KIMBERLY WHALEN
Kimberly Whalen currently stars as 'Luisa' in the Off-Broadway musical The Fantasticks playing at the Snapple Theater Center.
Birthday 2/27 (same as Elizabeth Taylor).
Place of birth Dallas, Texas.
Currently living in New York City.
Did you go to training school, if so which one?
I went all over for my education. First I was at the prestigious Collin College in Plano studying Music and Theatre then I moved to NY and went to Marymount Manhattan for a semester, and then I moved back to TX and attained my BFA from The University of Texas at Arlington.
As an actor, do you have a preference for stage, tv or film?
I truly enjoy them all and want to perform in all three arenas. They each allow you to express a character differently and I like the challenge of going back and forth.
Your first stage performance?
My first stage performance, that I remember, was in Elementary School for our talent show. Another girl and I sang “At The Hop” and dressed in 50’s clothes. We didn’t win. My first show was, A Christmas Carol at South Garland H.S. I was a caroler and only crossed the stage three times in the whole production.
Can you briefly tell us how you became involved with The Fantasticks?
In April 2008, Casa Manana Theatre in Fort Worth, Tx. called and asked if I could come audition for their June 2008 Production of The Fantasticks, starring Lorenzo Llamas as El Gallo. Unfortunately, the scheduling did not coincide with my other production schedules. I was in production at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre in Florida as Sophie in Master Class, helmed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, director of the current Broadway revival of Ragtime as well as being in and out of town shooting for Terrence Malick’s upcoming feature, The Tree of Life starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.
With this demanding scheduling, I was unable to make it back in time for the audition. However, the Casa production team called me a few weeks later and inquired of my availability to understudy the role throughout June as the girl they cast in the role would be on her honeymoon and unavailable throughout the rehearsal process. I readily accepted the chance to work with Tom Jones and the whole Fantasticks production team for the brief rehearsal period. After understudying the role, I was offered the chance to understudy the role Off Broadway, but decided to wait to go for the part until the actual role was available. I took that time to pursue the chance at playing various other roles, including the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s newly restored original score of West Side Story as Maria and the DFW premiere of, The Light in the Piazza as Clara. I also took that time to pursue more film work out of Texas.
There were several openings for the role in The Fantasticks in NYC, but our schedules never seemed to work out until this recent month of September, 2009. I had just finished shooting another film and had an open schedule through the holidays. I received the call and, hooray! It finally worked out. I flew up to NYC, auditioned for the producers and booked the role all in the same day.
Can you briefly tell us about the character you play in The Fantasticks?
Luisa is such a wonderful character. She is full of curiosity and passion. As a sixteen year old who has never left the safety of her home, she yern’s for adventure. It’s really one of the rare female roles in musical theatre left that allows you to truly grow from a girl into a woman on stage and that allows you bare your souls truest desires to the audience for the most human connection possible. I love how genuine and pure her thoughts and hopes are. It’s a place I feel everyone can go back to and remember. It’s one of my dream roles.
Career highlight to date.
Working with Terrence Malick.
What has been your most embarrassing moment on stage?
In High School I was in a prestigious show choir called, “The Showboaters”. In our “Big Show”, as we called it, at the end of the year, I was singing a couple of solos. On one of them I decided to be cool and enter rising out of the pit on stairs with fog and such. I was singing Barracuda by Heart and as I finished up the song and thought I was so smooth exiting back down, I tripped on the second step and face planted into the pit in front of the entire student body, their parents and all of my teachers. I was mortified. Looking back watching the video, it’s hilarious, but I remember being so ashamed.
What roles would you most like to play?
Honestly I would like to step into the shoes of a character that has yet to be created. There are so many amazing roles on Broadway I would love to play, but I love the challenge of creating something that’s never been done. That’s one of the things I like about film because each role is usually brand new.
To list a few that I would like to play: Sharon McLonergan, Finian's Rainbow; Cinderella, Into the Woods; Nellie Forbush, South Pacific ;Christine, Phantom of the Opera; Glenda, Wicked,; For the future: Edie/Big Edie, Grey Gardens; Margaret in The Light in the Piazza.
I have played Julie Jordan and Clara on stage and they are two of my favorite characters to play. If Carousel or The Light in the Piazza ever revived or if there was a new movie musical done for either, I would leap at the chance to play them again. Or if Tim Burton were to direct Into the Woods as a film I would want to play Cinderella. That would be amazing
Who are your Favourite actors?
Vivian Lee, Lucille Ball, Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep, Daniel Day Lewis, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Depp, Ralph Fiennes and Sean Penn.
What is the most annoying part about your job?
Not being able to make permanent plans for anything for fear it may conflict with an opportunity or schedule.
If you hadn’t become a performer, what might you have done instead?
A makeup artist, veterinarian (I love animals) or a psychologist.
If you could meet anyone in the world dead or alive who would it be and what would you say to them?
Jesus. I would say, “thank you”.
Favourite after-show haunts
I am such a homebody, I rarely go out after shows unless friends come to visit or it’s a special occasion. If I do, I love Max Brenner. I am a sweets nut, so its heaven.
What was the last book you read, and name some of your favourite authors?
I am so behind on the popular books to read, I just finished The Lovely Bones. I could not put it down; one of my favorite books is called, Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller, others include To Kill a Mockingbird and the collection of The Chronicles of Narnia. They are so magical.
What was the last film you saw, and name some of your favourite movies?
I checked Onegin out at the library. It came out in 1999, but I had never seen it. I really liked it and Ralph Fiennes is in it, he is an amazing actor. Some of my favorite movies are: 500 Days of Summer, Garden State, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, E.T., The Wizard of Oz, The Holiday, Edward Scissorhands, Finding Neverland, Legend of the Fall, There Will Be Blood, Gone With the Wind, The Fall, Pride and Prejudice, Casablanca, Willy Wonka, Young Frakenstein, Waiting for Guffman, Clue and Fight Club.
Favourite TV programs
The Office, I Love Lucy and That 70’s Show.
Favourite holiday destinations
Cozumel.
Do you have any hobbies?
Painting, Drawing and Health (I am obsessed with reading up on health and natural remedies and such).
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three items would you take with you?
My cell phone, sunscreen and Fiancée.
What are your future plans?
I plan on getting married sometime next year, May or at the latest September. As for my career, I hope to have one reminiscent of Hugh Jackman, doing Theatre and Film almost simultaneously.
Do you have any superstitions?
Not really. I hate walking over the grates on the sidewalk in New York. I always think that one will be loose and I will go plummeting into a sewer. Scary!
Questions by Alan Bird
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