'Triple Threat' winner Reese Britts is new resident artist at Ordway

The choice for teenage Reese Britts was stark — sports, which promised adulation and the fulfillment of a familial pedigree, or the stage, where applause also is a coin of the realm and where he felt most at home. He opted for the latter and has barely glanced back.

The 6-foot-2 Oak Grove native with hazel eyes, who graduated from college in 2019, has been impressing audiences and theater professionals alike with his growing theatrical skills. He caught the eye of producing artistic director Rod Kaats at the Ordway Center and is now its new resident artist.

"Reese was in 'Mamma Mia!' when I first got here" in 2018, Kaats said. "The director, choreographer and I were sitting in the house and we were supposed to be looking at the person singing but we couldn't take our eyes off Reese Britts. He's just luminous."

That shine also was evident last September, when the Ordway offered a socially distanced cabaret at its loading dock. Audiences, hungry for live performance and social engagement, cried after the performances, including Britts' take on classic songs. He injected his numbers with story and character, making the music beautiful and transporting.

"He's already quite a talent but I'm also impressed by his dedication," Kaats said. "He's been studying vocal technique, working really hard to broaden his skills."

Britts made his professional stage debut in 2016 in the Guthrie Theater's "South Pacific." He sang and danced in choral numbers as an "essential," standing out for his work ethic and authenticity. And he was still an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

"He's himself — open and present," Guthrie casting director Jennifer Liestman said. "He's committed, and you know he's reliable onstage and off."

There's a bit of the rebel in him. His true stage was supposed to be the ballfield. From elementary through high school, Britts inspired great athletic expectations. He has the height and build to be a baller. And his father, Maurice Wilfred Britts Jr., played football at the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

But the heart wasn't there for baseball or football or basketball, all of which he tried.

"When I was little and playing baseball, I would sit in the outfield and play with the grass," Britts said. "And when I was playing basketball, being one of the only people of color on the team and tall, too, they expected me to be this great point guard or the guy who could dunk. But that's not who I am. I've been challenging expectations from Day 1."

It was his mother, Betty, who noticed her son's keen interest as he danced and sang while watching "Grease" and "High School Musical" on TV as a kid. She enrolled the two youngest of her six children — Reese and sister, Kyia Britts, now a lighting designer — in the Christmas musical at Lord of Life Church in Ramsey, which the family attended.

The show, an original pageant, was called "Christmas Star."

"It's coming next season to Broadway," Reese laughed. "I was going into first grade and we got to pick between different categories. I did acting, dance and sign language. It was my first acting role."

That started the toggle between sports and the arts.

"My parents are truly supportive," Britts said.

But like many a performer, he has occasional doubts, and talks himself out of the field.

"Sometimes, I feel like I'm far behind," Britts said. "I don't really have the dance technique. I don't have the singing technique."

Don't tell that to his teachers. Vocal coach Louis Sacco, whom he met when he was in "Mamma Mia!," has been helping him get comfortable with his voice. Sacco has coached singers in the casts of "Hamilton," "The Lion King" and "42nd Street," among others.

"Reese is learning to open up and trust his voice," Sacco said. "The thing we worked on mostly is him relaxing. A lot of singers have a lot of unnecessary movement onstage, which gets in the way of sound production."

Britts stands out for his five-octave vocal range.

"I vocalized him to a D, which is two notes higher than a C," Sacco said. "But he has low notes like a baritone, down to an F. He's got so much flexibility in his voice."

Britts also stands out for something else.

"In a female voice, it's usually the head voice and chest voice mixing together," Sacco said. "It's rare to find a male like that."

Britts will sing in a loading dock cabaret at the Ordway starting this weekend. As its resident artist, he joins Grammy-winner Jamecia Bennett and stage phenom Tyler Michaels King in a position that comes with honor but no stipend.

"He's someone who can be on Broadway as much as he wants," Kaats said, likening him to some of its stars. "Reese has got talent like Brian Stokes Mitchell and Norman Lewis. So as soon as his voice matures, there's no stopping him."

In 2015, Britts was named a Triple Threat Award winner as part of the Hennepin Theatre Trust's SpotLight Showcase on high school performers. As part of the prize, he got an all-expenses-paid trip to New York to see shows on Broadway and to meet stars and industry professionals. He was deeply inspired when he saw Patti LuPone in "Company."

"I love the Broadway divas," Britts said. "I personally look up to and want a successful career like Patti LuPone. The presence she has onstage and how she commands the stage … wow."

Another person he looks up to is Mitchell.

"His voice is smooth like butter and the fact that he can translate and tell the whole story and all the emotions with just his voice, that's incredible," Britts said. "I want to be able to do that."

Rohan Preston • 612-673-4390

@rohanpreston

Who: Directed by Rod Kaats, musical direction by Sanford Moore and a cast that includes Reese Britts.

When: 7 p.m. Fri.-Sun., Wed.-Thu. Ends June 27.

Where: Ordway Center, 345 Washington Av., St. Paul.

Tickets: $40. boxoffice.ordway.org.