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She's done it again. And this time, it's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Since taking the Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre stage as Marta Von Trapp in the 2008 production of The Sound of Music, Kara Oates hasn't been out of the spotlight.
The following spring, Kara was back at Beef & Boards. This time she starred in the title role of Annie at the age of 10. That show led her to securing an agent, and the young talent from Greenwood was well on her way - to the Great White Way. It wasn't long after Annie closed that Kara received incredible news. She had been cast on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning Billy Elliot. Kara played Keeley Gibson, one of the 12 ballet girls in the hit musical by Elton John. She appeared in 634 performances of the Broadway blockbuster, and took her final bow this spring.
Leaving wasn't easy. "I was there for a year and a half, and I'd been around all my friends and the adult cast members - they were like my second family," Kara said. "It was really, really hard leaving, and it was kind of surreal at first. You never really think that you're going to leave." But she had a good reason to move on. This coming Tuesday, Kara will debut in her next Broadway show: the popular Mary Poppins. "I'm really excited," Kara said via a phone interview this week. "Rehearsals have gone really well and everybody is super nice." Kara, now 12, will play the role of Jane Banks. "I like her because she's kind of bratty and she has a sense of humor sometimes," she said of her character. "And (I like) the way she sees things from a different perspective at the end of the show."
Kara had already seen the production before auditioning for the role in February. In March, she learned she'd secured the part. Her second family was supportive. "A couple of the people in Billy Elliot were in Mary Poppins before that, and they told me how much fun it is," she said. "One of the Michaels that is in Billy Elliot right now (had played) Michael Banks in Mary Poppins and he was really excited for me." Kara's experience performing as Keeley Gibson in Billy Elliot helped to prepare her for the larger role of Jane Banks. "I think (performing in) Billy Elliot helped me a lot because I got to see how much effort goes into doing the show, and how much time I have to put into learning it and memorizing all my lines," she remarked, adding it also prepared her for performing in front of audiences three to four times larger than those she had in Indianapolis.
"Billy Elliot helped me get used to performing in humungous theatres," Kara said. The Imperial Theatre, at which Billy Elliot is performed, holds about 1,400, while the New Amsterdam Theatre's Mary Poppins audiences total about 1,700. By coincidence, both of her Broadway roles have been British children - although Kara is quick to point out the differences. "The Banks children are more upper class. Their family is very rich and they have servants and they have a more proper accent," she noted. "In Billy Elliot it was more like slang." Her role as Jane is also much more focused on acting and singing, as opposed to her primarily dancing role in Billy Elliot. "And there are only two kids in the show," Kara added. "In Billy Elliot there were about 23 of them. That was a big difference. "Plus, in Billy Elliot I wasn't in the whole entire show. But in Mary Poppins I'm a principal in the show, so I'm basically on stage all the time or doing quick changes. I'm on stage a lot more than I was with Billy Elliot. It's a little tiring, but very exciting because you're moving around all the time - and there's sets moving in and out. It's very crazy and fun at the same time."
The production team for Mary Poppins is just as happy as their new Jane Banks. "It is no surprise that, at such an early age, Kara is already becoming a Broadway veteran," said Anthony Lyn, associate director of Mary Poppins. "After appearing in Billy Elliot we are delighted that she is now taking on the leading role of Jane Banks. Kara has been exceptional throughout the entire rehearsal process and we couldn't be happier that she is joining us!" The Broadway production currently stars Ashley Brown in the title role and Gavin Lee as Bert. "They are really nice," Kara said. "But the cool thing is they were in the original cast and they left around 2008, and they recently just came back. So I have the opportunity to perform with the original Mary and Bert!" About to perform her second Broadway role in as many years, Kara knows it's only the beginning. Prepared to continue her career on stage indefinitely, she talks of a role she'd like to play someday - that of Elphaba in Wicked.
"I really want to be in Wicked," she said, admitting "I have all the songs in my iPod!" And of course, there's a show that's still near and dear to her heart. "I'd love to be in Annie again someday," she said. In the meantime, she hopes her Indianapolis friends have the opportunity to see her in her latest role. "I miss them a lot and I am thankful for them being so supportive of me," she said of her family, friends and fans back in Indiana. "I'm so excited to be in the show, and I hope some of them can come see me." Kara will alternate the role of Jane Banks with Brigid Harrington, who is also debuting in the show this month, and Rozi Baker, who has been with Mary Poppins since June of 2010.
