Katharine Powell … From Princeton Day School to the Great White Way
By Adam Grybowski Staff Writer
After two years at Washington University in St. Louis, Katharine Powell dropped out and moved to New York City to become a professional actor. She had no agent, no professional experience and no idea how to make it happen. While working as a waitress, she met a group of actors, all graduates of prestigious acting schools — Yale, NYU, Juilliard — and realized that, even if she were lucky enough to be cast in a play, she wouldn’t be able to act at their level.
Twelve years later, Ms. Powell, a Princeton native, is set to make her Broadway debut on Nov. 14 in “The Farnsworth Invention.” The play tells the story of Philo Farnsworth’s legal battle with David Sarnoff over the patent for the invention of television.
“I was amazed this is something people don’t really know about,” Ms. Powell says, “these two personalities battling each other over something we all use and know.”
The style, scope and humor of the story attracted her to the script, not to mention its author, Aaron Sorkin, the screenwriter, producer and playwright who created the television show “The West Wing.”
Mr. Sorkin originally wrote “The Farnsworth Invention” as a screenplay, but rewrote it as a play in 2005. Production began on Feb. 20 at a page-to-stage workshop at La Jolla Playhouse in California. Ms. Powell hoped the play would follow the trajectory of other projects that began at La Jolla and emerged on Broadway, such as “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and “Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays.”
Although she says reaching Broadway is more symbolic than anything, the achievement watermarks a career that began at Princeton Day School. As a senior Ms. Powell made the commitment to acting, which she says was her anchor through adolescence. Her drama teacher, who fostered in her a love for Shakespeare, told her he thought she could act professionally if she wanted to.
“I think he saw my commitment and passion at a young age,” Ms. Powell says. “He was able to identify that thing that makes people actors.”
After moving to New York, Ms. Powell tried and failed to get into the Juilliard School. She says it was a blessing in disguise because it led to her return to college. In 1999 she graduated from Brown University with a degree in English.
Even with an Ivy League degree, Ms. Powell says she received her finest education at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she enrolled after Brown and lived and breathed acting for three years in a class of 18. Although her schedule was rigorous — many days went from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. — she loved every minute of it, relishing the challenge.
Acting school, Ms. Powell says, is “about expanding your sense of self and getting in front of people and failing, finding your voice as an actor, and finding a process.”
She graduated in 2002, feeling versatile and more at ease in her body, believing she was now able to act at a high level. After having nearly every minute accounted for during school, Ms. Powell found the transition to post-graduation life difficult. Actors have a lot of free time, she says, unless they are movie stars or regulars on a series. Even if she had two auditions in one day, which was rare, Ms. Powell was left every day with time to fill.
She decided to form LA Cat, a nonprofit that connects professional actors with urban youths. The drama program is designed for students to develop leadership skills. When LA Cat was formed, Ms. Powell was living in Los Angeles, appearing in commercials, television shows (“Without a Trace”) and independent films (“The Baxter”). When she moved back to New York, she tried to bring LA Cat to the East Coast. Two programs scheduled for Newark fell through when principals working with Ms. Powell left their schools.
LA Cat is now on hold, but Ms. Powell’s career isn’t. She’s been working consistently since appearing in the off-Broadway play “The Water’s Edge” in the spring of 2006.
“The Farnsworth Invention” is currently in previews. Nearly the entire cast from La Jolla’s production is appearing on Broadway, with the notable exception of Hank Azaria taking the lead role of David Sarnoff. Ms. Powell plays Betty, Sarnoff’s secretary and confidante.
“I’ve been working toward this moment for a lot of years,” Ms. Powell says, “and this particular show is really exciting because I believe in it so much. It feels like it’s bigger than any one of us.”
“The Farnsworth Invention” is playing at the Music Box Theater, 239 W. 45th St. Manhattan. Tickets range from $50 through $95 through www.telecharge.com. On the Web: www.farnsworthonbroadway.com.