Richmond native Kathy Halenda has never been shy about taking on bold, challenging roles as a singer, as her upcoming CenterStage performances will display. Audiences have seen her in the title role of "Mame" and as Mama Rose on the national tour of "Gypsy," but at the moment she's focused on the work of two legendary singers with "Brass & Class: The Music of Judy Garland and Bette Midler."
"It's my celebration of the songs and stories of Judy Garland, who was classy, and Bette Midler, who was brassy," said Halenda, speaking from her Wilmington, N.C., home. "They are two of my personal icons, and their style of singing affected the way I grew up, kind of, where I really always had a fondness for both of them.
"They're totally different women with totally different stories. Judy Garland was very sad, elegant, but she was kind of a train wreck, and Bette Midler was loud and trashy."
Although she was already familiar with their work and stories, as Halenda developed "Brass & Class" she became aware of a surprising number of similarities between these seemingly disparate figures.
"I think they share a passion and a vocal style," Halenda said. "They're both such honest singers. Judy Garland, she was so good about stuffing all of her pain and then just kind of throwing up on us. Both of them are really good with an audience. They know how to connect to their audiences, and they both have an honesty and a passion in their singing that's from their gut, and that's the way I sing."
Halenda also recognized parallels that extend beyond their styles. "They also managed to gather some of the same audience. Back in the day, homosexuality was very, very hush-hush, but Judy Garland was one of the few singers to openly acknowledge and love her gay following, and she became quite a gay icon, as did Bette Midler.
"So both of them, I think, really rang with the outcast society. And Bette Midler, in particular, made a point of singing about, and to, the rejects, the lonely, the hard-working, the tired. She's got some really lovely human spirit in her songs, as did Judy. Bette Midler is certainly a stronger woman, a stronger personality, but I think they both had a lot of pain in their lives and they both went through some of the same stuff."
With "Brass & Class," Halenda will be paying tribute to the singers rather than attempting to portray them. "I focus on Judy the first act and Bette in the second act, and I'm not impersonating either one. I'm not an impersonator, but I do have a lot of qualities in common with both of them."
After growing up in Richmond and graduating as a theater major at Virginia Tech, Halenda has had a busy, fulfilling performing career. With more than 180 productions and 12 national tours under her belt, she has also starred in the one-woman shows "The Brassy Broads of Broadway" and "Sophie Tucker: The Last of the Red Hot Mamas."
Although she has received a number of awards over the course of her career, Halenda laughs as she looks back at a newspaper review as having provided some of her most memorable praise. "I was doing 'Evita,' and they said, 'Although somewhat meatier than the real Eva Peron, Kathy Halenda can sing and act.' So I like that. They called me fat but talented."
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