Katie Drinkard, above, attended ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch. Photo by Adams VisCom.

MEET KATIE DRINKARD
Mae in The Wild Party, playing through Oct. 31 under the hanger at the Stanley Marketplace.   

At the Denver Center: Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking. Recent regional credits include Million Dollar Quartet at Totem Pole Playhouse and Chasing Rainbows at Flat Rock Playhouse. Off-Broadway: Far From Canterbury at Soho Playhouse.

• Hometown: Highlands Ranch
• Home now: New York
• High school: ThunderRidge
• Training: I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ithaca College in New York
• Twitter-sized bio: Comically verbose avocado enthusiast often found in the process of dropping or spilling something.
• What’s your handle? @katiedrinkard on Twitter and Instagram
• Web site? katiedrinkard.com
• What do you be doing if you were not an actor? I am a true-crime junkie and aficionado, so perhaps something in the realm of private investigator or criminal psychologist. If only I got paid for the embarrassing number of hours I’ve already spent going down various internet rabbit holes compiling my own research and theories on countless forensic cases.
• One time you saw greatness play out in front of you: Laurie Metcalf in A Doll’s House Part 2 on Broadway (pictured right). Oh wait, no. Cynthia Erivo in The Color Purple. I am riddled with indecision. I can’t stick with one answer. I will describe both in tandem: These women changed the molecules in the air with their performances. As an audience member, you felt the room become so still and you could feel everyone listening with their entire bodies. The command, the power, the humanity and the magic harnessed and delivered from these two women was nothing short of intoxicating to witness.
• Bucket-list role: I change my mind on this bi-weekly, but at the moment it’s Mama Rose in Gypsy. I know, I have to wait about 30 years, but one day everything’s gonna come up roses for me.
• One time you were totally miscast: I played the elderly and racist Mrs. Dubose in To Kill a Mockingbird in high school, and I played another ancient woman in the ensemble of The Light in the Piazza at Ithaca College. What can I say? I’ve got a convincing and compelling old-lady gait.
• What’s playing on your your Spotify? Phoebe Bridgers’ Strangers in the Alps album.
• How should we should foster the next generation of theatregoers? We need to work harder to reach disenfranchised communities. We need to continue to foster outreach programs that bring the arts and live-theatre experiences to every young person.
• One thing we don’t know about you: I was born in England!
• Why does The Wild Party matter? Like all great theatrical endeavors, The Wild Party provides compelling insight into human nature. We see complex, fascinating people dealing with pain, inner turmoil, secrets and indiscretion. We see people projecting the versions of themselves they want the world and their community to see, and we also get to see people without all the glitz and glamour at their most raw and carnal. I think that matters.
  
• What do you hope the audience gets out of this play? That they find pieces of themselves in these 15 characters. I hope they leave feeling like they have been truly immersed in a wild evening of fun and debauchery. I hope they leave ruminating on the masks they might wear in their own lives.
  
• One thing you want to get off your chest: I have a hard time trusting anyone who enjoys the taste of Marmite.

Pictured above right: Katie Drinkard her with her mother, Celeste, at the ‘Wild Party’ opening-night celebration. Photo by John Moore

More Colorado theatre coverage on the DCPA NewsCenter

The Wild Party: Ticket information
At  a glance: You’re invited to leave your inhibitions (and Prohibitions) behind as you join a decadent party in the Roaring Twenties, brought to you by the producers of Sweet & Lucky. Indulge your inner flapper as you mingle with an unruly mix of vaudevillians, playboys, divas, and ingénues in a Manhattan apartment lost in time. Debauchery turns disastrous as wild guests becomes unhinged and their solo songs reveal the drama bubbling underneath the surface. Whether you’re a wallflower or a jitterbug, you’ll think this jazz- and gin-soaked immersive musical is the bee’s knees.

• Music and Lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa
• Book by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe
• Based on the poem by Joseph Moncure March
• Through Oct. 31, only
• At The Hangar at Stanley Marketplace, 2501 Dallas St.
• Visit the official Wild Party web site
• Call 303-893-4100 or BUY ONLINE
• Sales to groups of 10 or more click here

Previous NewsCenter coverage of The Wild Party:

First look at video and photos from The Wild Party
2017 Colorado Fall Theatre Preview: Meet Emily Van Fleet
Cast list: Look who’s been invited to The Wild Party
Off-Center throwing a Wild Party at Stanley Marketplace this fall
The Wild Party: Five things we learned at first rehearsal
Vast and visceral: 2017-18 Theatre Company, Off-Center seasons announced

More 2017-18 ‘In the Spotlife’ profiles:
Meet Hugo Jon Sayles of Su Teatro’s I Don’t Speak English Only
Meet Autumn Hurlbert of Something Rotten!
Meet Zak Reynolds of DCPA Education’s The Snowy Day
Meet Rachel Kae Taylor of DCPA Education’s The Snowy Day
Meet Christy Brandt of Creede Rep’s Arsenic and Old Lace
Meet Deb Persoff of Vintage Theatre’s August: Osage County
Meet Monica Joyce Thompson of Inspire Creative’s South Pacific