Broadway star Kathryn Allison can belt with the best of them

If you’re traveling to New York the week of April 17, you can get a double treat from one fantastic performer: Kathryn Allison.

I’ve been making it my mission to make her a star ever since she blew me away at a concert a few years back at the intimate Rockwood Music Hall.
Out and proud performer Allison will be doing another great concert, this time at Joe’s Pub on Monday, April 18 at 9:30pm, which is a dark night for most Broadway shows. Allison had to pick a Monday as she’s once again in an acclaimed show. Last time, she was in Tony-winning Aladdin and this time she’s in Company. So you can catch her twice that week.

When I saw her perform last time, she had the nerve to sing Whitney and Tina, among others. But I guess if you can blow the roof off the venue with your amazing vocals, you don’t have the fear of performing iconic stars’ songs. Besides, with each song, Allison personalizes it and makes it her own.
“The theme to my Joe’s Pub concert is ’70s Funk and R&B! So if you love Chaka Khan and Teena Marie you will have a blast! I’m so excited, there will be classic hits you know and love as well as six new songs that I have been working on with my collaborator Dominic Fallacaro,” says Allison, noting her favorite song she will perform is the original “Forget Your Fears.”

Allison has yet to have star billing (I don’t know why) but she does have some dream parts she’d like to play. “I have always wanted to play Lilli Vanessi in Kiss Me Kate or Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. But if there was a musical biopic I would say Ethel Waters. She is an iconic performer whom many don’t know about. She was the second African American to be nominated for an Oscar and the first Black person to be nominated for a primetime Emmy,” Allison says.

Her current Broadway show, Company, has been playing to raves and Allison was there from the beginning — before COVID. Company barely started when corona hit.  “While Company was on hiatus, I was fortunate to be able to work on projects and support organizations that were near and dear to me like Sing For Hope and Community League of the Heights. I helped produce two virtual galas that exceeded our fundraising goals for CLOTH and I am really proud of that,” she says. 

But that’s not it – as of course the COVID Broadway hiatus lasted quite a long time. Allison says, “I also worked with my friends Miss Hazel Jade and Will Shishmanian on a new musical Queer musical called  The Regulars. The show made its UK debut in Manchester earlier this year. I taught classes and became a featured vocalist for virtual corporate conferences and co-directed/co-conceived my first mini-documentary on Queer Love.” That kept her busy, but she always knew Company would come back. 

Speaking of being queer, Allison doesn’t have some big dramatic coming out story. “I didn’t come out traditionally. But when I became more comfortable with my Queerness I started to make myself more visible in my actions professionally and publicly. Luckily, I don’t believe it has affected my career negatively. If anything it’s opened me up to working and developing more Queer works and I love that and I hope it continues.”

Join me to watch Allison perform live and on Broadway before she blows up and becomes the megastar that she deserves to be. She is real as you can be and I believe an above the title billing won’t go to her head.

Become a fan — or even more so — by following her on social media. Let’s start with her website: https://kathrynallison.me/.