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RM gabs with Raleighite + Broadway co-producer Lauren Brady Kennedy
The City of Oaks is seeing stars. Tony season officially kicked off with the announcement of this year’s nominations May 5, and Raleigh is in the running—all thanks to local Lauren Brady Kennedy, co-producer of acclaimed Broadway musical Titaníque.
Scoring four noms (Best Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, and Best Book of a Musical), Titaníque follows the same story as James Cameron’s 1997 film Titanic, but through a critical and comical perspective the OG film left out—the lens of Celine Dion (really).
Think the same story—Rose and Jack are still star-crossed lovers and the ship still sinks—but with campy, comedic commentary and Rupaul’s Drag Race references. And you can thank Brady Raleigh-bred Brady Kennedy for fueling the fire behind the satirical.
Founder of Theatre Raleigh the performing arts veteran attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music before beelining to Broadway to perform in Sunset Boulevard during actress Glenn Close’s iconic ’90s run.
Twenty years later—with a résumé spanning Les Miserables, Spamalot and more—the NYC performer pivoted to the production side of showbiz—now riding out the musical parody’s success at the St. James Theatre through Sept. 20.
We sat down with Brady Kennedy to dive into her work, the show and her potential accolades.
What spurred the switch from performance to production?
It’s a multifaceted answer, and it just evolved sort of naturally. I wanted to be in more control of my opportunities. I recorded two albums, and that was probably the jumping-off point for me. After understanding what it was like to have an idea of a project and creatively curate it—hire people, rent the studio, pick the material and more—I sort of got the bug from there.
What made you take the plunge with Titaníque?
While acting as the lead producer of a musical based on Bull Durham, I had some meetings with Eva Price, who is the lead producer of Titaníque and suggested I get involved. At first, I felt like I should be focusing on my show, but I had seen Titaníque and loved it. As I started thinking about it more, I thought this is really the kind of show that the world needs right now. It’s an escapist, ridiculously fun, hyper-creative Broadway show.
Tell us about co-producing a Broadway show.
Much of it entails being an advocate and being an ambassador. The biggest contribution is raising money and pulling together networks of people who want to support it. Ultimately, we want it to go on a national tour and have all these artists get the accolades they deserve.
Any celebration plans?
I always dreamed of being a performer and never saw anything outside of that, so it is really wild to have this whole second act, so to speak—being an executive director of a theater company and being a commercial producer on Broadway. I’m just celebrating the artists. The fact that I can be a part of helping people’s dreams come true is all that matters to me.
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