Dutchin’s passion for singing and acting will continue at Northwestern.
Kaitlyn Dutchin ’17 amazed yet another crowd on Sunday, April 9, at her Senior Recital. Dutchin sang an array of musical theater songs, as well as a duet with Stephen Ankoue ’17. Dutchin proved her talent once again through her impeccable acting and beautiful voice.
“I really just wanted to have that ability to really culminate everything that I had learned at Choate,” Dutchin explained. As an Arts Concentration student, Dutchin stated she wanted to merge her singing and acting skills by singing musical theater songs. Dutchin did not begin her vocal training until she came to Choate, although she did sing the song “Fame,” which she performed during her recital, in middle school when she played Carmen.
Reflecting on her performance, Dutchin gushed, “I was really happy with it. It was a lot, but it went by so fast — it really did, and there was a really great crowd. My family was there, people I really love at Choate were there—teachers, friends. I felt really supported. I was really able to show what I could do.”
Dutchin was not the only one who was proud of her performance. Jacob Meyers ’17, one of Dutchin’s closest friends, said, “I think Kaitlyn completely blew all of us away. It’s clear her career is nowhere close to ending and that she is just getting started in the theater business.I look forward to seeing her on Broadway one day.”
Dutchin picked all of the songs for her senior recital by word of mouth and with help from her voice instructor at Choate. She kicked off the recital with the number “It Won’t be Long Now” from the musical In the Heights – a very exciting number. She stated, “A lot of songs really touched me. I felt a connection to each and every one of them.”
One of the most moving pieces in the recital was Dutchin’s closing number, “I’d Give My Life For You”, from the musical Miss Saigon. Before she began, Dutchin told the audience the song reminded her of her two little brothers, who after the song ran up to Kaitlyn with flowers.
Kaitlyn gushed, “Whenever I sing that song, like I said in my recital, I think of my two little brothers who are three and five because I truly do feel like I would give my life for them. I want them to have the best possible life that they could have.” Dutchin explained the song is about a girl singing to her child during the Vietnam when she falls in love with an American soldier and becomes pregnant, but the soldier has to return to America. The song is the mother telling the child that he is loved no matter his poor familial circumstances.
In the fall, Dutchin will be studying at Northwestern University, and plans to double major in Theater and Sociology. She said, “Wherever the road takes me, I really hope to continue singing and acting.”
Jana Godbole ’19 said after the recital, “Kaitlyn is a goddess and she should forever sing at Northwestern; she is going to be one of the best. We can’t wait to have a Choate alumna like her.”
