Kate comes to Northern Michigan via New York City, where she was a freelance actor, singer and playwright, appearing Off-Broadway as Judy Garland in the underground hit, Christmas with the Crawfords. She wrote and starred in several Judy Garland-themed productions, including Judy’s Christmas Garland and Judy Garland and Uninvited Company -- for which she was nominated for a Nightlife Award and won a Backstage Bistro award.
Before her time in New York, Kate was one of the founding on-air personalities for ZDTV, a national television network (later to become TechTV). There, she hosted "The Screen Savers," a live daily call-in show co-starring tech guru Leo Laporte, as well as "Extended Play," a show about videogames and the gaming industry with cohost Adam Sessler. She also puppeteered and provided the voice for Tilde, the network’s "virtual host" - work for which she won an Emmy Award.
Kate Botello has lived in Traverse City, Michigan since 2005. In that time, she's been very active with the Old Town Playhouse starring in and directing shows, as well being heavily involved in their Young Company children's theater, teaching acting classes and writing, directing, and leading the Old Town Playhouse's yearly Performing Arts Summer Camp.
Kate is thrilled to bring her lifetime love of classical music to IPR, and looks forward to spending the mornings with all of the fabulous IPR listeners!