For most actors who perform on stage in London and on Broadway, passing by Horsebarn Hill and the cow pastures on the way to the Connecticut Repertory Theatre might be a bit of a culture shock. But for Olivier Award winner Laura Michelle Kelly, who stars as Sally Bowles in the 2019 Nutmeg Summer production of \u201cCabaret,\u201d it feels more like home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel very at home with the cows,\u201d says Kelly, who grew up on a dairy farm on the Isle of Wight, just off the southern coast of England. “It\u2019s a pleasure to be in that neighborhood, get in touch with real nature, and then come and entertain people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelly\u2019s credits include originating the Broadway role of Silvia in \u201cFinding Neverland,\u201d reprising her original West End (London) title role in \u201cMary Poppins\u201d in New York and in the 2004 Broadway revival of \u201cFiddler on the Roof.\u201d She also starred in productions of \u201cThe King and I,\u201d \u201cSouth Pacific,\u201d and \u201cMy Fair Lady.\u201d In 2007, she made her film debut as Lucy Barker in \u201cSweeney Todd,\u201d directed by Tim Burton.<\/p>\n
The actress leads the cast of \u201cCabaret,\u201d the Tony Award-winning musical centering around a German nightclub against the backdrop of the Nazis\u2019 rise to power, that includes Tony Award nominee and UConn alum Forrest McClendon as the Emcee (\u201cThe Scottsboro Boys\u201d), three-time Tony nominee Dee Hoty (\u201cThe Will Rogers Follies\u201d and \u201cFootloose\u201d), and Jonathan Brody (\u201cSpamalot\u201d and \u201cA Bronx Tale\u201d). The production runs from July 4 through 21 at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre.<\/p>\n
Kelly says while she enjoys the process of helping to create a new character by originating a role in a new production, she also looks forward to the change of pace with an established character in a revival.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you need the break of knowing this is a really great piece,\u201d she says. \u201cAll you need to think about are the boundaries that you have within the lines, given that they are not going anywhere. That\u2019s why after \u2018Finding Neverland\u2019, I went to \u2018The King and I.\u2019 Anna to the King was an incredible role. Those lines were enough, so filled with meaty things, and you could do it differently every night within the boundaries of it\u2019s never going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing Kelly says she does not do when taking on an established character role is watch previous performances, such as Sally Bowles as portrayed in 1968 by Dame Judi Dench on stage in the West End of London, or the 1972 film \u201cCabaret,\u201d with Liza Minelli in the star role.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got Mary Poppins, I didn\u2019t want to watch any video of it, even though I remember it vaguely from my past,\u201d she says. \u201cYou can\u2019t help but be influenced by someone else\u2019s performance, especially Julie Andrews. I watched her doing \u2018Sound of Music\u2019 growing up. I read the [P.L. Travers] books and tried to bring my own flavor to it, because you can\u2019t help but pick up qualities that you love from what someone else did. I just wanted to be the best new version of myself doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being the best version of one\u2019s self by taking on new challenges is the advice Kelly says she offers young actors, such as the UConn students who are part of the \u201cCabaret\u201d ensemble, offering insights into a profession where she has found success for more than two decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s a real privilege to be able to encourage them in any way,\u201d Kelly says. \u201cI now look forward as I\u2019m getting older to pass along anything that I can. We\u2019re in a career where so many people are having that feeling of never being good enough, and rejection. I would love to be one of the people that would show them they\u2019re significant, accepted, and talented.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelly is also trying to follow her own advice as a solo performer when she has the time. She recorded two albums of songs several years ago, and has performed Broadway and pop hits during her time in New York City, including a showcase at Feinstein\u2019s\/54 Below nightclub near Times Square. She says she is getting more comfortable on stage in those settings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like a balanced life of getting to sing and talk about real life,\u201d she says. \u201cIn my 20s, it was really stressful. I wasn\u2019t really comfortable in my own skin back then. I hadn\u2019t learned what it was to be at peace on stage. I\u2019ve been doing more of that and I\u2019m really enjoying it. I\u2019d really like to do an American tour.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evening performances of \u201cCabaret\u201d start at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Matinee performances start at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The performance on Saturday, July 13 at 2 p.m. will be ASL interpreted. For more information go to crt.uconn.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Olivier Award winner Laura Michelle Kelly, who stars as Sally Bowles in the 2019 Nutmeg Summer production of ‘Cabaret,’ says she enjoys the change of pace playing an established character in a revival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":151636,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1711,1914,2225,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1918],"class_list":["post-151628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-sfa","category-uconn-storrs","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-30 22:26:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151628"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151628\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151650,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151628\/revisions\/151650"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/151636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151628"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=151628"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=151628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}