Kelly Anise Daniells
Kelly Anise Daniells plays Sophie Sheridan in the Las Vegas production of "Mamma Mia!" at Mandalay Bay. At 21 years old, she's thrilled to be one of the stars of a show that packs audiences nightly.
Kelly grew up in Sacramento, California, and started her early career in acting and voice. It was not until she entered her performing arts high school that she took up dance training and she loved it immediately. She said, "Jazz dance is always what I excelled in but ballet is what I enjoyed most. I don't have great technique but I'm a great performer. I would've been great in the 1940's, the blond in all the Rogers and Hammerstein musicals...Musicals used to be mostly singing and acting."
It was because singing and acting were her forte that she thought she would've been a shoo-in back in the 40's. That is, until she happened upon two of the masters - Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. Still, she thought it all looked so simple. "Everything was effortless. I'd watch the old movies, think it must be easy and then I'd try it."
It was the trying that gave her an appreciation of the effort required to make it look easy. She said, "It teaches you how to move in your body, to be aware of your posture, where your limbs are, your arms are." Additionally, an actress who looks comfortable in her own body, moves easily on a stage and an audience appreciates it, too. She said, "You can tell the difference."
Another reason she liked the old musicals is because the dancers worked in styles she's familiar with: tap, ballet and jazz. She worries that the trend nowadays slants toward hip-hop. She said, "For me, that's not great. I can't do hip-hop to save my life."
Nevertheless, insecurity over one dance style doesn't hold her back. Kelly learned early on that show business is dispassionate at casting calls. Maybe she'll be the perfect personality for the role and the producers will overlook her hip-hop technique. Or maybe they really want hip-hop technique and nothing she can do will change that. One thing's for sure: survivors never take rejection personally; they rack it up to experience and move on to the next audition. "All performers go through that. There's no other job where you go through so much rejection. So many things go into the selection: a look, talent, type. You could be an inch too short. You have to separate talent and self."
A rejection doesn't indicate a lack of talent and certainly doesn't mean a career is hopeless. "Don't let people tell you you can't do it. People will try to talk you out of it, especially people who aren't in the business."
But not her own parents. When Kelly graduated from high school, she went straight to college and chose history as her major, all the while acting in shows. And she didn't waste time moving up the ranks from bit parts to lead, either. She played Sally Bowles in "Cabaret," Annie Oakley in "Annie Get Your Gun," Mabel in "Pirates of Penzance" and Amnesia in "Nunsense."
It was during her sophomore year that she decided to pursue a professional stage career. She said, "I was kind of unhappy going to school." Her parents threw in their support and off she went. "You can always train, but you don't necessarily need to do that in a school setting."
So it was that she landed her first professional role at age twenty. No, not the lead. Kelly was the front end of the cow in "Gypsy." But it was while she was performing in "Gypsy" that the opportunity arose to audition for "Mamma Mia!" Although familiar with ABBA from the music of "Chess," a soundtrack her parents adored and whose composers were former ABBA members Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, she knew nothing about "Mamma Mia!" She said, "I thought, 'How does this fit into a show?'" Easily, it turns out.
Kelly says she plans to return to school one day and finish the history degree. "I don't want to be forty years old and doing theater...I want to be a high school history teacher. I had a great, great history teacher in high school. He inspired a lot of students. I would like to touch students the way he did."
All bets are off until she gets a little closer to forty, but if she teaches anything, the bet is musical theater. In the meantime, Kelly plans to fill her dance card with lots of good musicals - revivals or not. "I just want to be able to work." Judging by the roles on her résumé, the future looks plenty bright.
If you want to know more about Kelly, you can visit her website at www.kellydaniells.com.