DIFFERENT STAGES
Performer known for variety of performance skills
Performer known for variety of performance skills.
Katherine Woodford has already accomplished more at age 25 than most people do in a lifetime.
The Glace Bay native can regularly be found on stages across Cape Breton performing in musical theatre, including her most recent endeavour in the Highland Arts Theatre production of “She Loves Me.” She’ll return to the HAT stage from Dec. 12 to 16 for the annual staging of “A Christmas Carol.”
Singing and performing are longtime passions.
“I’ve been acting since I was six years old with Festival On The Bay,” said Woodford. “And I’ve been singing ever since I could remember. We would do Christmas concerts at the nursing homes every year since I was very young and I still do that on Christmas Eve.”
She’s been involved in a variety of productions at the Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay and the Boardmore Theatre on the Cape Breton University campus, as well.
But theatre stages aren’t the only ones on which Woodford appears. Through the years, she’s been involved in concerts, holiday events and singing the anthem at sports events.
She sings and plays keyboards for the alternative rock band New Draft, which plays regularly in the area, and she’s also a church organist.
And if that isn’t enough of a contrast, she’s working on her masters in environmental sciences at Dalhousie University in Halifax, after graduating with a B.Sc. (Honours) in biology from Cape Breton University in 2015.
“It’s cool to work with very diverse groups of people,” said Woodford, adding it also allows her to learn about her craft and get better at it. “I’ve been mentored here and there by several different people but for the most part it was naturally finding my own sound and working with that. Also doing each production you build your skills set, from production to production, based on the type of role you get.”
Her long-term goal includes starting a record company with her boyfriend, Tristan Baxter.
“We’re looking to invest in the local music scene around here and give opportunities to musicians here and hopefully we’ll be able to create this culture within the music industry here because there’s so many people — even just the ones that I know — who are multi-talented and it would be great to invest locally in them, as well.”
She is also interested in doing more behind the scenes work in theatre like directing.