Check Out Katy Mikelle’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katy Mikelle

Hi Katy, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in San Jose, CA. I did not have a normal childhood. I began performing in musical theater when I was 3 years old. By the time I was in 8th grade, I had performed in over 35 theater productions, many with professional theater companies. I studied jazz, tap, ballet, voice, acting, Shakespeare, and music every week: private coaches, and group classes. I knew at the age of three that my dream was to work in the theater. There was no doubt in my mind that nothing in the world made me happier than musical theater, and the performing arts. I still feel the same now at 42 years old. I attended
Interlochen Arts Academy for high school (one of the only highschools in the country that requires students to choose a major by their freshman year). I was one of 3 in the country to be accepted to Interlochen as a Theatre Arts major with a full scholarship, to off I flew to boarding school in Michigan. Although I looked happy on the outside, I was suffering greatly on the inside from a parental abuse I endured for so many years. At Interlochen my inner pain revealed iteslf through self-harm. I began starving myself, and after almost 12 months, I was sent home for “being too thin to survive the harsh winter.” I spent the next few years in and out of hospitals, and had given up on my theatrical hopes and dreams.
I have always been autistic, but was never diagnosed as a child. I just thought I was weird and crazy, and unlikable, unless I was performing on stage, making people smile.

I did not return to Interlochen, but stayed in the Bay Area and graduated highschool in 3 years. I then attended Mills Collage as a Theater Arts major, because I was told to stay close to home, even though my dream was to attend Julliard.
The entire time I was fighting a serious inner battle physically, and mentally. I survived a very dark period of life for many years. Around 2009 I met someone who inspired me to start playing piano again. I hadn’t touched the keys in so many years. I began to pull myself out of my dark place, and I fell madly in love with musical again. I began writing and writing and writing non-stop, pouring my heart and my pain, and my trauma into the songs I would write. The person I met encouraged me to continue, and I did. I recorded an entire album, and it was tone of the most healing experiences of my life. I finally became healthy again. I became an artist again. I became myself again. I fell in Love with life all over again, and remembered to dream again. While I was recording this album, I was writing a script (a full-length musical) based on some of my personal life experiences, but I was writing it as a fictional, futuristic, dark, fantasy fairytale. I finally finished composing the music, and writing the script, and it all came together into this beautiful, whimsical, heartbreaking, and inspiring musical story that I believed in, and still believe in with every bit of my soul. I submitted my musical to theater companies all over the country. NYWinterfest accepted it, and I flew in NY and lived there for three months directing my musical Off-Broadway. It was the greatest accomplishment of my life thus far. It was the happiest Ive ever been, and the most rewarding experience in so many ways. Out of hundreds of plays, and musicals, It ended up receiving the awards: Best Musical, Best choreography, Best set design, Best costumes, and Most Original Production (right before Covid hit). A week later I flew back to LA and the Covid lockdown began.

I am known mostly in LA as a contortionist/dancer. I was seen on Billboards and commercial ads for American Horror Story Season 4, as the 3-legged contortionist, and birdcage girl. I performed weekly as a contortionist dancer at a popular club in Hollywood. This was never my passion, but I have always been grateful to have been able to make a living by making art with my body. What I love about dance is the music I am dancing to. My main passion is songwriting, piano, and musical theater. As a director, I am able to use all of my skills and combine them to create a work of art, and share that experience with a team of talented artists that come together like a family. The theater is where I feel at home, inspired, appreciated, understood, accepted, and free to be myself. I have been estranged from my own family for many years, and I will always carry that pain with me until I die, but being able to create magic with my writing and music with a team people to inspire others, is what has saved my inner spirit. I am currently re-working the music from the NY production, and re-writing the songs with the amazing Charlotte Martin to make it even bigger and better for the LA production. I have survived a great deal, and all I want to do now is to use the past trauma and turn it into something truly beautiful and inspiring, something that will make a positive difference in the lives of others.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Illness, chronic pain, PTSD, autism, mental health struggles, and abuse.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I currently teach stretching classes, and burlesque dance classes and I absolutely love teaching. I also teach piano lessons to kids. Working with kids is one of the most rewarding parts of my life. I am certified to work with kids with special needs, and of all ages. When I wrote my musical, I knew I wanted to have children actors and singers in the story. I have many special skills: contortion dance, classical piano, songwriting, playwriting, costume/hair/makeup design.. But overall I am most proud of tossing my fear aside, and writing and directing a successful full-length musical in NY that made a difference in people’s lives.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I absolutely LOVE artistic collaborations. I am inspired by so many other musicians, writers, dancers, singers, actors, artists.. I will always be looking to collaborate with choreographers, musicians (piano, cello, drums, violin. guitar, bass..), singers to cast in my next production, set-designers, lighting designers, wardrobe assistants, stage managers, hair and makeup designers, seamstresses, sound engineers, promotional art experts, videographers, projectionists, actors, and anyone who has a passion for the theater.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/Katy_Mikelle