IML: You act, you sing, and you dance!
Tell us a little bit about how you started performing.

Kathy: Well, I started out as a dancer. I think I started taking dance lessons as soon as I could walk! I studied dance for thirteen years. And then, at the age of 13, I started taking singing lessons. I was never a “child actor,” but I studied for a very long time. Now I’ve been working professionally for about 9 years.

IML: What was your first real job acting?

Kathy: It was at the Forestburgh Playhouse in the Catskills, New York. It’s one of the few remaining summer stock theatres in the country. I learned so much working there, because I did everything from cleaning the toilets to building the sets to running the lighting board during shows to performing onstage. I learned how to do every job you can possibly do in the theatre!

IML: What’s your advice for other young people who want to get into theatre?

Kathy: A lot of kids ask me for advice, and I always tell them to do summer stock! If you can get through summer stock, you can do anything! If you’re going to be an actor or a dancer, you really need to know all of the other elements of what you’re doing. It teaches you so much about how it all works together, and that it’s not just about the actors onstage.

IML: What was it like to star in a hit musical on Broadway? Was it what you expected?

Kathy: It was what I expected in some ways, and in other ways, it was not! It was what I expected in the sense that I got to go out there every single night and have 1400 people applaud and have a great time and laugh. I wouldn’t give that up for anything -- to be able to touch 1400 people every night! On the other hand, it’s just really, really hard work. There’s only 7 1/2 minutes during Hairspray that I wasn’t onstage, out of 2 1/2 hours. It’s a lot of responsibility. Tracy is the character who drives the boat, she’s in charge of that show. When you’re the lead in a show, everyone else looks up to you for guidance. You really change the atmosphere, the tone of the cast, and the theatre. Whoever plays Tracy in Hairspray really sets the tone of the working environment. On top of that, the producers expect you to do publicity to promote the show. So that was what I didn’t expect. I think people have this romantic idea of working in the theatre, but it’s called show “business” for a reason. To make my Broadway debut in the lead role of a hit show was just overwhelming in many different ways.

IML: Hairspray is about a teenage girl in 1960's Baltimore who becomes a star on a local dance TV program, despite being overweight and bullied. Why do you think young people are responding so strongly to the show?

Kathy: Even though it takes place in the 1960’s, young people today are still living through the same issues that are part of the story. Especially when it comes to feeling insecure about what you look like, and friendships, and racism. Unfortunately, we still have racism in the 21st century -- it’s not something that’s gone away -- so people related to that part, too. The show also deals with family issues, and parent-child relationships, and peer pressure. It does it in a fun way, with great music and great costumes.

IML: What do you think is the most important message the show delivers?

Kathy: For me, it’s the same message that I believed in growing up, and that is: Don’t let anybody stop you. Do what you want. Don’t listen to anybody else. Most of the time, people will try to bring you down and try to tell you that you can’t do stuff. You’ve got to believe in yourself and go for it. I think that’s a great message because you can apply to that so many different things in your life.

IML: How is Tracy Turnblad similar to Marcie Walsh, the character you play on One Life To Live?

Kathy: When I first started doing Hairspray and One Life To Live, they were very similar characters. They’re both strong role models for young women because they show their struggles. They were both insecure, overweight, naïve, but Tracy was a lot more self-confident. But a theatre piece is set in a certain time frame that repeats every single day, and the character grows within that time frame. In a soap opera, characters can grow and change. Now, Marcie has become much more of an adult than when I first started. Marcie has been picked on about her insecurity and her weight issues, too, and she’s still learning to stand up for herself. She grows as I grow. To play the same part for many years is so great. I’m creating an entire life and history for this person.

IML: How do you personally relate to the characters?

Kathy: As a teenager, I was overweight. I had confidence, but there were also moments when I would feel deeply hurt about my weight issues and my self-esteem. So I tried to put my own experience into my interpretation of both characters…especially Tracy Turnblad.

IML: How do young people react to Marcie on One Life To Live?

Kathy: The best thing about my job at One Life To Live is that I get letters on a daily basis from young women and men about how I’ve affected their lives, and how they look up to me as a role model. They really reacted to a storyline where Marcie wasn’t ready to get physical with her boyfriend. With me as a person, they react to how confident I am, because in the entertainment business, I’m considered overweight. I’m not your typical-sized actress on a soap opera, but in reality, I’m totally normal. A size 10 or 12, which is the average size for an American woman.

IML: Has that been hard to deal with?

Kathy: No, not at all. I believe that however people want to see me is their business. If I’m comfortable with who I am, that’s all that matters. I think that’s the attitude that the audience responds to. It’s like I’ve crashed so many boundaries. I got a letter from a girl a few weeks ago who said she wants to be an actress, but her mother tells her all the time that she’s “too fat” to be one and has to lose weight. But I’ve given her hope that she can be herself and still succeed. That’s what makes my job worthwhile.

IML: The media puts a lot of pressure on us to look a certain way. How can we resist that pressure?

Kathy: I can’t explain why, but for some reason, I’ve always felt comfortable. What I did was focus on what was special about me, and that was the fact that I could sing and dance, and I cherished that. Instead of focusing on what other people thought of as the “negative” part of me, I turned it around and focused on something that made me feel good and made me feel positive. That was my dancing, singing, and acting. To me, people telling me that I needed to lose weight or making fun of me for my size, made me feel negative, so I refused to focus on that. It was all about me nurturing myself.

IML: Were you ever bullied in school?

Kathy: I was once, on the bus. This other girl started banging on the window where I was sitting, and started screaming, “I’m gonna get you, I’m gonna get you!” The next day, she was trying to keep me from getting on the bus. She was taunting me for absolutely no reason. I ignored it, and made sure the bus driver knew about it, and after three days it stopped.

IML: You must have a very busy schedule. Do you have any time management tips?

Kathy: Put trust in others and know that you can’t always do things on your own. Sometimes you do have to ask for help. What I did was ask my best friend Joshua to help me as a personal assistant, but kids can ask their parents. It was a big step for me because I’m really independent and don’t usually let anyone help me.

IML: Was there a teacher or adult who really inspired you and kept you focused on your dreams?

Kathy: First and foremost, my grandmother. She was always really inspiring to me. She was an army nurse in World War II, which was ahead of her time (she actually had to lie and say she was old enough to be in the army). She helped me see at a young age that I could do whatever I wanted in life. Then there’s my two main acting teachers in school. They were amazing teachers who gave me great encouragement. Even when I’m having trouble with scenes now, I’ll call one of them up and ask them, “How do I focus on this?” They really gave me a discipline to always believe in myself, and to remember that my abilities are a gift that I shouldn’t waste.

IML: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Kathy: As an actress, you learn to live day by day, so you don’t usually think that far in advance! My immediate goals are to have my own apartment. I’d love to do a sitcom. I’d love to put out an album. I tend to take one day at a time because I don’t know what it’s going to hand me. If I look at the things that came my way in the last three years, I didn’t expect any of them. I’ve learned to accept what life deals me. I try to be as open as possible to all the positive stuff that comes my way, and I deal with the negative as I can.

IML: Sounds like a great philosophy! Thanks, Kathy, and good luck!

Kathy: Thank you!

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