Stage Production Notes
A one woman show written and performed by Kayla Capone Kasper where she auditions for the role of a lifetime, Laura Benanti.
Kayla Capone Kasper is an actor, voice teacher, and creator who grew up in New Jersey. During the pandemic, Capone Kasper’s students encouraged her to create videos for Tiktok and Instagram. Her videos sharing vocal tips, the process behind being an a working actor, and interviews with industry professionals quickly went viral, and Kasper received many messages commenting on her similarity to Broadway actor and Tony Award winner Laura Benanti. Capone Kasper began toying with the idea of creating a show based on their similarities.
In December 2021, program director Michael Kushner invited Capone Kasper to create a show for The Green Room 42 in NYC to be performed in mid-to-late January 2022. With a tight deadline in place, Capone Kasper worked with director/writer TJ Creedon and musical director Ashley Ryan to put the show, now titled Becoming Benanti, together.
During rehearsals, it was decided to use a non-traditional cabaret structure by turning the show into a kind of play about auditioning for the role of Laura Benanti, with Kayla speaking to an unseen character running the audition a la A Chorus Line.
The rehearsal process was interrupted and delayed due to COVID and the rise of the omicron variant, and it was decided to postpone the show until March.
Becoming Benanti debuted to a sold out house at the The Green Room 42 in NYC on March 19, 2022.
Songs included “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “The Sound of Music,” “Sound of Music Medley,” “The Next Best Thing,” “Unusual Way,” “On the Steps of the Palace,” “Till There Was You,” “If I Were a Bell,” “Will He Like Me/Vanilla Ice Cream,” “Let Me Entertain You,” “No One Is Alone,” and “Everything Changes.”
During the show, which was livestreamed (see Filmed Production Notes below), Laura Benanti made an appearance in a pre-taped video in which she helped announce that Kasper was going to be playing the role of Amalia in She Loves Me whilst pregnant, as Benanti herself had done several years earlier in the Broadway revival (the production was also the first Broadway musical to be livestreamed on the internet).
Writing for BroadwayWorld, reviewer Stephen Mosher described the show as “one of the sweetest, most charming, and, yes, even adorable nightclub acts to play New York City this season” and concluded that “This is cabaret…for 2022.”
A one woman show written and performed by Kayla Capone Kasper where she auditions for the role of a lifetime, Laura Benanti.
Kayla Capone Kasper is an actor, voice teacher, and creator who grew up in New Jersey. During the pandemic, Capone Kasper’s students encouraged her to create videos for Tiktok and Instagram. Her videos sharing vocal tips, the process behind being an a working actor, and interviews with industry professionals quickly went viral, and Kasper received many messages commenting on her similarity to Broadway actor and Tony Award winner Laura Benanti. Capone Kasper began toying with the idea of creating a show based on their similarities.
In December 2021, program director Michael Kushner invited Capone Kasper to create a show for The Green Room 42 in NYC to be performed in mid-to-late January 2022. With a tight deadline in place, Capone Kasper worked with director/writer TJ Creedon and musical director Ashley Ryan to put the show, now titled Becoming Benanti, together.
During rehearsals, it was decided to use a non-traditional cabaret structure by turning the show into a kind of play about auditioning for the role of Laura Benanti, with Kayla speaking to an unseen character running the audition a la A Chorus Line.
The rehearsal process was interrupted and delayed due to COVID and the rise of the omicron variant, and it was decided to postpone the show until March.
Becoming Benanti debuted to a sold out house at the The Green Room 42 in NYC on March 19, 2022.
Songs included “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “The Sound of Music,” “Sound of Music Medley,” “The Next Best Thing,” “Unusual Way,” “On the Steps of the Palace,” “Till There Was You,” “If I Were a Bell,” “Will He Like Me/Vanilla Ice Cream,” “Let Me Entertain You,” “No One Is Alone,” and “Everything Changes.”
During the show, which was livestreamed (see Filmed Production Notes below), Laura Benanti made an appearance in a pre-taped video in which she helped announce that Kasper was going to be playing the role of Amalia in She Loves Me whilst pregnant, as Benanti herself had done several years earlier in the Broadway revival (the production was also the first Broadway musical to be livestreamed on the internet).
Writing for BroadwayWorld, reviewer Stephen Mosher described the show as “one of the sweetest, most charming, and, yes, even adorable nightclub acts to play New York City this season” and concluded that “This is cabaret…for 2022.”
Filmed Production Notes
Becoming Benanti was livestreamed from The Green Room 42 on March 19, 2022 as part of the venue’s commitment to making content available during the ongoing pandemic. It was also filmed for archival purposes by Famous in NY.
Streamed tickets were available for $19US, and the stream was made available for 24 hours after the event to ticket buyers.
Clips from the livestream are currently available via Famous in NY’s YouTube channel and Kayla Casper Kapone’s Instagram.
Hear Kayla Capone Kasper sharing her experience of creating and livestreaming Becoming Benanti on episode 40 of the Filmed Live Musicals podcast.
Becoming Benanti was livestreamed from The Green Room 42 on March 19, 2022 as part of the venue’s commitment to making content available during the ongoing pandemic. It was also filmed for archival purposes by Famous in NY.
Streamed tickets were available for $19US, and the stream was made available for 24 hours after the event to ticket buyers.
Clips from the livestream are currently available via Famous in NY’s YouTube channel and Kayla Casper Kapone’s Instagram.
Hear Kayla Capone Kasper sharing her experience of creating and livestreaming Becoming Benanti on episode 40 of the Filmed Live Musicals podcast.
Becoming Benanti PRODUCTION CREDITS
Theatre: The Green Room 42, NYC
Book: Kayla Capone Kasper and TJ Creedon
Featuring Songs By: Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Maury Yeston, Stephen Sondheim, Meredith Wilson, Frank Loesser, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, Jule Styne, Sara Bareilles
Director: TJ Creedon
Musical Director: Ashley Ryan
Cast:
Kayla Capone Kasper
TJ Creedon (voice on god mic)
Theatre: The Green Room 42, NYC
Book: Kayla Capone Kasper and TJ Creedon
Featuring Songs By: Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Maury Yeston, Stephen Sondheim, Meredith Wilson, Frank Loesser, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, Jule Styne, Sara Bareilles
Director: TJ Creedon
Musical Director: Ashley Ryan
Cast:
Kayla Capone Kasper
TJ Creedon (voice on god mic)
Sources
Articles
Websites
Other
- A.A. Cristi, “Kayla Capone Kasper To Make NYC Solo Show Debut,” BroadwayWorld, (March 9, 2022)
- Stephen Mosher, “BWW Review: BECOMING BENANTI: THE ROLE OF A LIFETIME at The Green Room 42 Becomes Kayla Capone Kasper,” BroadwayWorld (March 21, 2022)
Websites
- Kayla Capone Kasper, Accessed via: https://www.kaylacaponekasper.com/
Other
- Correspondence with Kayla Capone Kasper (March & April 2022)
- Interview with Kayla Capone Kasper (March 2022)
Written by Luisa Lyons (April, 2022)