Cabaret Chronicles Exclusive: Katharine Luckinbill Spreads Her Wings in New Solo Show!

By: Jenna Esposito Jan. 31, 2011

Katharine Luckinbill, representing the latest generation in a long line of showbiz royalty (her grandparents were Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and her parents are Lucie Arnaz and Laurence Luckinbill!), is spreading her wings with her debut cabaret show, Katharine Luckinbill - LOVE (or lack thereof), playing at Don't Tell Mama in February. I recently had the opportunity to chat with this delightful, spirited young performer about her show and the winding road that let to its creation!

Jenna Esposito: Is this your first solo show?

Katharine Luckinbill: Yes...well, outside of college! In college, I wrote a cabaret for my thesis. It was very sophomoric, very simple. The song choices were good and the patter was good...I worked my butt off but none of the songs had anything to do with each other, there was no real story.

JE: Can you tell me a little bit about this show?

KL: What I did with the show in college inspired me to do something more - I wanted to write a one-woman show but have the story told through songs. Now, I don't write music, so I figured I had to tell the story through songs that had already been written. I came up with an outline first and then found songs to tell the story I wanted to tell.

JE: How long have you been working on the show?

KL: Technically, I've been working on it for a year and a half, from the time I decided to do it. I've been plugging songs in since spring or summer. It's been about 6 months of rehearsing every week. My Musical Director is Lilli Wosk - she's been music directing a lot Off and Off-Off Broadway. I met her through mutual friends at the University of Miami. I'm also working with a fantastic bass player, Dave Ostrem, and drummer Sam Lazzara. Michael Alden is my creative producer, and Robert Sandler is my co-writer. Robby and I have been friends since college, and he's been dabbling in writing since then. I saw a great show that he wrote with another friend, and I knew that I had to work with him on writing a show. The thing that I love about Robby & Lilli the most is that they're both very good about saying "this isn't working." We're all good about figuring out what's good for the show. There was no holding onto songs just because I love to sing them. I had to be really ruthless with myself and create a very strict, structured story line that was about one specific thing, which is love, and nothing else was allowed to come into play. It created a much clearer pathway for me - it actually made it easier for me to do it that way.

JE: What kind of music is in the show?

KL: Everything from REO Speedwagon to Mack & Mabel - rock, pop, folk, Broadway, jazz...my goal for this show was, at the end of the show for people to go, "Oh! Is it already over? That was fun!" I want time to fly.

JE: Are you raring to go for opening night?

KL: Not raring yet, but I've been working furiously for the past few days with Robby, and my mom and her musical director, Ron Abel, have been gracious enough to come in and do some tweaking.

JE: Is this something you want to do more of?

KL: Yes! When I first came up with the idea, it was just something I wanted to do for me - it wouldn't have thrown me if it hadn't gone anywhere, but now it's taken on a life of its own. It's this packaged show that I can put in my pocket and take anywhere. I'm really excited for it to go other places and move forward.

JE: How has growing up the family you grew up in influenced you as a performer? Did you always know that you wanted to be an entertainer as well?

KL: I get asked that question a lot, and it's funny -I didn't! I don't remember one specific moment of "I have to do this." I know when I was very little, I used to ask my mom for an agent. She used to very firmly say, "No, you're going to go play on the swing sets and be a normal kid." When I was 12, I did a play with her, and I got my first official paycheck as an actor and I started to get the bug. Around 16, my mom said "If you're going to do this, you're going to do this," so she sent me to Stage Door camp, and that was the most work I'd ever done as an actor - and it made me want to keep doing it. Both of my parents were very firm that if I was going to do this I had to get a degree so I went to college and got a BFA in Theatre Arts & Performance from the University of Miami. A year and a half to two years after college I kind of lost my way, and ended up going to L.A. but didn't really fit in. I wound up missing NY, so I came back. After I got back, I did a workshop of a new play and it did NOT go well - that's when I hit my limit with the business. About 6 months after I got back, I left the business completely and became a preschool teacher. Shortly after I'd returned from L.A., I had auditioned for Dracula. I didn't hear anything about it until almost exactly a year later when I got the call to that the show was going forward and I was cast in Dracula as an understudy. The lead ended up getting released and I got pushed out on stage, and from that moment, I knew that I had to be on stage. It was the first time I knew for sure that this was what I had to do for me. Somewhere I'd always had it at the back of my head that it was what I was supposed to do but I think I needed to take that year and do something completely different in order to learn that this is where I really want to be.

JE: Is your family excited about your solo show?

KL: They are! I hope I can make them proud. They've been really letting me spread my own wings with this show and I just hope I can make them proud with what I've created.

JE: What's next on the agenda?

KL: I'm going to keep working on this show. My next project is to get back to being an auditioning, working actor.

Katharine's show, Katharine Luckinbill - LOVE (or lack thereof), will be playing at Don't Tell Mama (343 W. 46^th St., NYC) on Mondays, February 7^th, 14^th, and 21^st, at 7:00 p.m. For more information or to make reservations, please call 212-757-0788.

Photos by Walter McBride / Retna Ltd. / WM Photos

Katharine Luckinbill rehearsing for her new Cabaret Show 'LOVE (or there lack of) at Don't Tell Mama in New York City

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