(My friend Michelle Yuen, with whom I’ve performed in several musicals, is putting on a Musical Theatre Masterclass with local Broadway performer Diana Kaarina. It’s a great way to prepare for the upcoming audition season! Here are the details.)

Triple Threat is offering a 4 hour masterclass with Broadway veteran, Diana Kaarina. In this class, learn everything you need to know aboutthe audition process including a Q&A with Diana. Following, allstudents will have the opportunity to perform a song of their choiceand receive tips and direction to perfect their audition technique. This will be an ongoing class offered bi-weekly and will feature guest lectures from local and Broadway performers.

Introductory rate (first month only!) - $75.

Please call 778-883-6651 to register!

Class size is limited so register early. Please come prepared with 2 songs. Accompaniment will be provided.

Highlights of Diana’s career:

Diana Kaarina began her professional career at 17 with two seasons at theCharlottetown Festival, where she understudied and performed the roleof ‘Anne Shirley’. She then spent a total of 3 ½ years as “Meg Giry”with Livent’s “Phantom of the Opera”, beginning on the InternationalTour for Really Useful Group, which played Singapore and Hong Kong andwas the subject of a BBC Documentary. Directly following, she was askedto join the Toronto company and eventually transferred to the Vancouvercompany so she could play her hometown.

Following that, shejoined the US National Tour of ‘Les Miserables’ which spent 6 months inToronto with Colm Wilkinson reprising his role as “Jean Valjean”. Shespent the first year as an “Eponine” cover, the second as a swing andcover and the next two years as “Eponine”, earning her a NationalTouring Award Nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. She was thenasked to play “Eponine” on Broadway, where she spent a year and halfand was honoured to take part in the historic original closing castperformance.

Directly after that she created the role of ‘MissDorothy Brown’ on the US National Tour of ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’.She was most recently seen on Broadway in ‘Rent’ as the Mimi/Maureenswing, where she played every female role in the show but ‘Joanne’.

Lastyear she reprised her role as ‘Eponine’ in ‘Les Miserables’ for the St. Louis Muny’s historic outdoor premiere and was nominated for a KevinKline Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also revisited ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ in San Diego, this time in the role of ‘Millie Dillmount’.

She has worked exclusively as an actress, singerand dancer for the past 17 years. In that time, she has had the honourof working with such theatre notables as Cameron Mackintosh, HaroldPrince, Trevor Nunn, John Caird, Claude-Michel Schonberg & AlainBoublil, David Caddick, Michael Mayer, Jeanine Tesori, Jason Moore, RobAshford, Jason Howland, Alan Menken, Disney, Michael Greif and ColmWilkinson among many others. She is humbled to be Harold Prince’sfavourite “Meg” and the Schonberg family’s favourite “Eponine”.

Her favourite role to date, however, is as mommy to her amazing daughter, Kylie.