HER CAREER SO FAR
Kerri Lynn Jennings’ professional stage career got off
to a magical start in 1996
when she was picked to star at Caesar’s Palace in
as
Gypsy medium in a one-woman high concept magic act, “The
Séance.”
Cast
(after a six-month search) for her unique combination of
vocal, dialect, physical
and improve skills, Kerri Lynn, who had no prior magic training,
was nonetheless
coached by David Copperfield, Siegfried and Roy, Ray Pierce
and the master of
masks Jeff McBride. During the show’s two-year run she was acknowledged
to perform the fastest “switch” in magic.
For another two years Kerri Lynn honed her musical theatre
skills, appearing
regionally in leading rolls of “Company,” Little Women,”
“The Apple Tree”
(for which she also was choreographer) and “Sunday in the
Park with George.”
In 2001 she was the principal female vocalist, choreographer
and lead dancer for
a unique stage show about the flowering of ragtime conceived
by Mosanabu
Ikemiya (guest soloist for the New York Philharmonic) that
toured
acclaim.
This
familiarity with ragtime contributed to Kerri Lynn’s natural appeal in the title
role of “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” She was in contention for heading the national tour
when a car accident sidelined her in April of 2003.
As part of her vigorous stamina-restoring regimen Kerri
Lynn developed a cabaret act,
“On the Brink,” in which she dramatized the impact of her
accident on her life
and career . . . to great comic effect. The show, described as an “extraordinary debut”
in Backstage, premiered in May of 2004. Don’t Tell Mama reprised the show
in October ’04 and it went on to sell-out dates at Odette’s,
in
Her success and exposure with On the Brink led to other exciting opportunities,
such as
participating in the star-studded benefit concerts of Pippin (working with Terrance
Mann,
Ben Vereen and Rosie O'Donnell), and the concert of The Secret Garden with Michael
Arden
and Laura Benati.