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FROM HERE TO BROADWAY
Dani Edmonson
From being a Madison School District Jaguar to
becoming a New York City jetsetter, 26 year-old
Katie Ladner spent her adolescent years attending
Madison Avenue Elementary, Madison Middle,
Rosa Scott, and finally Madison Central High
School. “My performance journey began when
I was five years old at First Baptist Church in
Jackson, Mississippi, where I had my first solo in
front of a 3,000-plus crowd,” she recalls. “I sang
‘Happy Birthday Jesus!’ I was pretty young, so
I think I was just excited to sing then.” Her acting
bug hit almost immediately thereafter when she
was cast as an orphan boy in a production of
Oliver at the Cultural Center in Madison. “I got
to sing the solo ‘Food, Glorious Food.’ It was
amazing.”
Ladner’s extracurricular school activities
included choir, Madrigal Singers, Reveille Show
Choir, band, and [various] school musicals. Her
Madison Central High School theatre teacher,
Leigha Nix, now in her 18th year of teaching, said
there was no question that Ladner had the talent
to go professional. “It was obvious from day one
that Katie could actually make it to Broadway.
She was always natural at playing any and every
part. She was great at dialects and creating her
own hilarious characters!” Nix also said Ladner’s
commitment to excellence was profound. “Katie
was a great student and definitely an overachiever.
It didn’t matter if it was a classroom performance
or a stage performance . . . she gave 110%! She
was always supportive of everyone else in the cast
because she wanted to make each show the best.”
New York is a logistical leap from Mississippi,
but Ladner does manage to make it home when
she can. “I try to come home at least once a year,
job depending,” she said. “I try to stay connected
by phone calls and keeping up on social media.
Thank goodness for technology this day and age!”
Her childhood best friend from Madison, Shannon
Evans, said she and Katie talk weekly. “Katie is still
the same Katie I have always known and loved!”
Evans said. “I think since she has been in New
York, her personality has been able to shine
through even more; she just doesn’t talk
as Southern!”
Both attended First Baptist Church of Jackson,
where their friendship began, but the bond grew
deeper since both girls attended Madison,
Hometown madison • 19