BWW Interviews: CABARET'S Katrina Yaukey Talks Summer Stock, Music, And ASTEP Volunteerism

It's normally supposed to be an insult to say someone gets around - or is it? In some cases, it's purely a description of fact. The CABARET revival's Sally Bowles, Katrina Yaukey (also in War Horse and COMPANY) has gone from New York to the road in the national tours of Billy Elliot and SWEENEY TODD, and from there to summer stock - where she's busy this year - and to Ecuador, and just possibly to India.

She's finishing up a stint in her family's back yard at Totem Pole Playhouse, legendary producer-director Bill Putch's summer playhouse, in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania. It isn't just in her family's back yard; it's in her blood: mother Kay Yaukey has (among many other things) acted and costumed here, and it's where Katrina got her start. After finishing up as Joan in DAMES AT SEA and Gabriella in BOEING, BOEING, she's off to the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts, to play in - and to play instruments in - Mike Craver and Mark Hardwick's RADIO GALS. At the moment, she's learning lines for that while getting ready for her last few performances as Gabriella. But she's dreaming about doing some work in India.

BW: RADIO GALS next? You're back to music - BOEING BOEING isn't exactly a musical, and that's different for you.

KY: That's not really true - I'm an actor, and I'm acting. I should be able to do everything, or as much as possible, even though it's new for me. You need to stretch. And I've wanted to do the show since I saw it - when Ray Ficca [out-going artistic director at Totem Pole Playhouse] called me, I had to say yes. And it's great being home.

BW: And on to RADIO GALS, then.

KY: Exactly. I'm studying now because I won't exactly have time to start learning it when I get there. It's running August 19 through 31. I'll have to hit the ground running when I get there. It's a musical, of course, and I'll be playing the ukulele in it.

BW: Ukulele isn't on your resume...

KY: No! I'm learning it for the show. My resume lists oboe, piano, accordion, flute, clarinet, alto sax, tenor sax, trumpet, and guitar. I also play tuba, but I don't list that, because I just sold my tuba. Ukulele's not hard to learn, though, because I play guitar. But I'm not sure if I'll add it to the resume.

BW: There's a ukulele orchestra in England. They're rather amazing - they have some fascinating stuff on YouTube.

KY: A ukulele orchestra? Wow. I've belonged to an all-female accordion group. That was fun.

I think of instruments the way many people think of languages. Once you've learned one, all of the similar ones become fairly simple to pick up. I love music. I play at least one instrument every day. It's a great way to release stress. Do you play?

BW: I used to be a symphony violinist, and I did orchestra pit work. I don't play like I used to.

KY: You still play?

BW: Occasionally. Not as much as people tell me I should.

KY: But you know how great it is, then. People should learn music. It's so important. Being down here is great. I'm staying with my parents, and they used to have a band. Watching them play, watching family members play, has really been inspiring.

BW: And you've played instruments on stage before, right?

KY: In CABARET, I played clarinet, alto sax, tenor sax and piano. I was Pirelli in SWEENEY TODD, and I played accordion, flute, and piano on stage in that.

BW: Aside from music, you also dance. You just finished playing Joan in DAMES AT SEA at Totem Pole.

KY: With my childhood dance teacher in the audience, watching me tap. It's a little bit like out of a musical to have that happen, isn't it?

BW: The audience wouldn't have known. To be honest, I couldn't tell - and I didn't know that myself, but your mother told me at the opening.

KY: (laughs) My mother! I love my parents. They've been such a support for me. They were great about my being in Ecuador.

BW: Let's talk about Ecuador. What took you there?

KY: When I was in COMPANY, our music director was Mary-Mitchell Campbell. She's founded a wonderful group called ASTEP - Artists Striving To End Poverty. It works with underprivileged children everywhere, trying to enrich their lives through the arts. The arts are so important in children's lives - in everyone's life - and people don't realize it. It makes children creative, helps them learn to think. It motivates them and it helps build self-esteem. Art helps them learn. ASTEP has projects everywhere - over here, and in Ecuador and in India. I just got back from Ecuador, helping to teach children to act, sing, and move. Mary's getting ready to be musical director on BIG FISH. She wasn't in Ecuador herself.

If you haven't been to some of these other countries, it makes you grateful to live here. The level of sanitation in Quito was... not good. Hot water, clean water to drink - even low-income people in the US can usually expect to have that. It's eye-opening to see these things. Electricity. Everyone doesn't have it, not just at their homes but around them.

But the kids - kids are sponges. They soak up whatever you give them. I went to the schools, where the kids were. I was there for seven weeks, and I blogged it, made videos - I didn't feel as if I could do enough. I wanted to go back. Or I want to go to the ASTEP project in India. Someone donated a crate of dance shoes - I want to teach them to dance.

BW: There are a lot of arts cutbacks here, too, especially in schools. A lot of states are having funding problems. I know arts programs are being cut at schools in my city.

KY: Yes, and it's terrible. It isn't any one special arts program - it's any arts program. All of the arts - dance, music, painting - all of them really help children with school and with life. ASTEP's working over here, too, not just abroad, because of that.

BW: You said that your parents are supportive of your work with ASTEP?

KY: Yes. You have to raise money to go on the projects - you pay your own way - and thanks to them, I raised more than enough. I still have enough money for the plane ticket to India. But while they're supportive of my volunteer work, they don't really understand my drive to go plunge right back into it. They're pleased that I volunteer, but they'd rather see me on stage.

BW: Parents are looking more for public success.

KY: Yes, that's true. When I was in War Horse, every time I passed the fountain at Lincoln Center at first, I wanted to call my mother - and sometimes I did. I couldn't believe I was actually there. And I'm also happy for my friends every time they succeed. When someone calls me and tells me that they landed a part, I feel like I landed it, too. My best friend called because he'd landed a spot in the Broadway production of PHANTOM, and it's like I'm in PHANTOM. This is a line of work where people are so jealous of other people's successes, but I can't be. I'm happy when people do well.

BW: Then there's academic success. You're working on your masters at Berklee. Is it an MFA?

KY: No. I call it a faux master's - it's a master's certificate. It's in Music Technology and Production, and it's all on-line. I hope to do an internship in a sound studio in New York. It's interesting for me - I get to combine my interests in music and in technology. And hopefully I can also help make someone else sound good.

BW: And then go to India?

KY: (laughs) And then I'm going to India.

Katrina Yaukey's personal website is katrinayaukey.com, which contains a blog of her trip to Ecuador for ASTEP. Her video blog is also on YouTube.

Information about ASTEP can be located at ASTEP Online

Photo courtesy of Katrina Yaukey.