Kimilee Bryant

Kimilee Karyn Bryant, born June 22, 1969, is an American actress, singer, and former Miss South Carolina whose Broadway career spanned from 1988 to 2009. A native of Berea, near Greenville, South Carolina, she is the daughter of dance teacher Karen C. Bryant and attended Travelers Rest High School before earning a Bachelor of Music degree from Converse College. She subsequently trained at Manhattan School of Music, where she completed a Master's Degree in vocal performance in 1992 under the instruction of Mignon Dunn. Her earlier vocal studies took place at Greenville's Fine Arts Center and the South Carolina Governor's School of the Arts, while her dance training was pursued at Broadway Dance Center. She studied acting with Terry Schreiber at the T. Schreiber Studio in New York City. In 1989, Bryant held the title of Miss South Carolina, and at the Miss America 1990 pageant she received talent scholarships. She was also a regional Metropolitan Opera Auditions winner in 1998.

Bryant is most closely associated with The Phantom of the Opera, in which she performed the role of Christine Daaé across multiple productions. Her Broadway appearances in that role occurred during 1994–95, 1998, and occasionally between 2009 and 2012. She also played Christine in the Swiss production, performed in German from 1995 to 1996, the U.S. National Tour from 1996 to 1998, and the Toronto production in 1999. She later took on the role of Carlotta in the third national tour of Phantom from 2005 to 2006 and during parts of 2008 to 2012, and returned to the Broadway production in the summer of 2008 to cover and perform that same role. During parts of 2009 to 2012, she returned to Broadway in the roles of Christine, Carlotta, and occasionally Madame Giry. Her other Broadway credit includes The Pirate Queen, in which she served as swing and covered the roles of Majella and Queen Elizabeth I during 2006 and 2007. The comedy The Pirate and the production Chance & Chemistry are also among her verified Broadway credits.

Bryant made her concert debut as a soprano soloist with The National Chorale at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. She also performed as a soloist in a staged production of Handel's Messiah at Lincoln Center and at the Utrecht Early Music Festival in the Netherlands in 2000. Her longstanding association with the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, beginning in 1993, produced numerous roles at New York City Center, including Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore in 2001 and 2002–03, Aline in The Sorcerer in 2001 and 2012, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance in 2003, Casilda in The Gondoliers in 2003, and the title role in Princess Ida in 2008. At Symphony Space, she played Phyllis in Iolanthe and Elsie in The Yeomen of the Guard in 2003, and the Plaintiff in Trial by Jury in 2011. She also appeared in the Encores! presentation of Bye Bye Birdie in 2004.

Her regional theatre work has been extensive. At the Warehouse Theatre, she played Sally Talley in Talley's Folly in 1999 and Sharon in Master Class in 2000. Other regional roles include Marian in The Music Man at Muhlenberg Summer Theatre in 2000, Maria in West Side Story with Rockwell Productions, Eliza in My Fair Lady at The Farmhouse in North Carolina, Laurey in Oklahoma! at Town N' Country Theatre in South Carolina, Julie in Carousel and Maisie in The Boy Friend at Greenville Little Theatre, and Hope in Anything Goes at Yorktown Regional Theatre. She starred in Riverside Theatre's production of Showtune in 2004 and appeared as Mrs. Nordstrom in A Little Night Music at Indiana Repertory Theatre in January and February of 2013. At the Gloria Maddox Theatre, directed by Terry Schreiber, she played Stage Manager in Our Town in 2000 and Betty in John Guare's Landscape of the Body in 2004.

In opera, Bryant performed with Portland Opera in roles including Frasquita and Micaela in Carmen, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, Antonia in Man of La Mancha, Pamina and Second Lady in An American Magic Flute, Adele in Die Fledermaus, and Alice in Through the Opera Glass. She sang Zerlina in Don Giovanni with The Boheme Opera of New Jersey in 2005, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Longview in Texas in 2003, Polly in The Beggar's Opera with the National Opera Association, and Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew with the John Brownlee Opera Association. She has also appeared with the Brevard Music Center Opera, Aspen Opera, Greenville Symphony, Spartanburg Symphony, Piedmont Opera, Opera East Texas, and Opera Ontario.

Bryant performs in a one-woman show titled My Life's Journey Through Song and tours with Irish tenor Ciaran Sheehan in a concert program called From Galway to Broadway. She also performs with the concert group Broadway Sings. Her film and television credits include a role as a teacher in The Manchurian Candidate in 2003, Julia's Mom in 7th Heaven in 2002, and a reporter in season one of Law & Order. In 2008, she released a solo CD titled My Favorite Things, comprising primarily musical theatre songs. Bryant volunteers as a green captain for Broadway Green Alliance, supporting environmentally friendly practices within the New York theatre community.