Carol Culver - Biography

Carol Culver moved to Kauai in 1998 after a long career as a Broadway, TV and film dancer, choreographer, singer and actress. She taught dance in Illinois and Los Angeles, CA and has been teaching dance on Kauai since 2000 preparing students to perform the many different styles needed for musical theatre. She has coached and choreographed many celebrities and was assistant choreographer to Patricia Birch on several shows including the hit movie "Grease". She restaged for Ms. Birch numerous stage productions of "Grease" including the national touring companies of the original Broadway production. She played Patty Simcox in the Broadway company and was a featured dancer in the film. She made her Broadway debut at the age of 21 in the revival of “The Boy Friend” in which she understudied and took over the lead role of Polly.

In addition to her Broadway, TV and film credits, she has performed in numerous musical theatre productions all across the United States. She has danced for some of Broadway's top choreographers including Tony Award winners Ron Field ("Cabaret") and Michael Bennett ("Promises Promises" and "Chorus Line"). Besides "Grease", she can be seen dancing in the feature films: "Pennies From Heaven", "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas", "Roseland", and Steven Spielberg's "1941".On Kauai, in addition to teaching regular dance classes, she choreographs for many of the theatre groups here. She has been the resident choreographer for Kauai Performing Arts Center (KPAC) since 2001 and has choreographed the following for them: "Anything Goes", "Wizard of Oz", "Brigadoon", "Guys and Dolls", "Bye Bye Birdie" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and “Thoroughly Modern Millie”. In January of 2005, KPAC and Dance Academy students performed side by side in an evening of original work titled "Two Faces of Theatre". She choreographed Hawaii Childrens Theatre's "Alice In Wonderland", "How To Eat Like A Child", "Sound of Music", and "Peter Pan" in which she also played Peter. In 2000 she choreographed and co-directed the Kauai International Theatre's opening production "Hair". In the summer of 2005, she brought Broadway to Kauai. As director and choreographer, she recreated the original Broadway staging of "Grease" for Kauai Community Players.

In May of 2007, the Carol Culver Dance Academy joined with Dolly Kanekuni and her voice students to present their first show together, “Hats Off To Broadway” turning the average dance recital into a musical theatre style revue thus giving students the opportunity to enhance their performance abilities. Watch for more of these joint productions in the future.