Kat Brais is a non-union actor who arrived on the thriving theater scene in the Washington, DC area in 1998.  Since moving to Northern Virginia from Los Angeles, she has appeared in over forty productions in lead, supporting, cameo and ensemble roles.  A native of Ohio, Kat began her love affair with theater in the fifth grade as the understudy for Glinda in The Wizard of Oz at Windermere Elementary School and has been going non-stop since then. 

 

Kat has portrayed a variety of characters ranging from mothers to whores and everything in between in over twenty different venues in the immediate area. Although specializing in musical theater, Kat has also performed in assorted dramas, comedies, one-acts and skits.  She has been nominated for two WATCH (Washington Area Theater Community Honors) awards for her work on stage in Funny Girl as Mrs. Strakosh at Reston Community Players (RCP) and in You Can’t Take It With You as Olga at Prince William Little Theater and received a nomination for Best Female Supporting Actress in Q312461, a one act written by local playwright Bob Bartlett, at the NVTA One Act Festival in 2003.  Recently, Kat has broken into the professional theater scene in productions of The Velveteen Rabbit at the Alden Theater in McLean, VA as Nana and in One Touch of Venus at The American Century Theater (TACT) and in July 2006 portrayed Mrs. Lyons in the critically acclaimed community theater premier of Blood Brothers at Elden Street Players and in April 2007 will portray Imogene Hurst in Radio TBS (Trailerpark Broadcasting Scandals) at PWLT.

 

In addition to acting, Kat is also a well respect children’s theater director with the Elden Street Players Theater for Young Audiences (ESPTYA) having directed Rumplestiltskin in 2004, Cinderella in 2005, Rapunzel in 2006 and Sleeping Beauty in 2007.  Each production played to sold out houses and re-invigorated interest in children’s theater in the regional area.

 

On top of acting and directing, Kat also designs hair and makeup for many local theaters including TACT, Dominion Stage (DS), RCP, Vienna Theater Company and ESP.  In 2003, Kat was nominated for two WATCH awards in hair design for Funny Girl and City of Angels at RCP.  In 2005, she received her fifth WATCH nomination for her gravity defying hair design in The Mystery of Irma Vep at ESP and in 2006 is delighted to have been the hair mistress for Autumn Garden at TACT, Three Tall Women at ESP,  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at DS, Alice in Wonderland at ESPTFYA and Blood Brothers at ESP.  In 2007 she has been credited with design hair and makeup for The Iceman Cometh also at ESP and Desire Under the Elms at TACT.

 

In 2005 and 2006, along side her sister, Kat co-produced Broadway Lights The Night, a cabaret concert to benefit The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Plans are in the works for our 2007 show.

 

Kat has been member of The Actors Center since 2003 and volunteers as an usher, light board operator, stage manager, and whatever else needs to be done to get a show up and running.