A recent Kamiak High School graduate, Mitchell Beard is ready to greet the world.
Beard, 19, plans to do just that Sunday evening in the student-run “Dear World: A Cabaret,” featuring some of the local 5th Avenue Award nominees, at Cope Gillette Theatre in Everett. Beard is the producer, director and a performer in the one-time show.
“At the end of the school year, I was thinking of ways I could say goodbye and give back to the community,” said Beard, who played Sir Robin in Kamiak’s award-winning production of “Spamalot” this year. “I guess this is my way of doing that.”
Eight talented high-schoolers and recent grads — most of them from Kamiak High School in Mukilteo — will sing radio hits, musical theater favorites and original songs in the cabaret-style show that borrows its title from a never-before-heard song cycle Beard wrote.
The new song cycle, which includes the song “Dear World,” is musical theater’s equivalent to releasing an album. Beard also will lead a few songs from his one-act musical “Blind Ambition,” which won top awards in Kamiak’s one-act play festival this year.
“The story behind ‘Dear World’ is this idea that we’re coming for you,” Beard said. “We’re about to take hold of our futures, and here’s what we plan on doing in the next few years.”
Beard picked his cast from the top-rated “theater kids” in Snohomish County. Many of them were nominated for 5th Avenue Awards, which honor high school musical theater. This year, Kamiak and Monroe high schools took home two awards each from the Tony-like ceremony at the Seattle theater.
“They’re all really talented,” Beard said, “so that’s why I thought of them.”
Performing in “Dear World: A Cabaret” are:
Mitchell Beard acted in each of Kamiak’s musicals the past four years, including as Ren McCormack in “Footloose” in 2017. He was nominated for outstanding leading actor by the 5th Avenue for that role. He also performed throughout high school with Village Kidstage in Everett. Beard was co-music director for the cabaret “Hear My Voice,” put on by Seattle’s Foundry10 in 2016.
Maleah Haverly is a recent Monroe High School grad. She received an honorable mention for portraying Sarah Brown in Monroe’s production of “Guys and Dolls” this year. She met Beard while performing in Village Kidstage’s “Beauty and the Beast” in 2017.
Aly Gutierrez, another recent Monroe High grad, worked with Beard in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” when it was staged by Village Kidstage in 2014. Gutierrez was nominated for outstanding lead actress for playing Jo March in Monroe’s “Little Women” in 2017. She was in 5th Avenue’s “Mamma Mia!” this year and continues to work with the theater.
Kayla Hall graduated from Kamiak in 2017 and is now a student at Edmonds Community College. She is a member of EdCC’s Soundstation Jazz Choir. She is the featured female vocalist on Beard’s soundtrack for “Blind Ambition,” which was released on iTunes and Spotify and has nine songs. She performed in two Kamiak musicals: “Footloose” (2017) and “White Christmas” (2016).
Kamiak senior Ella Corwin placed third at the state Solo and Ensemble contest for her soprano solo. The 17-year-old is a member of Kamiak’s advanced choir and was selected for the upcoming Teen Vocal Studio, Seattle Opera’s pre-college training program for serious high school singers.
Emily Vaughan graduated from Kamiak in 2017. She acted in Kamiak’s “Footloose,” “White Christmas” and “Little Shop of Horrors” (2015), receiving an honorable mention for her role as Martha Watson in “White Christmas” and Ethel McCormack in “Footloose.” She is now sophomore at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she is pursuing dual degrees in public health and vocal performance.
A junior at Ballard High School, Gabe Zuniga met Beard through Village Kidstage. He will play Jean Valjean, the protagonist in “Les Miserables” in the Kidstage production, opening Aug. 11 at the Cope Gillette Theatre.
Amanda Hankel is a 2017 Kamiak grad. She was heavily involved in drama and choir at Kamiak, including performing in the high school’s production of “Footloose.” Now a sophomore at UW, she is studying psychology on a pre-med track.
Beard also co-wrote “Shelby’s in the Freezer” with Emily Vaughan and “Look at the Stars” with Kayla Hall, which will be performed.
Accompaniment will be provided by Beard on piano and Kamiak junior Ethan Kim on cello.
Sara Bruestle: 425-339-30456; sbruestle@heraldnet.com; @sarabruestle.
If you go
What: “Dear World: A Cabaret”
When: 7 p.m. Sunday
Where: Cope Gillette Theatre, 2730 Wetmore Ave., Everett
Tickets: $12
More: mitchellrbeard.blogspot.com
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