Summer Lyric Welcomes Back Young Stars
After graduation in 2009, Katie Howe spent a year doing musical theater in Argentina. Ken Goode left Tulane for New York last year and landed a Shakespearean role. Now they are returning to the Dixon Hall stage, where Summer Lyric Theatre at Tulane University fans will no doubt welcome them home.
Katie Howe stars as socialite Tracy Lord in the 2008 Summer Lyric Theatre production of High Society. (Photos by Michael Palumbo)
Summer Lyric artistic director B. Michael Howard is thrilled to include them in this summer's slate of productions.
“This is an opportunity to stay close to our alumni,” Howard says. “Every so often a student strikes you as having the potential to really, really do well in the arts and musical theater and the New York scene. Katie is one of them and so is Ken.”
Howe will perform in Into the Woods on July 14â“17, while Goode will join her in The Drowsy Chaperone on Aug. 4â“7. Opening the season June 23â“26 will be Man of La Mancha.
While both Howe and Goode have had early success, it's often difficult to break into the theater business.
“This is an opportunity to work with them, keep them busy in theater until they can stabilize their careers,” says Howard, head of the musical theatre program at Tulane and chair of the Newcomb Department of Music.
Ken Goode has a firm grip on his role in the 2009 South Pacific on the Dixon Hall stage.
When Summer Lyric began 44 years ago, it was with the idea of using both students and professionals, especially graduates who were building stage careers.
Fans of Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre may remember when Howe as a Tulane junior stepped into the lead role in High Society just a week before it opened in 2008. Howard remembers, “She was stunning to look at, worked so hard and I couldn't have asked for more. She's going to have a wonderful career in the business.”
Goode performed in Oliver! and other productions, as well as directing performances for Tulane Little Lyric Theatre. Howard recalls Goode as one of his hardest-working students. “And a good character actor as good as they get.”
He says, “You can't help but fall in love with these young kids.”
For ticket information, call 504-865-5269.
