Stardom caught Las Vegas Strip performer by surprise
Vegas Voices is a weekly series highlighting notable Las Vegans.
Robyn, the female lead of “Sex Tips for Straight Women From a Gay Man” at Paris Las Vegas, has been portrayed by Kendra Wilkinson of “The Girls Next Door” and “Kendra on Top,” Scheana Shay of “Vanderpump Rules” and Katie Kenner of motherhood, dance instruction and a daytime marketing job.
Kenner, who moved to Las Vegas in 2007, wasn’t exactly pulled up onstage from the audience. She’s a trained actor and dancer and had performed on the Strip as David Copperfield’s assistant, but she certainly never planned to star in the sexy comedy when she helped her good friend, “Zombie Burlesque” star Enoch Augustus Scott, audition for it. “Sex Tips” writer Matt Murphy and local producer Adam Steck liked what Kenner did on Scott’s video, though, and emailed her new lines so she could make a second one.
“No one really knew that I was an entertainer, because I kind of put that on the back burner. There wasn’t anything I really wanted to do,” the 36-year-old Kenner says. “I’m a little too old to be a dancer. I’m a mom. So everything had to fall into place for me to consider performing again at this point in my life.”
After putting it off and waiting till the last minute, she submitted a video on a Sunday. That Wednesday, she was offered the role of Shay’s understudy. Rehearsals started four days later. She made her debut in the show less than two weeks after that, on Jan. 8, and the role has been hers alone since the June 4 performance.
Despite living with lupus, Kenner has used her understudy only once: on Saturday. She bowed out then only because she was asked to host a show at Brooklyn Bowl, and she hopes to get into hosting and emceeing, along with producing and directing, once her performing career winds down.
Review-Journal: What is it in your background that allowed you to be able to step into the spotlight like this?
Kenner: My first love is dancing. I started dancing when I was 3 years old out of Northern California. I was a professional ballerina. I was with Radio Disney. … I danced, I did choreography, and I was able to travel around the world for it for a while.
On most audition tapes I’ve seen, the person reading with an actor is usually pretty dry and deadpan. Were you trying to really hit it out of the park?
Well, I wanted to give Enoch something to work with. I had seen the show a few times. … We were just kind of ourselves and how we thought the characters should be. I guess on the audition tape, it read really well.
Did you ever hope to be featured onstage like this?
I’ve always wanted to be the star of something. I think any entertainer really wants that.
What was it like when you first hit the stage as Robyn?
I don’t usually get nervous, because I was born and bred to be onstage. But it was that pressure of, “I’m not a reality star. Like, I’m not famous.” So it was, like, “OK, well, I have to be really good and really funny for these people to accept me.” Because they’re here to see somebody who’s on the TV every day, and I’m not. I’m a trained actress. So it was a little bit of extra pressure than I’ve ever felt before.
How was it the first time you took the stage as the show’s star?
Oh, that was exciting. Everything kind of felt right. It was just, like, “OK, well, I’ve put in the work, and I know my script, and I know the character.” I was just ready to take it on.
You were an understudy. Now you have an understudy, but you never use her. That’s so rude!
I know. I know. (Laughs) I worked a lot when I was Scheana’s understudy. I had at least four shows a month. But I just love going there. And I love my cast, and I love my production company. I’m just really happy when I’m there.
You were just helping out a friend and your whole world changed. Have you taken any kind of life lesson from this?
I was 35 when I got cast. I’m 36 now. You’re never too old to follow your dreams. You’re never too old to have anything come true. That has become very true and very apparent for me. So I can tell my daughter, “Just keep working. It may not happen when you think it’s gonna happen. No life plan is perfect.”
Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence @reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_onthecouch on Twitter.
Getting to know: Katie Kenner
Favorite movie: ” ‘Singin’ in the Rain.’ It was one of the first musicals that my mom sat me down in front of. ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ raised me.”
The last book you read: “It was probably a cookbook, honestly. I love cooking.”
Favorite vacation destination: “Disneyland. It’s been a constant in my life.”
Hobbies: “Dancing is my passion and my hobby. My whole living room is a full-on functional dance studio.”
Daily ritual: “Waking up and taking ibuprofen.”
