Katherine Shindle (born January 31, 1977 in Toledo, Ohio) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and AIDS activist. She is now credited as Kate Shindle. She came to fame as Miss America 1998, where she represented the state of Illinois as Miss Illinois 1997. She was attending Northwestern University at the time, though she was raised in Moorestown in southern New Jersey and graduated from the Bishop Eustace Preparatory School. She graduated from Northwestern University in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in theatre. In 1999, Shindle's first CD, Christmases to Come was released on SSP Records. The CD featured the Chicago jazz ensemble Skip Sams' Society Sound, and was used to promote AIDS awareness and raised money for the National AIDS Fund. In 2003, she followed up with her first proper solo CD, Till Today, which was produced by Skip Sams and released on Sams' own label. In 2005, Shindle recorded Frank Wildhorn's "Dracula", followed by "Jekyll & Hyde - Resurrection" in 2006, both on Wildhorn's label GlobalVision Records. In 2007, she became an original principal cast member of the Broadway musical, Legally Blonde, based on the 2001 Reese Witherspoon film. She plays one of the key roles, Vivienne Kensington. She has also appeared on stage in Jekyll & Hyde and Cabaret. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.