down the yellow brick road.

She was in the second grade in her hometown of Williamsport, Pa., and young actors were needed for "Christmas in Oz."

"I wanted to be Dorothy so bad," Whiting remembered, playfully slamming her fist down on the table in front of her. But her long, dark hair and self-admitted supply of "spunk" made her the "unanimous" vote to be the Wicked Witch.

The good soldier, she took her broom-flying orders and marched. And she kept on marching; and singing; and performing. In musicals, in chorus, and even in the orchestra strumming her now-missed string bass, all the way up through high school.

Then, just after graduation in 1995, Whiting left for the active-duty Air Force. It was time to see what was beyond her small town in central Pennsylvania, and pick up some money for college along the way.

"It was something I always wanted to do" she said.

A free book cover from a recruiter had Whiting leaning toward the Marines in the ninth grade. But a relative who had been in the Air Force convinced her otherwise.

Today, Tech. Sgt. Miranda "Mindy" Whiting is a Reserve and a civilian flight scheduler for the 18th Air Refueling Squadron, the flying squadron of the 931st Air Refueling Group at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan.

About three months ago, a basewide e-mail caught Sergeant Whiting's attention. A production of "Little Shop of Horrors" needed to fill some singing parts.

"You know that would be fun," she remembered thinking. "I did that in high school and had a blast."

She was cast as Ronette, one of three, girl group-inspired street urchins who sing and sass their way through the play. The first of three shows is scheduled at the base theater Thursday. It will be Whiting's first performance in more than a decade.

Like her string bass, acting, "the challenge to be somebody else," is something she has missed since her Air Force journey began, Whiting said. Becoming Ronette, "letting loose a little bit," is a kind of freedom she has not felt since back in Williamsport.

It's also been more of a challenge than Whiting expected, thanks to her travels from the Northeast to the Midwest.

"It's hard for me to talk like Ronette," she insisted, assuming her street persona as she spoke, "with a lot of attitude and not have a twang at the end."

Once she's off Skid Row, the aptly named setting "Little Shop" characters long to escape, Whiting plans to continue with the newly organized McConnell Players. There is talk of a mystery dinner theater later in the year and other projects.

Sgt. Whiting is not sure what specific roles wait for her down the road. But, living in Kansas, there's always the chance it will be paved with some yellow bricks. 



If You Go
When: April 24, 7:30 p.m.
             April 25, 7:30 p.m.
             April 27, 2 p.m.
             (doors open 30 minutes before showtime)
Where: McConnell Air Force Base Theater
Cost: $5, children 3 and under admitted for free
Tickets available at the Cashier's Cage and Information, Tickets and Tours at the Robert J. Dole Community Center, from members of the cast, or call the McConnell Community Center at (316) 759-4230