The Jacqui Kaese Story

By Catherine Litt
The Nanaimo News Bulletin
Used With Permission

It was 1992 and hundreds of top entertainment officials were gathered at a posh London hotel for Britain's annual Showman of the Year Award.

The award is one of the highest honours anyone in the industry can receive, and it makes an instant celebrity of its winner. This was Jacqui Kaese's year to be that winner. She had come a long way to get to this point in her life -- enjoying hard-won success initially as an actor and singer, then as a senior manager with one of the UK's top three entertainment corporations. "The entertainment industry in England is such a big thing, it's just huge business," says Kaese.

"It puts you in the spotlight."

But on the night of the awards ceremony, the spotlight wouldn't find Kaese. She won the award, but she was nowhere to be found.

"This spotlight swung over to my chair, and my chair was only one in the room that was empty. I wasn't there."

If ever a movie is made of Jacqui Kaese's life, this scene will be a clear turning point in the film.

Weaned on Showbiz

Jacqui Kaese seemed destined for a life in show business.

She grew up in England surrounded by musicians and performers -- mostly all friends of her father's, Lionel Malpass, a jazz artist who was recognized as one of the best drummers of his time.

"Basically I was brought up on music, and before I could talk I had a pair of drum sticks in my hand," says Kaese.

"But I didn't take to drums as well as I did singing and acting." In school, Kaese fell in love with the stage and won numerous awards as a child performer in local and national theatre.

By age 15, her professional career was well on its way when she tried out for Britain's exclusive National Youth Theatre and won a coveted seat against 4,000 other young hopefuls.

She spent the next three years gaining acting experience in London's West End. Kaese's first big break came in a role as one of the mods in The Who's cult hit Quadrophenia. In stage productions, she worked with Timothy Spall, Daniel Peacock and Hazel Ellerby.

Over the next seven years she divided her time between film, television and live theatre production and jobs as a backup singer for visiting stars like Tina Turner, Annie Lennox and Robert Palmer.

Kaese enjoyed great success as a singer, but her career was cut short when she unexpectedly developed nodules of the vocal chords. "Strain, stress, workload. I was doing five shows a week, plus two matinees," says Kaese.

"It takes its toll."

Kaese was faced with little choice but to end her singing and stage career and look for a new occupation.

Change Brings Opportunity

Kaese found a new career in entertainment management, working for a corporation called First Leisure and its fleet of theatres, arenas, bars and entertainment complexes.

Within five years, she was a successful general manager who marketed and promoted artists and theatrical shows while running some of the company's main entertainment venues.

By 1992, Kaese was a household name in the industry -- and so it was no surprise when she won that year's Showman of the Year award, the first time the award was given to a woman.

It was a surprise, however, when she failed to show up for the awards ceremony. "I chose not to go. I chose to stay home with my son who was just four weeks old. And that was a true testimony to the changes I was making in my life."

Kaese wanted out of the fast-paced business. Newly married to Nanaimo-born former NHL player Trent Kaese, whom she met while he was playing professional hockey at an ice rink she managed, Kaese was ready to slow her life down.

"I was working 70 hours a week. It was just not conducive to family life," she says.

"My husband and my son were a gift from God and everything else just fell into place after that."

With a year, the young couple had packed up their belongings and moved to Nanaimo.

Building Spotlight Academy

It's been eight years, and life has relaxed somewhat for the Kaeses. Their son, Josh, now has a younger brother, Jake, who has himself done numerous commercials, two movies and one television series. Trent is manager of Cottonwood Golf Course.

Jacqui has taken a new turn in her career and now runs Spotlight Academy. The name was chosen in recognition of the roaming spotlight that landed on an empty chair during the 1992 awards ceremony. Jacqui has helped actors and models of all ages find success within the entertainment industry. Kaese has also done some film acting since moving to Nanaimo, but she's finding her greatest satisfaction comes from helping performers achieve their goals in the industry.

With that philosophy motivating her, Kaese has become a leading and outspoken advocate of the film and television business on the West Coast. "Here we are, on the threshold of this billion dollar industry infiltrating this island, and so many good things are happening in order to bring the industry here -- and I'm contributing to helping people get ready for that," says Kaese.

"That's where I feel that I can be a mentor to lots of people who are on a voyage similar to mine as a young girl." One doesn't have to look far to see the results of Kaese's hard work. Many of her actors appear in television commercials, TV series and feature films, and the models can be seen throughout the world of fashion.

As for Kaese, we have seen her career go through many phases. "I've always felt like I was on mission in life," reflects Kaese. "I know what that is now: helping my clients follow their dreams and achieve their goals in life.

"I have walked in their shoes and I have dreamed their dreams."