Interview: Theatre Life with Kara-Tameika Watkins

Today’s subject Kara-Tameika Watkins is currently living her theatre onstage at Olney Theatre Center in the World Premiere Musical Little Miss Perfect. The show has just been extended to March 15th which means you have even more time to attend a performance. The production plays on Olney Theatre Center's Roberts Mainstage.

Kara has a long association with Olney Theatre Center, having performed in several of their productions over the years. Past credits include Miss You Like Hell, Carmen: An Afro-Cuban Musical, Camelot, and Peter Pan.

Other area credits include Ragtime, Passing Strange, Daphne’s Dive, Dreamgirls, Hairspray, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Light Years at Signature Theatre, Crowns, Smokey Joe’s Café, and The Pajama Game at Arena Stage, Little Shop of Horrors, and Children of Eden at Ford’s Theatre, Once on This Island at Round House Theatre and Caroline or Change at both Studio Theatre and Round House Theatre. You might have also seen her at the Kennedy Center in one of my favorite TYA shows called Finn.

Her regional credits include productions at Totem Pole Playhouse, Barter Theatre, and North Shore Music Theatre.

If you have had the privilege of seeing Kara-Tameika Watkins in a production over the years, you know that her level of talent is of the highest order. If you choose to go see Little Miss Perfect at Olney Theatre Center, you will get another chance to see this veteran performer at the top of her game while witnessing a World Premiere Musical. It’s a win-win.

Kara- Tameika Watkins is truly living her theatre life to the fullest.

How did you first get interested in performing?

It probably started when I was two.  My mom’s family performed as a gospel group, and I ran out of my father’s arms to join her onstage in the middle of the performance.  My parents said that was when they knew I was going to be on stage in some way. 

Where did you receive your training?

I started as a dance major at the University of New Mexico and switched to theater studies at University of Texas at El Paso before transferring to AMDA in NYC.

What was your first professional job as a performer?

Two days after I graduated from AMDA I did a TYA tour with a company out of Philadelphia for Black History Month.

Can you please tell us a little something about Little Miss Perfect as well as something about your character?

Little Miss Perfect started out as a song written by Joriah Kwame’ for The Write Out Loud project as one of the winning songs their inaugural year where it went viral and gained a huge following on YouTube and TikTok. Out of this came an overwhelming demand for more and now we have a world premiere musical.  The show focuses on Noelle as she navigates her senior year of high school in small town Michigan and her dreams of getting out, getting what she needs to get into her dream school and discovery of self when she her family becomes the host family of Malaya, a foreign exchange student from the Philippines. I play Noelle’s mother, Sylvia who is also a pastor. 

This is not the first time you have performed at Olney Theatre Center. What do you enjoy the most about working there?

The thing I love most about working at Olney is the family community that is created with every production.  My first show at Olney was 19 years ago and I have maintained friendships from every cast, crew and apprentice over the years. 

What is the best thing for you about working on a World Premiere Musical like Little Miss Perfect?

I loved the whole collaborative aspect of the whole piece.  From start to where we are now, it involved everyone's input.  From entire creative team (script, music, direction, choreography, design) to the cast (big shout outs to swings and wonderstudies) and the backstage show runners aka crew.  The best thing is seeing the final piece that is presented to the audience who becomes our final collaborators and how much it has changed and grown from when we first started.

After Little Miss Perfect concludes its run, what is coming up for you workwise?

I don’t have anything lined up yet, but I am auditioning.  I am also a travel agent, and I really want to create a group trip of creatives to go to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.   

Special Thanks to Olney Theatre Center's Director of Marketing and Communications Joshua Ford and Associate Director of Marketing Sarah Straub for their assistance in coordinating this interview.