Her Life is a Cabaret!

Kirsten Rani Almeida Turns Her Artisitic Dreams into an Entertainment Company

Seventeen months ago, Hellertown resident Kirsten Rani Almeida opened Star of the Day Event Productions as a promise to her lifetime friend, Beth Pacheco-Brum, who passed away in early 2011. She used her sadness and pain to start a small entertainment company as a way to keep her own artistic dreams alive and also as a promise to Beth that she would never give up on those dreams.

In 2008, Kirsten lost her job as a Director of Development for non-profit in New Jersey. It was the first time since she was 14 years old that she would face unemployment. The fear of the unknown was settling but with the support of her family and friends, Kirsten walked out on a shaky limb and took a leap of faith – in herself. Ms. Almeida has been singing, acting, and dancing since she was almost 2 years old. It was her lifelong dream to be an actress. So, this layoff was a blessing in disguise. Kirsten entered the world of acting professionally. In less than a month, she had her first professional audition and booked it. It was all she needed to boost her confidence and renew her faith in her artistic abilities. Since August 2008, Kirsten has acted professionally all over the United States including 3 Off-Broadway appearances and 3 films. After the death of her best friend, Beth, Kirsten slowed down and nearly gave up. But Beth’s presence was everywhere and her voice in her head was a constant reminder that life has to go on.

On April 11, 2011, Kirsten gathered local singers and musician from the Lehigh Valley to put on a cabaret style benefit to raise money for the Allentown Gas Explosion victims. From that event’s success, Star of the Day was born. A silent prayer had been answered. Since April 2011, Kirsten has slowly built up her small entertainment business first starting by offering private voice and acting out of her small home studio and then taking over the Spotlight Cabaret at the Allentown Brew Works the first Thursday every month. As her business has grown she has increased her services to include children’s birthday party entertainment, scholarship competition for local high school vocalists, customized singing telegrams, wedding singers, DJ services, private entertainment, original children’s musicals, and full-scale productions to raise money for local charities.

The growth of her business is due to the support of the community and the strength of the small business network in the Lehigh Valley. Currently, Star of the Day has clients in PA, NJ, and NYC. Star of the Day now offers sound engineering for conventions, seminars, concerts, and other events requiring sound, private piano, strings, and music theory, and career coaching for aspiring actors.

Her hopes for Star of the Day is to increase local jobs in the arts, help increase the quality of arts in the valley, and to raise awareness of the importance of arts in education. With the support from the community all of these goals are attainable, and she has already begun to see the fruits of her labors. In September, the Spotlight Cabaret now offers compensation to the monthly headliner, she has just finished a very successful charity event for Turning Point of Lehigh Valley where she was able to hire six professional actresses, professional stage manager, sound/lighting designer, set designer, and pit orchestra. In the months and years to come, Kirsten hopes to increase Star of the Day’s presence across the region and offer similar style cabaret and charity events across the country.

To learn more about Kirsten Rani Almeida and Star of the Day Event Productions, go to www.StaroftheDay.org and follow them on Facebook to learn about the company’s upcoming events.