❒ Benicia High grad lands role with area theater: ‘Only thing I ever thought I would do’

By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

Isaiah Boyd’s parents are both musicians. So you might say he has music — and dance, and performing — in his blood.

“My mom is a singer, and my dad plays anything. I grew up around music, and I always liked to dance,” Boyd said.

The 2011 Benicia High School graduate has taken that love of music — and dance, and performing — on a different musical path than the one his parents followed: Since graduating, Boyd has worked regularly with a pair of area theater groups.

As he says, “I’ve always wanted to do theater. That is the only thing I ever thought I would do.”

Boyd is currently in the chorus for Diablo Theatre Company’s production of “Legally Blonde, The Musical,” running through March 3.

“Legally Blonde” is his third show with DTC, the company based in Walnut Creek. He also performed in “Curtains” in 2010 and “White Christmas” last December.

This time around, he said, he’s enjoyed working with Gia Solari, whose “directing and choreography style is amazing!”

But those who know Boyd may not immediately recognize him in “Legally Blonde.” His chorus role as a hair stylist has him “in high heels and booty shorts and hair extensions,” he said.

It’s a long way from his start at age 12 in Solano Youth Theatre, or drama class with Mrs. Wright at Benicia Middle School — or even the roles he performed for four years in Benicia High’s Drama Department, such as the one in “Into the Woods” that earned him an Arty Award in 2010.

But it is the path he feels he was destined for.

“I don’t think it was a, ‘Hey, I want to do that,’” he said. “It was a, ‘When can I do that? When am I old enough?’

What “Legally Blonde” and Boyd’s other recent roles — including a couple productions by 42nd Street Moon in San Francisco, “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and “Babes in Arms” — have in common: They’ve given the young performer a chance to show that acting and singing aren’t the only bright spots on his résumé.

Choreography is his passion, too, and it too started at an early age, when he choreographed musical numbers and put together costumes for church performances.

“I feel like this is what I’m supposed to be doing because I’ve been doing it since I was little — bossing people around, telling them what to do, what dances to do,” he said. “I was, ‘This is what we’re doing, we’re going to stand in this line and do this.’”

Ultimately, Boyd would love to get into directing and choreography. He’ll get an opportunity to put his choreography skills to use in an upcoming production of “9 to 5” at the Willows Theater in Concord starting in late May. He said he expects his work under Solari’s direction in “Legally Blonde” will prove helpful in his choreography of “9 to 5.”

“‘Legally Blonde’ and ‘9 to 5’ are very similar musically,” he said.

Though he has no immediate plans to attend theatrical college, he is currently enrolled at Diablo Valley College for his general education. But that could change quickly.

“I’m really close to being in the Stage Actors’ Union, so I’m really just about to jump in the water. I plan on going to New York very soon, and just trying it out.”

School, he said, can happen at a later date.

“I don’t want to be out of the game for four years,” he said. “If it works out, yay! If not, then I’ll take my little butt back to school.”

Even with his parents’ involvement in music and his exposure to a wide array of Bay Area talent — actors, directors and choreographers — Isaiah Boyd feels that most of his inspiration comes from within.

“I get inspired by just putting smiles on peoples’ faces. That is what gets me going,” he said. “There’s nothing better to me than going out of the stage door and people smiling.” Seeing that people enjoy his performance or the performance he was involved in is “the best thing in the world.”

“My drive is being better than my last performance,” he said. “I can only perform better than myself, I can only sing better than myself, and I can only dance better than myself.

“I’m not going to try to be better than anyone else. That’s how I roll.”

If You Go
“Legally Blonde, The Musical” is playing through March 3 at the Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. For tickets and times, see diablotheatre.org/featured/legally-blonde-the-musical.