Las Vegas Weekly

May 14, 2009 · 1 PM

TLK Interview: Kissy Simmons reveals dreams and hopes for musical’s success

By Robin Leach

Kissy Simmons and Robin Leach.

Photo: Tom Donoghue/www.donoghuephotography.com

Vegas DeLuxe has already told you the amazing story of how Kissy Simmons took her family’s $600 in life savings and flew from her one-traffic-light town in Florida to New York to try out for a Disney show on Broadway -- click HERE for that story.

Instead of landing a role in Aida, she was plucked from the line where she was No. 52 and cast as Nala in the original The Lion King in New York. Now the former athletic scholarship winner is starring again as Nala in the new Las Vegas production.

Kissy and I chatted this week:

Robin Leach: From an actress’s viewpoint, what is this incredible Lion King magic? What is there that sends the audience into tears, self-examination and then laughter, and then leaving in joy?

Kissy Simmons: Over the years, I have learned that it is pretty simple, and director Julie Taymor said that what touches people the most is how the story is told, because it is a magnificent story. You have incredible costumes and scenery, and the performers all combine together, and everyone is fully invested in the story. I think that’s what touches people the most.

RL: You do this every night, so it gets repetitive. What is it that allows you to get away from that repetitiveness every night?

KS: I believe that every day and every night is going to be different, and I’ve learned not to fight that. I try to embrace what I’ve gone through that day, whether I’m in a bad mood or a good mood, whether I’m feeling melancholy or happy, and just try to bring that to my performance as Nala. I think when you try to do it the same every night and disregard your feelings as a human being, as a person and not an actress, you run into repetition.

RL: Tell me how much you really enjoy this role.

KS: I believe that the role is really me. I don’t say I play Nala in The Lion King, I say I am Nala in The Lion King, because a lot of Nala’s life parallels my own life as a young girl growing up to being this adult that I am now.

RL: Leaving home, taking a huge gamble, going to New York.

KS: Yeah, I’m the second person in my family who went to college. Going to New York, nobody in my family had gone to New York. My mom, when she came to visit for the first time, she was like, “Oh my God, it’s really not that bad.” They only know what they see on television.

RL: What will they think of Vegas?

KS: Well, that’s going to be a different thing. My father came in this week, so they’ll get to see what Vegas is all about, because you have CSI Vegas, and that’s their only frame of reference. But I’ve told them it’s different because I see a lot of families here, which makes me happy. You have the Strip, which is one thing by itself , but then you have a city with Wal-Mart, and you have regular people who are just happy to be in jeans and T-shirts. It’s a very friendly city and people actually wave to each other. I’m from a very small town, and we have one traffic light. So I can really appreciate that.

RL: If your teachers had not pushed you toward theater, do you think you would have stayed in athletics? Or is that part of your circle of life?

KS: I definitely think that it’s part of my circle of life. I don’t take for granted that I had this amazing high school drama teacher, Cheryl Israel, who saw something in me that I really wanted to do. She was, like, “OK, if you’re not going to do it, then I’m going to make you do it.” She stepped in as a mom. Track was my means for a ticket to college; that was going to be my scholarship. Even to this day, I love being athletic. You will find me in a gym, and you will find me lifting weights and running. All of my athleticism, I bring to any role I play. I think that that gives me an edge.

RL: Kissy, having been in the Broadway version and in the national tour, plus a couple of other places in the world where it’s been produced, how do you think this show will be received in Vegas?

KS: I think there is nothing else like this show in this city, and I think that is going to speak volumes. It’s going to attract local families, but it’s also going to attract everyone else who comes to visit.

RL: And you’re going to like living in Vegas for at least a year?

KS: I love Vegas. I was here once before, for a family reunion, I played a couple of slot machines, but I’ve never lived here. My husband and I are both excited to be here, and it’s just what I say -- you have the city action here if you want it, and you have the non-hustle and bustle life outside it, too.

RL: You are just 273 miles from Hollywood. Is this the closest you have come to being able to branch out from being this incredible theater actress with the incredible voice of Nala? Is it time to shed that and go dip your foot into that big pool?

KS: It’s time to shine. I have been dipping. I’ve done several episodic TV shows, living in New York. I’ve done several commercials, which I shot in Los Angeles, so I’ve worked there, but I think it’s definitely time to be exposed to being in a feature film where I can show my femininity, my athleticism and of course my singing.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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