Raised in the deep south (of New Jersey), Kate Shindle began singing at age 4. She is best remembered for her stirring church rendition of some Christmas song that starts with the lyric "Look at the baby lying there", and whose title absolutely no one she knows can recall. Also, since she is Catholic, it was pretty, but not terribly soulful. Think boy soprano.
She attended Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in Pennsauken, NJ (sandwiched between Cherry Hill and Camden) where, aside from spending lots and lots of time not knowing how to socialize with the other kids, she fell hard for acting. Despite the school's lack of an actual stage, she participated in shows like "Into the Woods" (as The Baker's Wife, she received her first kiss ever. He's now a priest) and "Godspell". She presumably remains the only Eustace alum to both play Fruma Sarah and be the first violinist in the show orchestra in the same production, which is probably responsible for her obsessive multitasking. Go Crusaders.
Kate attended Northwestern University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in theater and a certificate in musical theater. She was on a unique 5-year program: three years of school, then a year of traipsing around with a crown in her suitcase, then back to college to finish her degree. The crown came as a result of a trip to Atlantic City in September of 1997, where, armed with a set of tired 20-year-old vocal cords, the loudest-ever rendition of "Don't Rain on My Parade" (that video will never, ever be posted here, fyi), and a swimsuit that will live in infamy (two words: boy shorts), she managed to impress enough judges to be chosen Miss America 1998. She then spent twelve months traveling the country talking about HIV prevention, AIDS issues, and safer sex, which they just loved in the Bible Belt.
After graduation, Kate moved to New York, got a job at a deli out of sheer boredom, and was surprised to learn that it's a lot easier to get on TV when you're an ex-Miss America slinging hash than it is to get media attention for a life-and-death issue like AIDS. Let's just say that they never made jokes about her activism on SNL. Soon after, she landed in the Broadway production of "Jekyll & Hyde", followed by stints as Sally Bowles in both the touring and Broadway productions of Sam Mendes and Rob Marshall's acclaimed revival of "Cabaret." Lots of fun things followed: a job as a correspondent on NBC's "Today", small roles in "The Stepford Wives" and "Capote", lots of recordings and concerts, and regional productions like "After the Fall" (Maggie) at The Alley, "Himself and Nora" (Nora Barnacle) at The Old Globe, and productions of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (Helena), "Gypsy" (Louise), "The Mousetrap", "The Last Five Years", "First Lady Suite", etc. Kate also co-founded the World AIDS Day Concerts with her friend Jamie McGonnigal, which has since mounted productions of "Children of Eden", "Pippin" (with Ben Vereen and Rosie O'Donnell), "The Secret Garden", and "Rags" to raise funds for various AIDS service organizations.
These days, Kate is hanging around the Palace Theater a lot, having originated the role of bitch-with-a-conscience Vivienne Kensington in the Broadway hit "Legally Blonde". She has also written a novel, "Crown Chasers", about a girl who decides to enter a pageant, and is at work on her second novel, tentatively titled "November". Kate's writing has been published in "Newsweek", "The Advocate", and "Poz".
Kate Shindle now lives in New York City, where she just moved into a killer apartment in Harlem. She has two cool cats named Howard Roark and Vivvie, and a spanking-new blog at www.shindleslist.blogspot.com. Find out more at the soon-to-be-operational www.kateshindle.com.
