Leilani Kalb: Closing curtains and opening doors

By Ada Bảo Yên Vo

In May 2025, Leilani Kalb ‘15 (B.A. Asian American studies) chaperoned her first high school field trip to the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. She stood in the audience before the stage and directed her students through a rehearsal of their musical, Be More Chill, in preparation for the official awards ceremony.

As she watched over their performance, Kalb reflected on her unexpected journey to becoming an educator. Her love for music and theater started early in childhood with Broadway musicals, and yet a series of jobs had led her away from the arts. Looking at her students practicing the same show that earned them their award nominations, Kalb fondly thought, “Isn’t it so great how the universe will bring you back full circle?”

From learning to teaching

Kalb describes her time growing up in Orange County’s Rancho Santa Margarita as “living in a bubble within a bubble.” When she arrived at UC Irvine in 2011, she chose the Asian American studies major with the goals of exploring her Filipino identity and expanding her worldview. Learning about the vast histories of different cultures became part of her daily routine, and working to better understand others grew into a necessity.

Her undergraduate degree left her with one defining lesson: “It taught me what it really looks like to help people, to be on someone’s side and care about them.”

Upon her graduation in 2015, Kalb worked first as an operator at Montage Hotels & Resorts, and then at the recruiting agency Aerotek. Although she made professional strides at these jobs, she could not stop thinking about “searching for and expressing creativity in the corporate world.” It wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent requirement to work from home that Kalb considered a change of direction.

While she continued her work as an account recruiting manager, she would overhear her then boyfriend, now husband, teaching his students over Zoom. As she listened to him foster long-term relationships with his students through fun, thoughtful conversations in the online classroom, she began to compare it to the short-term, cyclical nature of recruitment that wasn’t conducive to mentorship. 

Kalb realized that she was searching for the sense of community and connection that she’d surrounded herself with during her time at UCI. Her work at Aerotek had always been rooted in helping people, and she was excited to explore different ways of doing so as an educator instead. Freshly motivated and determined to follow this new and growing passion, Kalb returned to UCI to earn her master’s degree in secondary education and teaching.

The role of director

Kalb currently works at Elk Grove High School, teaching theater courses and directing the Elk Grove Little Theatre Company (EGLTC) that she created for the Sacramento County school.

In her classes, she introduces students to a variety of skills, including acting, script writing and sound design. With the EGLTC and its after-school program, she insists on “welcoming all students, regardless of class enrollment or background, to join.” The diversity of her own humanities studies had shown her the necessity of creating safe spaces for everyone, and she wanted to emphasize the inclusivity of the theater community.

Working alongside the student-led council of Theatre Club, Kalb aims to present two shows a year. With some past directorial works like Legally Blonde The Musical and Fly By Night, she describes the joy of working on shows she loves with her students. They are the highlight of her job, and she makes a point of praising the kids she has the privilege of working with every day. “When you give kids a chance to talk, you’ll hear a lot – there will be an outpouring of emotions,” she explains.

Their intelligence, resilience and determination are the perfect foundation for what she calls “community-based leading.” In both the classroom and after-school program, she practices her own leadership skills to set an example. She’s learned that mentoring is about pivoting and reflection, and she hopes her students will develop their own habits of taking responsibility and initiative.

“Theater is so beautiful because it gives kids a place to express themselves. When you set up the community in your classrooms correctly, they can be more vulnerable,” Kalb says.

Combining her daily efforts as an educator with the hard work of the program’s technical director and its participating students, the EGLTC has flourished. Kalb was given control of the program after the COVID-19 pandemic threatened the future of its existence at the school, and she gave it a refresh with an ambitious vision that excited students and even led to regional competitions. She acknowledges her busy routine and laughs, “It’s crazy, and I love it.”

Curtain call

The EGLTC recently wrapped up their production of Dogfight, another one of Kalb’s favorite musicals that she was eager to stage. She remembers listening to the soundtrack with her husband and having “one of the most visceral responses” she’d felt in years. She immediately thought, “I have to share it with my students.”

Kalb describes music and art as “so wonderful because it helps us see new perspectives in fun ways. It opens our minds up and makes us more empathetic people.” Now that she better understands her life’s goal to be in and help a community, she can use her lifelong love of music as one of many ways to connect with others.

While Kalb can see herself standing on the stage of a community program some day or eventually starting her own theater company, her main and current priority is her students. When she thinks about what’s in store for the future and her potential impact on the world, her focus returns to the kids: “I’ve seen how underestimated our youth is.”

“Getting to see the kids do what they do – whether it’s pursuing musical theater, regular theater or just going out into the world now knowing how to speak in front of people – is impactful enough for me,” Kalb says. “The impact is seeing what these kids do next, kids who have inspired me so much.”

Ada Bảo Yên Vo graduated from UC Irvine in 2026 with a B.A. in English.

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