Driven to Succeed — The Kimee Balmilero Interview
| January 8, 2013 | Posted by Nicole Tessier under Interviews |
Nicole Tessier is Assistant Editor for Hitting the Stage.
Kimee Balmilero
I caught up with Kimee after her recent Scratch Paper Sketch Show at the Loading Zone last Saturday night. She talked about her beginnings with the Castle Performing Arts Center, her sudden thrust into the world of Broadway and television, and her most recent ventures into creating a more vibrant Improv and Sketch Comedy scene in Honolulu.
Tell us about your background…
KB: I am originally from Kaneohe. I was really into reading, I was supposed to be a very smart kid until I hit the stage and then it was all downhill —or uphill—from there. I first started performing with Mr.(Ron) Bright and Marcelo Pacleb at Castle Performing Arts when I was nine and they basically changed my life. Mr. Bright used to go around to the elementary schools on the Windward side and hand pick kids to cast in his productions. I fell in love with dancing first, actually. I was in 24-VII Danceforce which is crazy because I could never stand up to those kids nowadays!
I was kind of shy and intimidated because Mr. Bright and Marcelo have a way of picking out some extremely talented people. Growing up around all of those people I had so much respect for them and it would make me a little bit nervous to even sing around them.
Well, there must have been a reason why he picked you.
KB: Yeah, I think so. I didn’t have my first speaking role until I was a sophomore, and I didn’t have my first solo singing role until I was a junior. So I was kind of a late bloomer as far as acting and singing goes. My senior year in high school Miss Saigon came around to audition, which they’d done before because they need to find Asians. It was something that a lot of Mr. Bright kids would do— audition for Miss Saigon. So I went not expecting anything—I’d never had a huge leading role.
You were more of a chorus girl?
KB: Yeah, and I loved being part of the ensemble. So I went and it’s funny now that I think back: I got my headshot done in the mall, I’d gone to the library and looked up how to write a resume so it ended up being four pages long and went as far back as playing the earthworm in James and the Giant Peach in third grade.
I loved Miss Saigon; it was a dream of mine to see a professional production one day. So I went to audition with all my friends and I sang “Movie in My Mind,” the first solo that Kim sings. After I sang, they asked me to sing another song, so I did, then they asked me to stay to dance, so I did, and that was it. Then there were all these rumors going around, “They liked somebody, one of the Castle kids.” I never would have guessed it was me. Six months later I got a call from the casting director offering me the tour.
Your dream was to see a production of Miss Saigon, and now you’re in one.
KB: I didn’t understand it, I didn’t even realize I was going to get paid, it was ridiculous. Peter Lawrence (Director of the Miss Saigon tour) called me next and said, “So Kimee, what do you think, do you want to join us?” I said, “I think so, I have to ask my parents.” I was 17 and a month away from graduating high school. I told him that I really wanted to graduate first and he said that they would wait for me. So a month later, literally the day after my high school graduation, I joined the tour in San Antonio, TX. I was a mess; it was so emotional for me.
Had you ever left home before?
KB: Only a couple times performing with Mr. Bright. We went to NYC once. I never expected to leave Hawai‘i, never ever. I was ready to get a job at a hotel or something. It was a huge learning experience for me—everything was bigger and faster. Two days into rehearsal I was so emotional. My dad had come with me and I would just cry to him every night. It was the sweetest thing: he said to me, “If you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to. If this is too much for you, we can go home right now. Who cares what anybody else thinks, it’s fine.” But I didn’t want to go home, and from then on I just kept on going.
And you ended up doing another big production…
KB: Yes, so after Miss Saigon ended I went to San Francisco and took classes at the American Conservatory Theatre. Even though Mr. Bright and Marcelo had taught me so much, I’d never had any formal training. After six months at Studio ACT I wanted to join their two-year program. The school said they’d love to have me, but advised me to go to NYC first and see how I felt. Because once you begin their program you can’t leave or audition for anything for two years. So I went to NYC and within two months I booked Mama Mia.
You were in the original Broadway cast?
KB: Yes. I feel like I’m very lucky. I was lucky to have gotten Miss Saigon. But I worked really hard to get Mama Mia. I went to every single call, just so I could practice my song and monologue and get used to standing in front of the table. That was huge. I tell my students now, “Experience is everything.” I just kept going and going and I was really driven. I made my own calls. I booked Mama Mia on my own without any representation.
The first Broadway gig you land was at the Winter Garden, the largest theatre on Broadway!
KB: It was amazing. We got to do the Tony’s; we got to do the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. That show was everything to me. Not just because of the experience but because the cast was my family. We went through so much together building the show, and we also went through 9/11 together. We were one of the only shows to stand because of the joy of it. Colin Powell came to see our show. I remember seeing him standing in the audience and dancing to ABBA songs and I just started crying. I thought, “He is literally using this as his escape right now,” and I received a new perspective. A lot of people look at us and say, “Oh, they’re just dancing and singing stupid songs on stage,” but when you have a moment like that, it’s just so much more.
You feel purposeful.
KB: Yeah, totally, it was such a magical moment.
What came after Mama Mia?
KB: While I was doing Mama Mia I kept auditioning and less than a year later I booked Hi-5, a TV show that originated in Australia. I didn’t want it originally; my agent forced me to do it. I didn’t want to leave NYC.
Did you have to go to Australia?
KB: Yes. I ended up doing that TV show for six years. It was amazing because it gave me so much experience. In addition to the show, we did live stage shows and recorded albums: it was three jobs in one! We were Emmy nominated three years in row. It must still be syndicated because I get email messages every day from all over world.
