CHILINA KENNEDY
Canadian actress Chilina Kennedy had two major career goals: to play the Stratford Festival and Broadway. Her current role, Mary Magdalene, in the Broadway revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar, has fulfilled both of those wishes. The production, which is directed by Tony winner Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys, The Who's Tommy), was a critical hit at the Stratford Festival in Ontario, where it played an extended, sold-out run last summer before transferring to the La Jolla Playhouse and subsequently Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre, where it is currently in previews prior to an official opening March 22. Earlier this week I had the chance to chat with the down-to-earth Kennedy, whose theatrical credits also include the world premiere of The Lord of the Rings and Sophie in the U.S. national tour of Mamma Mia! as well as several other productions at the Stratford Festival: Grapes of Wrath; Kiss Me, Kate; West Side Story; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; and Evita. Kennedy, who is also working on her debut solo album, spoke about her current role and her journey from the Stratford Festival to Broadway; that interview follows.

Question: Since we haven't spoken before, why don't we go back to the beginning? Where were you born and raised?
Chilina Kennedy: In a little place called Ormocto in New Brunswick, Canada, which is on the East Coast. It's pretty tiny, and my dad was in the military. He's now a retired brigadier general, so we traveled all over the place. I lived all over Canada and Australia and England.

Question: At what age did you start performing?
Kennedy: I guess I started pretty young. It was the only thing I ever wanted to do, so I started dancing when I was four, and I pretty much just did that all the time when I was a kid, and I never stopped. I started actually training in high school. When I was about 15, I started voice training.

	Kennedy and Paul Nolan in Jesus Christ Superstar.
	photo by David Hou

Question: When did performing change from something you did as a hobby to when you knew it was going to be your career?
Kennedy: To be honest — I know it sounds kind of silly — but I always knew, ever since I was a little girl, I knew that that's what I wanted to do. I had two passions in my life — one was performing, and the other one was the environment and animals. So I always thought, "I'm either going to be an environmental activist or I'm going to be on the stage, somehow."

Question: What was your first professional job?
Kennedy: The first job that I got paid for wasn't really professional, but I was in Kingston, Ontario, and I was in high school at the time, and they asked me if I wanted to be part of this children's theatre group, which ended up touring to Toronto, and that was kind of exciting since I got to miss school and I got a paycheck for it. [Laughs.] And then, my real sort of first professional gig was when I played Anne of Green Gables at the Charlottetown Festival on Prince Edward Island in Canada. That was my first real professional gig where I was union.