There are many layers to Broadway actress Kate Shindle. The 1998 Miss America is recognized for her crown, her stint as a correspondent for Today and her roles in films and Broadway plays. But the New Jersey native, who is currently playing the villainess Mad Hatter in Wonderland: A New Alice. A New Musical. is also a big-time HIV/AIDS activist.
Shindle is relatively new to the musical, which has been revamped and reworked since it debuted in Tampa nearly a year ago. The 33-year-old has only been with the show since Labor Day 2010, and even in that short period of time she has seen the production evolve.
While she may play a villainess on the stage, Shindle is anything but evil in real life.
She still takes heart to her Miss America platform of HIV/AIDS activism and will appear, along with a few castmates at the Honey Pot in Ybor City on Jan. 7 to benefit the Francis House. On Jan. 11, the Straz Center will host Francis Night at Wonderland, where theatergoers can enter a special code when they order tickets to ensure $10 is donated to the HIV/AIDS charity.
In a New Year’s Eve morning phone interview with Watermark—her first interview about her new role—Shindle shared her love of playing a non-traditional villain, the attraction she seems to have over gay men and the importance of keeping HIV/AIDS education in the public eye:
WATERMARK: Congratulations on your role as the Mad Hatter in Wonderland. How familiar were you with this musical before you came on board?
KATE SHINDLE: I hadn’t seen the production before, and by the time I went in to audition I hadn’t read the script because they were doing some rewrites. I had a few scenes to work on. What’s interesting is as much as I like the show, it’s changed significantly. There’s been a lot of evolution since Labor Day.
Isn’t dealing with all the rewrites and that “evolution” frustrating as an actor? How do you keep the changes straight?
That’s like asking an accountant how they do all that math. It’s our job. The memory muscles are tricky sometimes and those changes are the things we work on the most. It’s part of the gig. There are new lines that sometimes show up in the morning that go into the show that night.
You are an American sweetheart. Was it difficult taking on the role of a villain?
It’s funny. I feel safe saying that the Mad Hatter is not a traditional villain. The character and all of Wonderland are parts of Alice. So the Hatter is a force within Alice that she must deal with before she can return to her real life.
The music in this show is great and I love the creative team. If this was a regular villain, it wouldn’t be nearly as powerful as it is.
So you see your role as playing part of someone’s personality?
Yes. We’re diving deep inside someone’s head and looking at what makes up her psyche. That’s the most interesting thing. I think while people can enjoy this show on its surface, and kids will love it because they get to see a guy in a rabbit outfit, it’s challenging in that we get into the ego of the main character.
You are very involved with the HIV/AIDS community and activism. Why?
I went to a very white suburban Catholic High School, which was great, but I didn’t grow up in a world that spent a lot of time with AIDS. It wasn’t part of our universe. When I went to college, I learned that a professor in the theater department had just died from complications and it was a loss deeply felt by faculty, staff and his students.
I also had an uncle who had died from AIDS complications. So when I was a sophomore I took a class to volunteer for a social movement and I picked the AIDS crisis.
What type of work did you do with it?
I volunteered with something very similar to Francis House while I was in Chicago. I stuffed envelopes and answered phones. It just always seemed so stupid to me that we knew how to stop AIDS but we couldn’t figure out how to actually do it. I learned that too many people were reluctant to talk about a straightforward public health issue. That injustice hooked me.
You were very outspoken about it during your reign as Miss America 1998.
When I was Miss America I was only 20—just old enough to think for myself but not old enough to be scared of opening my mouth and broadcasting my opinions. (Laughs.) Miss America required a platform and I think this was a pathway to social relevance for the organization. In 1998, no one really cared or paid attention to the swimsuit, but they did pay attention to the platforms that changed the world.
Has that involvement, you think, made you a role model to the LGBT community?
I think I’ve been fortunate in terms of being a role model to many communities. I felt like an outsider when I was a kid because I had bad hair, glasses, played the violin and had the same sweater in five different pastel colors. (Laughs.)
But I always identified with those who didn’t feel like they fit in and I still do.
That gave me a built in mechanism to somehow connect with a few kids who would leave that high school auditorium after I spoke and remember what would discuss.
The gay community is awesome and it doesn’t hurt that I am in musical theater or that I sing loudly and without taking breathes for long periods of time.
Obviously you’re passionate about musical theater and HIV/AIDS activism. What else gets your attention?
The fight for equality. The equality battle has come a long way. Things that make me angry include the opposition to same-sex marriage. The battle for equality will not be won or lost by just one segment. It will be won when we bring in gays, straights, Christians, Republicans, Democrats and everyone else. We can’t win with the same support system. We have to expand it.
see+hear
WHO: Kate Shindle as The Mad Hatter
WHAT: Wonderland.
A New Alice. A New Musical.
WHEN: Through Jan. 16
with Francis House night Jan. 11
TICKETS: StrazCenter.org
