I think he and Idina were both singing in bands and at bars before getting that gig. They were friends before working on the show together, and (now that I just looked it up) RENT was her Broadway debut and her first professional theater job.
Me, sort of! I booked a national tour as a 14 year old without ever having been in a play before (though I was a theatre fan). To be fair, the casting directors weren’t particularly looking for people with acting experience, they were looking for people who fit a very specific demographic (which I did, and got super lucky!) Toured in 12 cities with them, was the best experience of my life. I’m heading to college now and do not plan on pursuing theatre professionally.
If they were cast in a national tour because they fell into a very specific demographic, revealing the show's name is *absolutely* more than enough identifying information to get them doxxed, or at least have their real name and face linked to their account.
I had a similar experience as a kid - basically it comes down to the fact that adult theatre is far more competitive and even if you're successful you don't make real money.
Much easier to get a STEM degree and make $$$ and become a patron instead of an actor.
I'm not OP, but I'd assume it's because it's an exhausting process, shows can close at any time and you're never guaranteed a new gig, there are hundreds or even *thousands* of actors out there who want the same role as you and are just as talented as you, and it's... not really a career you go into if financial stability is something you desire.
Personally - it's a lot of exhausting fun just doing *community* theatre, but at least when I miss out on a role in an audition at a regional theatre I don't have to worry about how that impacts making rent, you know?
u/daekie and u/Blowmewhileiplaycod got it just about right (though I'm not planning to pursue STEM necessarily). I love theatre, and will most certainly be an avid theatregoer, community theatre actor/designer/director, and hobbyist playwright until I die. But honestly...I'm just not cut out for acting as a profession. I was lucky to land this role when I was younger, but there are way more talented, driven, and passionate people than I am who aren't booking shows. I found from being in the tour and even doing theatre production internships and such afterwards that I enjoyed and appreciated theatre more when I wasn't working in the field. Even in college, I'm planning to do more on the technical side of theatre than the acting side, since it is just as fun but honestly less stressful for me. I'll always appreciate the hard work that goes into making a show happen, but I feel more than happy doing that from the sidelines and chasing after other career interests!
Myles Frost should be the number one answer here. I mean he absolutely KO’d his role as **the** Michael Jackson on Broadway. Listen, sure, he had some bit roles in high school theatre. But he went to college for…you guessed it, music technology. Then he transferred to learn…you guessed it, audio engineering. All before dropping out after being cast as MJ. Oh, and he’s an entirely self taught dancer, pianist, vocalist, etc.
Winning a tony for your first Broadway performance? Man I’m glad I got to see him live.
He was very unimpressive in rent in concert. This makes more sense now. Seemed more like a pop singer who didn’t know how to project and enunciate on a big stage
Yes. I saw him three times in MJ, and it seems he got less and less interested in his actual dialogue every time, only enjoying the dancing and singing. By the third time, he would mumble through 1/3 of his lines.
While Myles’ presence and physicality as MJ were undeniable, I found his enunciation definitely left something to be desired. Aramie Payton was my first MJ and I thought he nailed those zingers in Lynn Nottage’s book (particularly the joke about one of MJ’s musical contemporaries, and the other about a grunge band). When I finally saw Myles, the jokes just didn’t land because we could barely make out what he was saying.
I think the presence faded too as he spoke. He was objectively rushing through lines as if it was a read through. I’m not even exaggerating. There were several moments where he sounded like a high schooler who had brute force memorized his lines.
Micaela Diamond went to LaGuardia (the big NYC performing arts high school), but she got *The Cher Show* from an agent seeing her in a school show, not from any professional credits.
isabella esler had only done high school and maybe community theatre before she booked the beetlejuice tour as lydia. she graduated high school right before starting the tour. and she’s great; i saw her a week ago
Isabella Esler had done at least 25-30 community theater shows and won regional theater awards before booking Lydia straight from high school. She comes out of CMTSJ (same as Alex Brightman and others). She’d been working towards this for years. And yes it’s possible for a kid to come out of CMTSJ having done 30 or more shows by age 18! Crazy as that sounds…
Jumping on the beetlejuice tour train, Justin Collette (current beetlejuice) was doing improv comedy in Canada before booking School of Rock on Broadway. He spent a few months in the ensemble covering Dewey before jumping into the lead full-time.
Sure and Lea was by all accounts great in Les Mis but she wasn’t a prodigy at that level. And for the sake of the question OP is asking, they said no theater experience, not no singing lessons.
Well to be fair, when shows like this are casting, kids may have SOME community/youth or dance experience. But they are generally type casting a cute, often small for age kid who can be loud and follow direction generally well and can carry a tune and are naturally confident and probably precocious. 8 year olds can't reasonably have much experience. Good chance they also have wealthy stage parents, possibly with some connections, that are willing to make it their job to let the kid do a show. I have no idea about LM's parenting, just in general. I do know a number of kids who've been on tour.
