Page 20 - MidWeek - May 12, 2021

20 MIDWEEK MAY 12, 2021
Young Star Dreams Of A Life On Broadway
FROM PAGE 13
Nancy, who serves as the- ater operations coordinator at Punahou — realized their daughter was serious about a career in musical theater, they “became my biggest supporters.”
really shy and tentative at first, and I was also nervous about change and trying new things.
“Hearing that from him was just amazing! I mean I’d hear that a lot from my
Not surprisingly, her num- ber of admirers grows by the day. Within the ranks is Broadway veteran and Tony Award-winning actor Sutton Foster, whom Kailee first met while in middle school and whom the teenager has always viewed as a beacon of encouragement.
“But Sutton changed the game for me. Just learning to say yes to opportunity really helped to get me out there, to try new things and to audition for fun and not be too worried about it.”
“I’ ve always looked up to Sutton because I love her positive attitude in musical theater,” gushes Kailee, a former Shooting Star with Diamond Head Theatre who landed her first big role in DHT’s White Christmas in 2014. “One of her sayings that I usually come back to is, ‘Say yes to opportunity.’ Growing up, I was really ner- vous of stepping out there. I was really personable once I met someone, but I was also
Another of Kailee’s staunchest advocates
is accomplished mu-
sical director and conductor Michael Rafter. They first met during a musical theater camp in New York City when she was 11, and since that en- counter, Rafter has evolved into her most-trusted mentor.
parents, but I always figured they were just being support- ive and nice,” Kailee contin- ues. “But when a man who’s working with people like Sutton Foster tells you that you have a good voice, well, that makes an impression.”
(Inset) Kailee Brandt has appeared in 17 musicals since 2014, including last year’s production of Singin’ In The Rain. (Above) Aside from her singing talents, the teenager has a background in dance forms such as ballet, jazz and tap.
got the chops to succeed. Thankfully, her big plans for the future have come with loads of preparation. Aside from years of experience as a dancer in hula, ballet, jazz and tap, she continues to hone her singing and acting skills un- der the watchful eyes of Tony Award-winning vocal coach Joan Lader and acting coach
“I’ ll never forget what he said to me then. He told me, ‘Wow! You have an incred- ible voice as a little girl,’ ” recalls Kailee, who at age 13 landed the role of Jane Banks in Mary Poppins, a musical staged in New York with a professional equity cast.
Ultimately, Kailee knows that if she’s going to wind up at the “top of the heap,” as Ol’ Blue Eyes Frank Sinatra once sang, she’ ll need more than just influential sup- porters; she’ ll need to show Broadway producers she’s
recalls Kailee. “I’ ve never played a character like this — someone who was older, was keeping a secret and was a bad girl. I’ve always been a goody two-shoes!”
ing at the memory. “I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh! I’ m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that!’ I was so worried that I had ruined the entire day.
The young singer and actor has received timely advice from Broadway veteran Sutton Foster, at left, and musical director and conductor Michael Rafter. PHOTOS COURTESY RANDY BRANDT
“When I first got the script, I was like, ‘I can’t do this,’”
“He goes, ‘Woah, woah, woah! You stepped on my line!’” recalls Kailee, laugh-
Christopher Hanke. Coupled with her al-
That’s the hope, too, for Kailee and her Broadway aspi- rations: that everything will ul- timately turn out to be A-OK.
ways-sunny personality and copious amounts of raw ener- gy, the world could be seeing Kailee’s name in the bright lights of Broadway one day soon.
In pondering her future, the gifted performer can’t help but look back briefly at the reason why she got involved in musical theater. Beyond her love of singing and dancing, she simply wanted to tell “other peoples’ stories.”
“That would be my dream — to have a long career in the performing arts,” she says.
As she explains, “In theater, if you forget your line, you just keep going because you don’t have time to stand there and wait for someone to remember their line. So while filming, I said my line, but after 10 sec- onds, Chi still hadn’t said his. So, I kept going.”
“It’s what attracted me to theater in the first place,” she notes. “It started with hula be- cause dance from the hula is all about sharing and passing on stories. Theater is the same. Every time you’re in a produc- tion, you get to tell a new story and get to become a new per- son and a new character.
Interestingly, Kailee has also found a bit of success be- yond the stage and in front of TV cameras. Two years ago, she landed a small part in an episode of Hawai‘i Five- 0. Initially, she was unsure about successfully pulling off the conniving character she was asked to play.
Suddenly, the veteran ac- tor roared to life.
“That’s why I keep com- ing back to theater and why I love it so much.”
But rather than bailing on the opportunity, she turned to Rafter for advice. His coun- sel helped calm her nerves and soon after, she fully em- braced the challenge. In fact, Kailee grew so comfortable in her role that during the filming of a scene with ac- tor Chi McBride, who plays Capt. Lou Grover in the se- ries, she inadvertently cut him off before he could de- liver his line.
“But he was just joking and everything turned out to be totally fine.”