“It’s such a problem,” Kelsie Watts says bashfully. “I’m not going to lie. My new goal is to be Satine in Moulin Rouge! If The Greatest Showman ever decides to cast in the US, I would love be cast as Jenny Lind … I mean, gosh, paint me green [for Wicked]! I would die.”
Watts is counting the ways the stars have aligned to lead her to this Broadway debut. First seen nationally on The Voice, where she was part of Team Kelly, Watts is currently performing as Jane Seymour in SIX: The Musical at the Lena Horn Theatre. In 2019, Watts was singing at the Showboat Branson Belle in Missouri when SIX’s Music Supervisor Roberta Duchak handed her a business card. Soon after, the pandemic struck, and Watts appeared on the reality competition show The Voice. Duchak and Watts remained in touch, with Watts continuing to take acting and vocal lessons to strengthen her SIX auditions (and there were many). Though Watts did not take the Voice crown, during lockdown, she built a queendom of followers on Instagram and Tiktok—posting videos of herself covering every ballad in the pop canon from her Nashville kitchen (often while making her morning smoothie).
“All of a sudden, it just popped off,” she says, still sounding surprised. “I went from 20,000 followers on TikTok to over a million in less than six months.” Realizing her new battleground was the For You Page, Watts focused on posting. Her followers reveled in the adoring looks Watts’ husband Brandon Brits gave her as much as they delighted in the ways her voice soared. And then SIX came calling once again.
See Watts get ready for a performance of SIX in the Playbill Studio in the video below.
“When I found out that I got the gig [in 2024],” Watts recalls, laughing, “I was in Home Depot picking out blinds with my husband. My manager FaceTimes me and was like, ‘Hey, I need to talk to Jane.’ I was like, ‘I don’t have time for this.’” When Watts realized the Jane her manager was referring to was Seymour, the time shopping for blinds for their Nashville home quickly ended. Kelsie was moving to New York!
“I messaged all the [other incoming SIX queens] I was able to find,” Watts says, expressing her worry that her follower count would give them the perception that she was coming in as the Queen Bee, handed the role based on the size of her realm, not the range of her voice. “It’s a common misconception that because I have the following I do, ‘Oh, she probably has an ego.’”
In actuality, Watts is earnest and open, leading with a heart as big as her star-power. It is not difficult to imagine her as a two-year-old in Looney Tunes pajamas, singing gospel songs in front of her family’s fireplace. As SIX’s Jane Seymour brings a new understanding to what it means to have a “Heart of Stone,” Watts’ mental health advocacy is a bittersweet facet to her personhood.
After losing her brother to depression, Watts found healing in writing and performing music. Using her craft is Watts’ way of not only stirring emotion in her audience members, but also transmitting something powerful to them.
“A big part of my life and story is making sure people know that there’s hope,” Watts says sincerely. “That they belong, that they’re loved and cared for. And that comes out in my music.”
Though she jokes she married her husband, who is South African, “for his accent,” Watts admits it is Brits’ unconditional love and support that has carried her through the industry’s toughest moments. It’s the same love that Watts aims to display through her powerhouse vocals.
“I would be lying if I said I didn’t love applause,” Watts says. “But, honestly, whenever I see people moved, whenever I get to sing these songs that I really believe [in], that’s when I feel the most loved.”
Kelsie Watts, Kay Sibal, Najah Hetsberger, Gianna Yanelli, Krystal Hernandez, and Taylor Marie Daniel in Six
Kelsie Watts, Kay Sibal, Najah Hetsberger, Gianna Yanelli, Krystal Hernandez, and Taylor Marie Daniel in Six
Kelsie Watts, Najah Hetsberger, Krystal Hernandez, Kay Sibal, Taylor Marie Daniel, and Gianna Yanelli in Six
Kelsie Watts, Krystal Hernandez, Najah Hetsberger, Gianna Yanelli, Kay Sibal, and Taylor Marie Daniel in Six
Gianna Yanelli, Taylor Marie Daniel, Kelsie Watts, Najah Hetsberger, Krystal Hernandez, and Kay Sibal in Six
Najah Hetsberger, Krystal Hernandez, Gianna Yanelli, Taylor Marie Daniel, and Kay Sibal in Six
Kay Sibal, Najah Hetsberger, Kelsie Watts, Krystal Hernandez, Taylor Marie Daniel, and Gianna Yanelli in Six
Krystal Hernandez, Taylor Marie Daniel, Kelsie Watts, Kay Sibal, Gianna Yanelli, and Najah Hetsberger in Six
Taylor Marie Daniel, Najah Hetsberger, Gianna Yanelli, Kelsie Watts, Krystal Hernandez , and Kay Sibal in Six
