Lindsey Kraft: From Script to Song: Touring with Ben Folds and the Making of a Musical

By Mark A Leon

Lindsey Kraft has opened for Ben Folds for the last two tours that have rolled through Charleston, SC. Behind this whimsical pianist and songwriter is a remarkable story of transformation, storytelling, and the blueprint of a musical. What audiences see onstage—a witty performer with a rapid-fire sense of humor and a tender, emotionally tuned voice—is only the surface of a creative evolution that began long before she ever sat down at a piano.

For more than 20 years, Kraft built a career as a television and film actress, known for her sharp comedic timing and grounded character work. But after two decades of inhabiting other people’s words, she began to feel the tug of her own stories demanding to be told. She realized she had songs—real songs—living inside her, asking for form and melody. The only catch? She didn’t play an instrument.

At 38 years old, an age when many artists feel their paths are already carved, Kraft made a choice that would reshape her creative life. She learned to play the piano from scratch. What started as a quiet, personal challenge quickly became something more powerful. The piano became a portal—one that allowed her to translate humor, heartbreak, memory, and self-reinvention into music.

Now, just four and a half years later, Kraft is developing her first musical, a semi-autobiographical work that draws from her circuitous path through adulthood, creativity, and identity. Instead of shying away from the messy or vulnerable chapters of her story, she leans into them, treating them as raw material for something larger and more universal. Her songs, often buoyed by clever lyrical twists and an uncanny sense of emotional timing, reflect the experience of someone who has lived enough life to understand its absurdities and enough heartache to appreciate its beauty.

Sharing the stage with Ben Folds—himself a master of narrative songwriting and piano-driven performance—has helped amplify her artistic voice. Audiences who initially arrive expecting only the headliner often leave talking about Kraft’s unexpected charm and the refreshing specificity of her perspective. Her style is as theatrical as it is intimate, full of comedic asides that dissolve into moments of genuine sincerity. It’s clear she’s not merely opening shows; she’s building a world, one song at a time.

What makes Kraft’s story especially compelling is the way it reframes the idea of creative timing. So often, music careers are presented as pursuits for the young, but Kraft’s journey is a reminder that artistry follows no linear path. Reinvention is not only possible—it can be the catalyst for deeper, more fearless work. By starting something new at 40, she offers a counter-narrative to the pressure of early success and proves that beginning again can be an act of profound artistic courage.

As her musical continues to take shape, Kraft is stepping into a role she was always meant to play—not simply actress or songwriter, but storyteller in the broadest sense. Whether through scenes, songs, or onstage banter that leaves audiences laughing, she’s crafting a voice uniquely her own.

And if her recent performances are any indication, Lindsey Kraft is just getting started. Her evolution from actor to pianist to musical creator isn’t merely a career pivot—it’s a testament to the unexpected places passion can lead when you give it permission to change your life.

Photo Credit: Lindsey Kraft

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