Actress and singer Kerry Butler will perform Thursday at Cabaret at The Commons.
When it came to preschooler Kerry Butler’s tomorrows, she decided early what she wanted.
“When I saw (at age 5 the musical) ‘Annie’ … I knew that was what I wanted to do,” the Tony-nominated actress told interviewer Bruce Kimmel at haineshisway.com.
This is to report that the sun has come out in a big way for the actress and singer. She will bring the brightest elements of her debut album “Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust” and numbers from her stage shows to the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic’s Cabaret at The Commons show at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at 300 Washington St. downtown.
She is best known for originating the roles of Barbara Maitland in “Beetlejuice,” Penny Pingleton in “Hairspray,” and Clio/Kira in “Xanadu,” the latter of which earned her a Tony Award nomination for best performance by a leading actress in a musical and the Drama League Award for distinguished performance.
Through the years, she has been in nearly 20 Broadway roles, according to online sources, including such hits as “Beauty and the Beast” “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Les Miserables.”
Plus, she’s appeared on television shows such as “30 Rock,” “The Mindy Project” and “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.” She told pop-culturalist.com that TV work requires a different approach than stage roles.
“You have to be so much smaller on camera and be so much more concerned about what your face is doing. … I’m so animated in real life that I almost feel phony when I’m on camera because I have to pull my own personality down,” Butler said.
She has found novel ways to connect to her fan base. In a contest sponsored by her official site, Butler let fans submit suggestions for one song to be included on the album, with the winner, chosen by Butler, joining her in the studio when the song was recorded, according to Wikipedia. The winning entry was “God Help the Outcasts,” from the animated film “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
In October 2015, Butler made her solo debut in a cabaret performance at Feinstein’s/54 Below with Seth Rudetsky on piano, performing hits from her career as well as telling behind-the-scenes stories.
About the show
Who: Tony-nominated Broadway actress and singer Kerry Butler in the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic’s Cabaret at The Commons series
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: The Commons, 300 Washington St. in downtown Columbus
Tickets: thecip.org
