Editor’s Note: An earlier edition of this article contains errors. Glenn attended and performed with the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan.
Theater has been a field that requires constant attention to the craft in order to be successful. There have been many who have succeeded in certain aspects either in directing, acting or the more technical aspects like stage building or lighting. Kaitlin “Kait” Glenn has been a theatrical prodigy both with the spotlight on and off her.
Glenn began her theatrical career at the then Cabrini College in 2009. She was not recruited, scouted or otherwise known about prior to trying out for the theater in the Fall of 2009 at Cabrini.
Her initial audition “came out of nowhere,” Dr. Michelle Filling-Brown, dean of the school of humanities and social sciences, said. The department head at the time, Dr. Thomas Stretton, said, “She had the voice of an angel.”
During Glenn’s time as an undergraduate, she had a hand in all the aspects of the theater. From working with the stage crew to honing her skills with Stretton and performing shows from “The Diary of Anne Frank” to “Avenue Q” as Kate Monster.
photo by Loquitur Media
“Not only singing but acting ability she worked on with Stretton,” Dr. Seth Frechie, professor of English, said. “She even worked on two shows at the same time.”
For her senior capstone, it was a one-woman show based upon the life of Emily Dickinson. “Out of our combined time teaching of over forty years this performance was the best senior performance we have seen,” Frechie said.
“Her senior one-woman show of Emily Dickinson was amazing,” Reverend Dominic Whetzel O.de.M, said.
After graduation, Kait Glenn went to New York University and got a post-graduate certification and then performed off and on Broadway.
She would then return to Philadelphia and pursue a Master’s degree in theater management and work for the Philadelphia Theater Company in the advancement office.
Glenn would continue to work for the company until the fall of 2015 when she would be contacted by Filling-Brown to work part time to help manage the hands-on aspects of the theater program.
“I had originally hired her to manage the more hands-on aspects,” Filling-Brown said. “Eventually I created a position for her to manage the entire theater program.”
In 2017, Glenn was hired on full-time to manage all aspects of the theater program.
“Some of her most admirable qualities is that she has managed to build up a considerable network of alumni and challenge students to go outside of their comfort zones,” Filling-Brown said. “Resources are always a challenge for any program and Kait always seems to have been able to come up with solutions no one else would be able to come up with.”
Even getting the rights to certain shows can be a challenge in the Philadelphia area. “This is due to when shows are put on in the area, those who hold the rights usually refuse to sell them to schools,” Filling-Brown said. “Kait is always going through shows to put on.”
“As a student she played in “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling” and then directed it as a member of the faculty,” Frechie said.
In addition to putting on the Fall play and the Spring musical, Glenn also teaches all aspects of theater including script writing, acting and supervises applied learning, which focuses on the more technical aspects like costume making and stage crew.
“She truly loves the theater program, always looking for ways to improve, push and expand the program,” Filling-Brown, said.
