A Langley-raised actress is touring with the award-winning Broadway show, Beautiful—The Carole King Musical.
Kaylee Harwood, Langley Fine Arts School and Trinity Western University graduate, has taken on a ‘swing’ role in the production, which comes to Vancouver, Nov. 13-18.
“I cover Carole, Cynthia, Carole’s mom and two of the girls in the ensemble. On any given day I can be performing any of those parts and some days I’m not performing at all, and I’m backstage rehearsing.”
In theatre, a swing actor is somebody who rehearses multiple roles in the show and steps in when someone is sick, on vacation, or away for other reasons.
Beautiful is the story of Carole King’s journey from a teenage songwriter to a rock and roll superstar and Harwood has been in the show’s cast since August 2017.
“I really love that, depending on which role I’m performing in the show, I have to see the show through a different set of eyes. When I play Carole, there’s a certain way she looks at the world, and when I play Cynthia, she sees the world almost 180 degrees from Carole.”
Harwood discovered her love of musical theatre when she was a young adult.
At 18, she auditioned for a community theatre production of Cinderella “on a whim,” and got the lead.
“I was hooked. I never wanted to be at work so badly and, of course, for community theatre, I wasn’t being paid. I was so obsessed with it. I had never felt so compelled and wanting to work hard at anything so much as acting before. It really lit a fire under me and I never looked back.”
Harwood calls her fall into theatre a “natural progression,” since she had grown up singing, dancing, and playing piano and guitar.
“Something had awoken in me where I didn’t even know the whole world of musical theatre existed.”
Since Harwood is on an open-ended contract with Broadway Across Canada, she is constantly travelling for work. She said she tries to “find a slice of home” wherever she is.
And she said she is ‘thrilled’ to be performing close to Langley.
“I love Vancouver. It’s an inspiring place to be.”
As for the future, Harwood said she keeps up to date with the theatre industry to ensure she is ready and available when opportunities come along.
“With this job, there’s lots of hopes and dreams and wishes, but being practical and going where the work is and seeing where the show takes you is important. If I swim against the current I won’t get anywhere.”
Beautiful is at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver from Nov. 13 to 18.
Tickets for Beautiful can be purchased online at www.BroadwayAcrossCanada.ca.
