8/2/2022
Education and Outreach
Kalena Blake still remembers her sixth-grade trip to New York City, where she saw her first Broadway musical “The Lion King” at the Minskoff Theater.
“It was captivating to see a show on Broadway,” remembers Blake, 18, a lifelong resident of Southern Nevada. “It was so enthralling, and made me think ‘this is what I want to do with the rest of my life.’”
Little did she know how soon that would happen, with Blake performing on that same stage several years later.
After winning Outstanding Lead Actress at The Smith Center’s 10th-annual Nevada High School Musical Theater Awards, Blake represented Nevada this June at the national Jimmy® Awards (previously the National High School Musical Theater Awards) on stage at the Minksoff Theater.
“The Jimmy Awards were an amazing, surreal experience,” says Blake, who competed along with Outstanding Lead Actor winner Dakota Renteria, from Las Vegas Academy of the Arts. “I love Nevada dearly, and I was so happy to represent Nevada in such a unique way.”
This experience offered many rare opportunities for the Southern Nevada students.
Thanks to generous Smith Center donors, she and Renteria experienced a complimentary, 10-day trip to New York City for the Jimmy® Awards, where they trained with top industry professionals and performed alongside the most talented theater students from across the United States.
A recent graduate of Green Valley High School and now bound for the University of Colorado to study musical theater, Blake emphasizes that this experience served as an important step toward achieving her dreams.
“At both the Nevada High School Musical Theater Awards and the Jimmys, I learned to trust your talent, and know you can do what you set out to do,” she says.
Training Like a Professional
Participating in the Jimmy® Awards requires the endurance and professionalism of performing in a real Broadway show, Blake discovered.
With the national event presented as a full musical production, the participants conducted all-day rehearsals to prepare.
The day of the event, the students remained at the theater from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., she says.
“The whole day was an insane, crazy experience,” Blake recalls, adding that she felt proud in how she and Renteria served as the only performers representing Nevada, while other states offered multiple representatives from different regional theater programs. “The energy once we were all on stage was so electric. Everyone had a smile on their face, after having worked so hard during the week.”
Groomed for the Stage
Blake’s upbringing in Southern Nevada more than prepared her for the spotlight.
Her parents created Seedling Theatre Company, a youth theater company in Henderson, where she worked herself.
“It’s an all-in the-family-thing,” Blake says. “I have enjoyed working there.”
She found more inspiration seeing productions at The Smith Center, she adds, like “Wicked,” “Something Rotten” and “Matilda.” She also performed in community theater productions, and even participated in The Smith Center’s summer youth theater program, Camp Broadway.
“I was so excited to do Camp Broadway,” she remembers. “I’d be up early with my lunch packed, waiting at the door to go.”
Looking ahead to her future career, Blake simply wants to remain immersed in theater.
“Broadway and New York would certainly be amazing, but for me I can find satisfaction anywhere, because art is everywhere,” she says. “It could be theater education like I’ve done with my family, directing shows, working with kids… I just want to be involved with the arts, in any way possible.”
LEARN MORE
To learn more about The Smith Center’s Nevada High School Musical Theater Awards, click here.