Back home from Broadway: Blaine Krauss sings tonight

Talent, tenacity and timing each played a role in Blaine Alden Krauss’ success on Broadway. A Seminole native and Pinellas County Center for the Arts (PCCA) graduate, Krauss – who’s back home tonight for his first hometown stage appearance in over a decade – recently concluded a national tour of Hamilton, in which he starred, during different stretches, as both Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.

He’s been onstage, and on the road, in numerous mega-hits.

Krauss knows that luck is also a factor in these things. “Luck,” a mentor once told him, “is when opportunity meets preparation.” In other words, be ready.

“I was always laser-focused,” he admits. “And my whole life has been a village of people helping me, helping my mom, giving us resources and saying you should do this, you should do that.’

“All of this was met by a very hungry kid who knew very early on what he wanted to do, and who had no problem working for it. And I realized that people who broke through were people who really kept their eye on the ball, for better or for worse.”

“Hamilton.” Facebook image.

Tonight’s performance, From the Soul, will find Krauss onstage in the James Museum of Art’s theater, backed by a small “unplugged” ensemble. He’s done this show at Feinstein’s/54 Below and Joe’s Pub, two prestigious Manhattan cabaret spots.

He insists From the Soul isn’t a cabaret, per se, but more of a concert with conversation (“I’m an actor and performer and I like to talk”). Produced by American Stage’s Erica Sutherlin – she was one of his teachers at PCCA – the program will consist of musical theater numbers and specially-arranged pop songs.

Krauss says he’s excited about bringing the performance home. “I feel like it’s going to be even more connected, much more about the singing, and about the community and us sort of celebrating each other and the relationships we’ve built.”

Krauss was raised in Tampa, and attended that city’s Blake High School – known for its musical theater program – before transferring to PCCA, a part of Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg. He moved in with his grandmother to establish residence.

In 2010, he was selected by the White House and Presidential Scholar Commission to be one of 20 Presidential Scholars in the Arts. He met President Obama and performed at the Kennedy Center.

Next, Krauss’ journey took him to the prestigious University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he earned a BFA in Musical Theatre.

After that, he was locked, loaded and ready to go (“I came out with a lot of tools in my toolbox”).

He hadn’t even settled into his first New York apartment when he auditioned for, and won, a part in a national tour of The Lion King. He was the Simba understudy, and spent the next year on the road.

Immediately, the realities of what he calls the “fickle business” of show became apparent. “When I first got off the tour, I don’t think I worked for seven months,” Krauss admits. “And then I did a regional gig, then a Radio City Rockette gig … it’s the same thing in between shows now.”

Krauss considers himself a singer first, an actor second. “I got serious about theater in high school, so luckily musical theater isn’t my only go-to.

“I do a lot of concerts, a lot of symphony gigs, and I do a lot of coaching,” he explains. “Always creating. I’ll be in a show for months at a time, but there’s definitely down time. And you prepare for those things. You learn you have to save, and adjust, and live life in a different way than other people do. But the pro and con list is unique to every person.”

Krauss has been able to pay the bills without waiting tables or working in a retail store.

His Broadway credits also include The Cher Show, The Great Comet of 1812 and Kinky Boots.

The recent tour of Hamilton? That was his second go-round with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s groundbreaking hip hop musical. For an earlier, year-long tour, he’d understudied Hamilton, Burr and King George.

“It’s an honor to be part of what will probably be one of the biggest musical theater pieces in history,” Krauss says. “That’s just full-stop incredible.”

Tickets for today’s 7 p.m. performance are here.