Kelli Barrett Rolls from Rocker to Classic Ingenue in The Royal Family
Age: 25
Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Currently: Making her Broadway debut as Gwen Cavendish, a third generation stage actress who’s not sure she wants to carry on the family business in Manhattan Theatre Club’s revival of Kaufman and Ferber’s The Royal Family.
Girl Power: Though she wasn’t raised in a Royal Family-style stage clan, Barrett laughingly says she was born to perform. “I had this little Fisher-Price stand-up microphone and I would set up shows in the living room, singing Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston songs. My mom said, ‘She’ll either be a lawyer or an actress’ because I loved to argue.” Barrett speaks with pride of her mother, a single parent who worked as a bartender so she could be with Kelli during the day. “Gwen’s journey is similar to my own,” she says of her character, “in that my biological father wasn’t there, and my mother and grandmother were the central figures in my life. I’m forever indebted to them.”
Star-in-Training: “Mommy, I want to do that!” young Kelli declared after seeing a production of Merrily We Roll Along, so her doting mom put her into classes with the Hurrah Players in nearby Norfolk, plus voice lessons with a former Juilliard professor. The budding performer went to high school at the Governor’s School for the Arts, then entered the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, landing a role in Bright Lights, Big City at the Prince Theater her junior year. The show’s director, Stafford Arima, then tapped her for a regional tour of the musical Ace. With a semester of college left, she recalls, “I said, ‘You know what? I’m going for it!’ So I moved to New York.”
Rock and a Hard Place: After starring as Louise opposite Karen Mason in a Westchester revival of Gypsy, Barrett morphed into rocker chick Sherrie in the original off-Broadway production of Rock of Ages. When the show transferred to Broadway, however, her role went to Amy Spanger. “At the time, it was difficult to understand,” Barrett admits, “but I had faith that there was a reason for it. I’ve always been a tenacious person. And honestly, since that happened, I’ve done two films, readings of four new shows, a national commercial and now this play. I love that this is my Broadway debut because it shows people that I am serious about acting. It ended up being such a blessing!”
Wilson, Pattinson & Me: While helping develop The Long Goodbye, a musical version of Romeo and Juliet set to songs by the late Jeff Buckley, Barrett managed to nab small roles in a trio of high-profile movies, Confessions of a Shopaholic and the upcoming The Baster and Remember Me. “I play Patrick Wilson’s wife in two funny little scenes [in The Baster]. He is the sweetest guy! He complimented me on Rock of Ages, which was incredible.” As for Remember Me, Barrett has a bar pickup scene with “THE Robert Pattinson,” she says of the Twilight teen idol. “Oh my goodness! I actually made it onto [gossip website] Perez Hilton, in a picture in which he had his arm around me while we were rehearsing. The caption was something like ‘crazy fan tries to get in photo with Robert.’ My manager said, ‘You know you’ve made it when you’re on Perez Hilton.’”
Broadway Royalty: Joining the starry ensemble cast of The Royal Family has been “absolutely life-changing,” says Barrett, who plays the daughter of Jan Maxwell and granddaughter of Rosemary Harris. “Jan has amazing instincts and has taught me to be fearless in the way I approach work. John Glover [as great-uncle Herbert] has taught me that every word matters; it’s almost like he’s making love with the lines as he’s talking. Ana [Gasteyer, as Herbert’s ditzy wife] is a wonderful physical actress. And Rosemary, the way she lifts a line and lets it fall, really defines the music within the dialogue. Believe me, I’ve been taking notes!”
