KING & I's Kelli O'Hara Talks Broadway Success: 'I'm Not an American Idol Type Singer'

By: Apr. 24, 2015
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In a new interview with Variety, Kelli O'Hara, who stars as 'Anna' in the current revival of The King and I on Broadway, looks back on her early career, including her 1999 national tour of Frank Wildhorn's "Jekyll and Hyde."

Reflecting on her audition for the touring company back then, O'Hara shares, "Jason Howland, who's now the musical director on "Beautiful" on Broadway, was Frank Wildhorn's right-hand man. I owe Jason a lot. It was an audition for a pop musical, but I came in with something from an operetta. I got a callback, which was actually a work session with Jason, who coached me. He saw I could do more of a pop feel; he would say, "Can you do this? Can you try this?" Jason worked a lot with me, and gave me a chance."

Asked how theater has changed since then, the 5-time Tony nominee offers, "I don't know how kids do it today. They can't get seen (for an audition), and if they get in, they are told, "Give me eight bars." People are looking for that money note. I'm not an "American Idol" type singer; I don't have that one note to make people fall out of their chairs. If I have only eight bars, I won't get the job. With my voice, I need to tell a story. I wouldn't be here today if the world had worked that way then."

Read the article in full here.

O'Hara's theater credits include LCT: South Pacific (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations), The Light in the Piazza (Tony, OCC noms.). Broadway: The Bridges of Madison County (Tony, DD, Drama League, OCC noms.), Nice Work If You Can Get It (Tony, DD, DL, OCC, Fred Astaire Award noms.), The Pajama Game (Tony, DD, OCC noms.), Sweet Smell of Success, Follies, Dracula, Jekyll & Hyde. Metropolitan Opera: The Merry Widow.

Off-Broadway/concerts credits include My Fair Lady, Carousel (Avery Fisher Hall/NY Philharmonic); Far From Heaven, My Life With Albertine (Playwrights Horizons);King Lear (Public); Bells Are Ringing (Encores!). Film: Sex and the City 2, Scorsese'sThe Key to Reserva.

TV credits include "Peter Pan Live!," "Blue Bloods," "Numb3rs," "The Kennedy Center Honors," PBS live appearances. Solo albums: Always, Wonder in the World(Ghostlight Records).



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