Carrie St. Louis has built an impressive musical-theater résumé. She’s starred as Rose in Titanique; Glinda in the Broadway and national touring company productions of Wicked; and Sherrie in the Broadway and Las Vegas companies of Rock of Ages.
But it all started on the McCallum Theatre stage, at the Open Call talent competition—which she won in 2004. Carrie St. Louis has returned to the McCallum many times since, but nearly 20 years after her win, she’s back for a special show celebrating both the songs of her career and the desert, on Thursday, Feb. 22.
“There are so many emotions,” St. Louis said during a recent phone interview. “We keep joking, my family and I, that it’s like a wedding for one person, because so many friends and family are flying into town for it. People who I grew up with are able to come. My first voice teacher in the desert—he’s now in his late 90s—is going to be able to come. It’s just such a full-circle moment for me.”
Before her Open Call win, she performed as a youngster in Onstage Theatre Company shows at the McCallum.
“It’s crazy to look back at when I was Annie at the McCallum, and Brigitta in The Sound of Music, and now to come back and have my own show,” she said. “When I told my mom that I was asked to do it, she cried. It’s just a big, big moment for me, and it’s really so special. The McCallum is such a wonderful theater in general, so I’m just honored. … It’s a show celebrating growing up in the desert.”
St. Louis said she—and the rest of the desert—are fortunate to have the McCallum Theatre.
“I feel so lucky that I grew up in the desert, with a resource like that and a theater like that, because that’s just so rare,” she said. “The arts are so important. I’m having a guest onstage (during my show), as I’m a vocal coach, and she’s a student of mine. I’ve been working with her since she was 10. Her mom did theater with me when I was growing up, so the story goes on. To be able to give back to the community, and celebrate it for what it is and what it gave me, is really special.”
St. Louis talked about her Open Call win—which came during her third appearance in the talent competition.
“The first year, just getting accepted into it was such a huge deal,” St. Louis said. “I was, like, 12, and I sang ‘You Can’t Get a Man With a Gun,’ and I would shoot my little fake gun on the stage, and a rubber chicken would fly out. I had this little cowgirl outfit and everything. My brother was also in it that year, so it was really special and really cool. At that age, you’re sort of still like, ‘Am I good at this, or are my parents just like, you’re great; you’re amazing?’
“I came back the next year and did a song called ‘Soprano’s Lament,’ and then in my final year, I did ‘The Girl in 14G,’ which was made famous by Kristin Chenoweth, who also has a show at the McCallum this year. Many years later, I got to follow in her footsteps as Glinda on Broadway, so it’s just really cool. … I sang opera and jazz, and it was kind of a mix of all the different styles, and that year, I won, and also I won the Audience Choice Award. It was 2004, so I was 14, and that was really, really huge for me.”
St. Louis has remained involved with Open Call in the years since her win.
“I look back, and I’m like, ‘What an incredible opportunity just to get better at performing and competing, and stepping outside of your comfort zone,’” St. Louis said. “I’ve come back many years. I’ve judged a couple years, and last year, my vocal student won. I wasn’t allowed to judge, because I was too close to some people in it, but it’s just really neat to be able to be onstage performing, and then be judging it, and then come back and be coaching the person (who) won. I’ve been able to have my hand in many different pots with Open Call, and I always love coming back.”
Winning Open Call didn’t propel St. Louis into Broadway stardom immediately—but it gave her the confidence to dedicate herself to performance training.
“It propelled me with the doors-wide-open mentality of, like, ‘Oh, maybe I am kind of good at this; maybe I could pursue this professionally,’ because when you’re that young, you really don’t know,” St. Louis said. “I ended up going to a prep school in Massachusetts the next year, so I left the Coachella Valley when I was around 15. … It was in the Boston area, and I would take the train to the city every weekend and study opera at Boston University. I really started to hone in on my training, and from there, I ended up going to USC, actually, and I majored in vocal arts and opera.”
St. Louis’ performance will include selections from her Broadway stints, shows she performed at the McCallum, and conversations and stories about her life, from the desert to Broadway. She said it’s “a love letter to the desert and to the community.”
“No two people’s paths are exactly the same,” St. Louis said. “It was a very interesting path I took from graduating—studying opera and really getting my training down. My vocal technique was really strong, but three months out of college, I booked Rock of Ages in Las Vegas, and now I was belting ’80s rock. … There are a lot of fun stories along the way, and I’ll show videos of my time in high school. I have a video of me at La Quinta High School singing Wicked in our choir concert, and then 10 years later, I was singing the exact same thing on Broadway in front of Stephen Schwartz, who wrote Wicked, so it’s just very wild. (There are) lots of pinch-me moments, for sure.”
St. Louis said her McCallum show will undoubtedly be a career highlight.
“I’m very excited to return now, having performed at theaters all over the world—but this feels the most special,” she said.
Carrie St. Louis will perform at 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 22, at the McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, in Palm Desert. Tickets are $25 to $65. For tickets and more information, call 760-340-2787, or visit www.mccallumtheatre.com.
