Aida: Katrice Kemble Steps Up to the Challenge

Acting in musicals since fifth grade,  senior Katrice Kemble is enchanting to watch. She most recently stared as Viola in the fall play, , where here true identity was masqueraded as she pursued her love interest. As she for this year's spring musical, she will be challenged in a role of masked identity and forbidden love again. A tall order, Kemble is enthusiastic and excited about opening night.

During her four years at BHS, Kemble has participated in the fall and spring performing arts programs. When she’s not on stage, Kemble works hard at her studies and has achieved high-honors and is a member of the National Honor Society.

Get to know Kemble before meeting her onstage next week when :

Branford Patch: Congratulations on your hard work through the years on the BHS stage. Do you have plans to continue performance after graduation?
Katrice Kemble: I would love to continue performance after I graduate, but I don't know what the future holds for me at this point. My dad is always talking about forming the family band, so it's nice to know that that opportunity is always there!

Branford Patch: How are you dealing with the fact that Aida will be your last time on the BHS stage?
Katrice Kemble: The fact that Aida will be my last BHS musical hasn't really hit me yet. Between rehearsals and schoolwork, I haven't had time to think about what I will feel after the final bows. I'm sure it will be sad, but right now, there is simply too much to be done.

Branford Patch: If you had to offer one small piece of advice to aspiring young actors hoping to head to the stage what would it be?
Katrice Kemble: If I had to offer one piece of advice to aspiring actors, it would be to have an open period during the school day. I don't have any, so I go from a long day of school to rehearsal to doing homework until I need to go to sleep, and I'm almost always behind.

Branford Patch: You’re gearing up to play the lead of Aida, the captured Nubian Princess and love interest of Radames. How do you feel about playing a character caught in such a torrent forbidden love? Do you identify with Aida or not?
Katrice Kemble: The character Aida is constantly torn between her responsibilities, whether they be to her people or to herself. I can identify with this feeling of overwhelming responsibility, though admittedly in a much less emotionally-trying way.

Branford Patch: In the fall play, The Twelfth Night, you also played a character twisted up in forbidden love. Are you calling on that role to help you in this one?
Katrice Kemble: Viola of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night's situation may be complicated, but it does not compare to Aida's emotional balancing act. During the show, her heartstrings are pulled in every direction possible!

Branford Patch: What has been the hardest obstacle to surmount while performing?
Katrice Kemble: The hardest obstacle to surmount while performing has been seeing my close friends as their characters and not as the goofy bunch I grew up with.

Branford Patch: In a few words, why should people come out to this show?

Katrice Kemble: I think that people should come out to this show because it is so powerful. It really is one of those "I laughed, I cried" stories, and it is more than worth being swept away in for a few hours.