PHANTOM STAR: Sparkling Local Talent Katie Travis On National Tour
April 14, 2015
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Phantom of the Opera star and Bay City native Katie Travis. (AriUziCo Photo)
Only occasionally does somebody from the Bay City, Michigan area, light up the nation's theatrical footlights.
Going back a ways, Cowboy Tim McCoy and dramatic star Marie Dressler were from Saginaw but their film careers are ancient history.
Tyler McVey first took the stage at the Bay City Players and starred in many movies and television serials; but that was the 1950s and McVey, who seldom came home, died in 2003 at the age of 91 in California.
Favorite son Kevin Cole has established himself as the leading piano interpreter of George Gershwin's music on major platforms from here to Broadway.
No doubt there are others from the area who have flashed across the screen or stage who deserve credit from local scribblers like yours truly, but we must leave their plaudits for future columns.
If you didn't get to see Katie Travis in East Lansing it's too late. The last show in Michigan was Sunday night.
Bay City singing sensation Katie and the Phantom of the Opera cast has moved on from a fortnight of packed houses at the Wharton Center in East Lansing to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where it opens Wednesday for a 10-day run.
Katie Performed at the Eastman School of Music and won the Lys Symonette Award for her "incredibly heartfelt performance of her program." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKzqsFUXV0Q
Some Review Highlights of Katie's Performances as Christine Daae:
"...Travis created a stunning ingénue in every way. From her first notes, Travis proved that she possessed both the soprano and acting chops to take on this challenging role. It could be very difficult for any Christine to communicate the illogical pull that she feels towards the Phantom. While the script does not give the character many opportunities to express this development, Travis takes advantage of every small moment available to embody this central push and pull. She is an extremely strong addition to the "Phantom Phamily." -Broadwayworld.com
"Travis channels Christine's innocence, her voice a bell when things are good, ice water when things get creepy. When the Phantom instructs an entranced Christine to sing, it's nothing short of breathtaking." -Tampa Bay Times
Bridgette Redmond reviewed the Wharton show for the Lansing State Journal:
"The singing is as awe-inspiring as it ever has been. Michigan actress Katie Travis, playing Christine, has a powerful voice that is still able to be sweet and tender. She is vulnerable in all the right places, torn between the allure of the Phantom and the promise of a normal, safe life with Raoul. While she is intentionally shaky at the beginning of her first aria, her voice soon soars and it is easy to see why the "Phantom" chose her to bring his music to life."
Pretty heady stuff for a former Central High and Central Michigan University product. Ingenue warbler doesn't half fulfill the superlatives crowning Katie from reviewers everywhere she sings.
Chris Mann, the male lead, is profiled by Redmond: "Perhaps, one of the biggest changes with this version is the revelation of the Phantom. He isn't a supernatural creature. He's a man. And the relationship between him and Christine is more human and more passionate in both their connections and her fear of him. He's still mysterious and hypnotizing, charismatic in the extreme."
Producer Cameron Mackintosh's crew moves on from Tulsa to Seattle, Portland, Tempe and LA -- with 14 performances slated as far out as July 13-20 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
You snowbirds may want to catch her in February 2016 in Jacksonville, Florida. My advice: do it if you can; the show and the singer from Bay City are amazing!
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