Chilina Kennedy reflects on title role in Carole King musical
Oromocto’s Chilina Kennedy is preparing to take the leading role of the Broadway production of iconic singer-songwriter Carole King’s life story, a part that she felt an immediate connection to when she first saw the script.
Kennedy said she was so anxious to land the part that she auditioned for it last summer when she was 32 weeks pregnant.
"I had auditioned for this show, right from the get go, right from the very first reading," she said from New York where she's in rehearsals.
"And it's funny in life how sometimes it goes the way you want and sometimes it doesn't and as Carole King says, ‘Sometimes when it doesn't, you find something beautiful and I feel like that's very much my journey with it."
Kennedy, who born in Oromocto when her dad was stationed there with the army, said she listened to King's music as a teen and was always a fan, especially of her album Tapestry.
"I read the very first version of the script and I loved it, it was so, so gorgeous," she said.
"And thought, ‘Oh, I just want to be part of this, in whatever capacity, 'cause you know it’s such a special story.’"
As things worked out, Kennedy couldn't make the final call-back after her first tryout for the role and she thought that her chances of landing a part in the musical were over.
But then she did something she had never done before after other auditions. She hung on to her scripts and music instead of throwing them away.
"I just kept it sort of hidden in a little drawer and I didn't think about it,” she said.
“So when I finally got the call and they said, 'OK, Broadway's interested, they want to see you.’ I thought, oh my gosh this never happens. It's such a wonderful ending to the story or continuation of the story, I didn't have to give up the role, I could do it."
Kennedy taped her audition along with the other performers and the producers sent the tapes to King. She signed off on her choice to play her life and let the producers know.
Kennedy remembers that weekend well. She hardly slept waiting to the phone to ring and then finally it rang.
"On Monday, I got a phone call. It's my Canadian agent and he says, 'Hi, I was wondering if you could get me a couple of tickets?’" Kennedy said.
"I said, ‘OK, what do you need tickets for?’ And he says to your opening night on Broadway. And I started to cry … I've been with my agent for a long time and he's been wanting this for a long time."
Kennedy is into her second week of rehearsals. She says being a mother to a five month old hasn't slowed her down.
She did a run of Mary Poppins right after the birth and then came to New York to prepare for the role of King.
She read her memoir and listened to her albums and to James Taylor to get a feel for the sound and the times. She says she wanted to make sure her piano capabilities were up to snuff.
Kennedy's opening night in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is March 7 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in New York.
This is Kennedy's second time on Broadway, after starring as Mary Magdalene in a 2012 production of Jesus Christ Superstar.
