Kimberly Marable on why #LifeMatters

Posted on October 2, 2015 in Broadway, Stage

When Kimberly Marable talked with BLEEP in the fall of 2011, she talked about the moment she knew she wanted to be a performer. “The…moment was when I saw my first Broadway show, Fosse, and it was the first time I’d seen dancers use their bodies to express themselves to tell the story in that kind of way, I was really inspired,” she said. Since then, she’s starred in Sister Act, toured with The Book of Mormon, and is currently in Disney’s long-running hit, The Lion King.

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The Lion King has been around for such a long time and has continued to be a sell out show night after night. What’s your favorite moment in the show?

It’s a magical production, let’s start there. “Circle of Life” is amazing. For me, I really enjoy “Shadowland” and it’s all about female empowerment. We are sending one of our own to save our nation and I think that’s really empowering and wonderful. I think our country could take some hints from that. Another moment is actually the beginning of act two, when we sing “One By One.” It’s a song in Zulu, so because it’s not English, we have to work extra hard to remember what we are singing about. This is obviously a loose translation, but we are talking about “this land and our history was built from our ancestors. They poured their blood and their sweat and their tears into it and I am proud of it. I am who I am because of them and I know who I am.” The fact that I get to sing that every show is pretty awesome.

You were one of the founders of Broadway Serves. How have you seen it grow during the past couple years?

We’ve really been growing. We have a new office and we’re seeing more volunteers in the community and branching outside of the original group. We have kids doing volunteer stuff now and it’s really inspiring to see people care about something other than ourselves, even if it’s just for an hour.

You’ve been bringing your passion for encouraging people to give back to their community into your solo shows as well. What’s been the draw for you to the cabaret scene?

It’s exciting and scary and liberating. It’s me being vulnerable. With this show I’m doing now, called #LifeMatters, we are singing about different matters of life. It’s so easy for us, especially in this day and age, to get stuck in our iPhones. I’m sitting here talking to you and my phone is out right here. What do I need it for? I don’t. We are so wrapped up in Facebook and Pinterest and Tinder and we forget about the world around us. Love, great food, great company, politics – life that matters to us. There will be some protest songs, there will be some love songs. There will be all sorts of things to get us talking about things we care about. I want to inspire people to care about something.