BWW Blog: Kathryn Mowat Murphy - Catching Up

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Well hello again, it's been a while since my last blog and my only reason is that I really didn't have a lot to say. I figured I wasn't just going to make stuff up or ramble on just for the sake to have a blog entry. Today was the day to write so here it is......

It's the end of summer; I had a decent one. I had a birthday...( a big one) In my last blog I told you that I was going to be doing a couple of gigs. The one with the pop singer was postponed until further notice as the lady in question had another event pop up. She was very sweet and called me personally to apologize and even offered to pay me for saying yes. I was floored at the offer as who does that anymore? As far as I am concerned whenever she wants to work with me I am there with bells on.

I did a lot of teaching in the first part of the summer at Steps on Broadway, which is always fun. I also taught for the School at Steps summer intensive program. My faith in the youngish was reinstated as these kids were wonderful. Those who wanted to make performing a career really had the commitment and the discipline and even those who were still on the fence were just as passionate. It was a pleasure and I thank Debbie Roshe for giving me the opportunity to fill in for her.

This took me right up to the point when I left for my "Chicago" stint at the Sacramento Music Circus. I was to be Mona but at the last minute they asked if I could be Hunyak. I had covered the role on tour and always enjoyed the challenge. What I love about Hunyak is you have to be able to communicate to the audience her intention not only through a foreign language but the smallest amount of dialogue. I was also the associate Choreographer to Randy Slovacek. I love working with this man. He is talented, funny, kind and generous and loves chardonnay as much as I do. It's a win win situation.

I flew to Las Vegas where Randy lives a few days before the start of rehearsals in Sacramento so we could work on the choreography and figure out the logistics of putting the show in the round. The round!!!! Eeek! Little did I know what a mind spin it would be. The Sacramento music circus is an incredible venue, not only is the stage round it revolves, has different sections of the stage rise and fall and has the ability to fly in a cage. You also feel like you are having a slight stroke when you go in from the rehearsal hall to the stage. Everything is just slightly off. You feel disorientated and drunk. The problem is (and this is how I justified my difficulty with it) the rehearsal hall is a round stage in a square building whereas the stage is a round stage in a round building. For some reason when you go from the rehearsal hall to the stage your internal compass goes eschew. Now if it had just been me then I would say ok as I have always been a bit directionally challenged, but the company as a whole collectively went to where they thought they should be. Randy looked at us all and said 'Kat they are all in the wrong place' I looked at him and very confidently said 'nope, we are right' we went back and forth on this for about 30 seconds. The company now was starting to question themselves as was I but we still held on to the hope that we were in the right position. Randy then took me by my hand and led me to the rehearsal hall. There he pointed out my mistake. Once he had gotten through to me I quietly said 'well, we must never rehearse in here again' to which he replied 'never' This is why I love Randy, he is kind and patient and allows me to make mistakes and gently shows me what is right without any anger or frustration, only love.

We managed to get the show up in 6 days. The entire company was fabulous, seasoned professionals most were over 40 and fierce amazingly talented people.

I was dance captain also, this was the easiest gig I had ever been given. I think I gave ten notes total in the whole run with seven of them telling the company how awesome they were. Oh what joy to work with grownups who know what is expected and love what they do. Special mention to the crew for without them we all would have been running around wide eyed and crazy as if we were in an episode of I love Lucy. I would work there again in a heartbeat; Glenn Casale Artistic Director, Scott Klier Executive Producer and Mandy Oglesby casting director and the entire staff are a wonderfully supportive team.

I am back in New York and back to working on KatMoJAM . I have just become an LLC and will be working on growing and developing the brand. Classes are on and we are sweating and smiling. Go to www.katmojam.com for information. I will of course s be dancing, singing and acting. I have been cast in a new musical reading this October with a workshop of it to be done in February. My characters name is 'Kitten' ?

I will be back at Steps subbing Jazz and Theater so stay tuned to my facebook page for times and dates. Otherwise I will see you in class with Willy Burmann or Debbie Roshe.

In the meantime happy fall.

Photo Credits: Aaron Felske, Charr Crail, Aaron Felske.



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