Why did you decide to come back home to Hawai‘i?
KB: For a lot of reasons. I’d been away for 15 years and had never really had an adult life here. I had been living in LA for six years with my partner John (LeBlanc) who is a tech guy/musician. John had a business partner here and kept going back and forth so often that we decided to move here. But I wasn’t done in LA yet so I decided to stay there and visit him. But his networking skills are amazing and the more people he introduced me to, they kept asking me to come back to Hawai‘i to do things. So after two years of that, I finally decided it was time for me to try it out. So I came back to see what I could bring to Hawai‘i, if I had anything more to offer. So fifty percent of the reason for my return was to be with John, but fifty percent was to try something new.
Because I had been living in big cities for so long, my biggest fear coming back was to give up what I loved. Living in LA, I was doing improv and sketch comedy at Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB). I googled “improv in Hawai‘i,” specifically “long form improv” because I thought that a lot of people here were probably doing short form and I really wanted to find long form. I was such a nerd about long form improv and I still am. That’s how I found Laughtrack Theatre. I remember going to their theatre and Larissa (Nielsen) was at the entrance and I asked, “Oh, you guys do long form?” Her ears just perked up and she said, “You know improv?” She was so excited and told me that I had to meet Kim (Potter) and Shannon (Winpenny). So I met them and saw their show and we just hit it off. We kept in touch and every time I came home to visit, Shannon invited me to play with them.
Flash forward to two years later: I came back to Hawaii and wanted to start Improvhi so that people could find improv and sketch comedy in one place. Because when I googled it I had no idea any other companies existed, like On The Spot, IYFI, Mr. Aaron Presents, Loose Screws… it was kind of shocking, “Wait, it’s been around for twenty years? Incredible.”
So Improvhi started off as just a calendar: one place where everyone can put their stuff up and everyone can find it. And then that turned into a show. The Greenhouse, or now HQ HNL opened up in Kaka‘ako and I approached them about having an improv show there. I should give some credit to Stu Hirayama [HTS reviews editor and improviser] because he kind of kicked me in the butt and gave me the confidence to do it. He said, “You know what? If you do it, people will come.” Thank you, Stu! The Original Jams Improv Show was born.
When was the first Original Jams Improv Show?
KB: January 2012, and it has been going strong, doing monthly shows for an entire year. We have our first show of 2013 coming up on January 12. OJams was a little bit selfish because I wanted a place to play and I’m stoked to have anyone willing to play with me. What I wanted with the show was not only to be a space for performers to play—because Laughtrack Theatre had closed by then and all these people were just kind of floating around—but I really wanted to have a jam. The same idea of having the calendar: everyone’s together. We have three groups perform and then afterwards the Jam is a place for everybody to play together. Because it just makes sense. Everyone’s so talented and creative that to see all of the different combinations that each group makes is incredible.
That’s always my favorite part of the OJams shows. I like that people from the audience can also join in.
KB: Yeah, the Jam is the best, anyone can join in. And our regular players are so good and welcoming that Newbies may feel intimidated but they feel safe with them. We’re just playing; it’s just a good time. It’s not to see who the best player is; it’s just to play together and be creative. Improv brings people together. I met R Kevin (Garcia Doyle) through Improv and now I’m teaching Improvisation at Mid-Pacific School of the Arts.
You teach improvisation to children and adults, do you have anything coming up?
KB: I teach classes through Improvhi, I have a Beginning class starting on January 21. I also wanted to bring my improv teachers to Hawai‘i, because we have great teachers here but we only have so many. I respect my mentors and teachers in LA and NY so much that I wanted to find a way to bring them down. After asking around to gauge interest in possible workshops, I flew Suzi Barrett here to play in September. She’s a mainstage player at UCB and iO (ImprovOlympic)… she’s kick ass! Suzi is everything to me, and she wanted to come to Hawai‘i. The plan is not only to have her come back, but also people like Eugene Cordero and Becky Drysdale—top teachers in LA that want to share with the people of Hawai‘i.
So Suzi Barrett was just the first Improvhi workshop?
KB: She was the first one and she’s a big one because she’s influential at UCB, she’s on their board. Because she had such a great experience here she can encourage other UCB people to come here. She’s a fan of mine and a friend of mine so she supports everything that we do.
Tell us about The Scratch Paper Sketch Show.
KB: The monthly sketch show is more of my ultimate goal. The fact that I started The Scratch Paper Sketch Show and people are interested in it makes my heart smile. I grew up here and watched Rap Reiplinger. He was so ahead of his time. What he did was so amazing and so smart. I’m an only child and I love to do this kind of stuff. It’s like a variety show: sketches, live music, and watching videos. Having the three together, it feels like it goes by so fast because we’re constantly stimulated. We have great writers now, like David K Jones. We gave him a place to showcase his writing and that’s all I want to do. I want to share, and encourage people; let people know that you can do anything. Just do it. I’m super stoked about that.
For more info: improvhi.com and facebook.com/improvhi
Kimee’s newest improv class starts January 21. For more info, click here
The next Original Jams Improv Show will be this Saturday, January 12 at 8pm at HQ HNL (formerly the Greenhouse). Info here
[…] Also, check out Assistant Editor Nicole Tessier‘s interview with the multi-talented Kimee Balmilero, Broadway veteran and improv entrepreneur extraordinaire. As one who has experienced the struggle of carving out their destiny on the professional stage, Kimee knows what it takes to be Driven to Succeed. […]