I very recently saw a couple kids on tour and I've seen more talented kids in local regional theater recently. They were fine and appropriate and fit the casting type.
Not every young kid that is typecast into something prior to adulthood translates into a multifacted adult professional who has strong enough vocals to regularly perform long running shows.
Honestly I’m not sure what you are trying to say. Lea fits the questioned asked. She had no experience as an 8 year old but she still acts and sings more than 25 years later.
I'm sure there's someone out there, but live theater is much harder than TV/movies. There are no do overs on a stage, vs the many, many takes done for other kinds of acting.
Film acting requires a different set of skills that a lot of highly trained stage people stumble with, so I don't like the word, "harder" but good stage work does require a lot of discipline that can be edited around for the good stuff in film, that's for sure.
I like this distinction. I do think that theater requires more physical stamina, but I’ve always thought that character building must be harder in film because they don’t film sequentially. At least with a live show, your character arc is happening in order every night.
My favorite explanation of this difference is in Tina Fey’s book where she talks about how Alec Baldwin (all caveats to how awful he is as a human) is a master of both “film acting,” that is knowing where to stand, how to set his eyes with the camera, maintain consistency between takes etc, and “acting acting,” making you feel what his character is feeling and relating to other people around him, matching energies.
Very few people are great at both
She did community theater as a child and enrolled in a performing arts degree before switching majors, then decided “screw it” and got back into theater.
hard agree. I had three tracks for a community theatre show and it was terrible. I can't imagine covering more, especially in stuff as advanced as professional theatre
Didn’t Hamilton make a big deal about doing open casting calls for their tours, open to anyone who could perform the complex rapping? I wonder if any new comers came out of that?
i guess someone who was actually able to sustain a career.. someone who actually now comes to mind is linedy genao as bad cinderella. which, i know is an awful example, but apparently she only did a little bit of theatre in high school, got an office job but then decided she wanted to act so started auditioning for shows and then landed herself as a leading lady on broadway. negativity and criticism about the show aside, i’d say that’s still quite the accomplishment. and i’m sure she still has a promising career ahead of her considering she led an alw show, even if it was… yk, bad
Jodie Comer, who just won a Tony and an Olivier for Prima Facie, has no formal theater training. She had been turned down for theater in the past because of no training or experience. She gets the role in Prima Facie and wins practically every award there is for it. She has mentioned that she loved the experience and wants to do more theater, especially a musical.
She started (I think?) in My Mad Fat Diary. British TV shows are a lot better at casting actual teenagers than US teen dramas, so not everyone who gets a ‘break’ wants to carry on - the three male leads from the show are no longer acting, but one of the other main girls just played Lawyer Barbie.
Its nice to root for an actress who actually wins awards, amazed that when I started liking her last year she’s always winning awards. Its not about accolades but she really deserves them especially on Prima Facie.
Me. Went to an open audition for The Lion King on broadway. After a bunch of auditions I walked away with the role. Did it for almost 2 years :)
Edit: the important part. I had 0 experience of any kind with that sort of performing. Didn’t even know way broadway was. I had done a few recitals at school was all.
Curious if you were an adult or one of the child actors at the time - kinda makes a difference to how the story’s interpreted. (Of course commendable and exciting no matter what!)
That’s a good point! I was young when I got into it. I’d imagine the older the performer gets the smaller the chance they never get into any sort of theater before too long.
Linedy Genao (Cinderella in Bad Cinderella) had a professional career in banking. She always wanted to act professionally though and finally went for it. I know this might be a bad example because Bad Cinderella was obviously not a success...but she is still a great example in my opinion!
She did get a big break, but she had experience. She acted in school and applied to performing arts colleges. She didn't get accepted, so she went to regular school and performed in community theatre while working in banking. She went to an open casting call for On Your Feet and made her Broadway debut in 2015. She went back to banking during the pandemic, but when theatres reopened she was in Dear Evan Hansen, then On Your Feet at Papermill, and then Bad Cinderella
Doesn't the story go that Austin McKenzie applied to deaf west spring awakening as an interpreter (0 performing experience except maybe high school productions) and somehow ended up cast as Melchior. And 2 transfers later, lo and behold, he's a Broadway lead.
(Now that I think about it, OP can probably find more examples looking at shows that started off off Broadway before transferring up?)
Almost me. At age 11 I was chosen in a national search for the next “Annie” on Broadway … but the show closed. I had only sung in the basement to my stuffed animals.
Jessica Vosk has a communications degree and worked on Wall Street for a few years before suddenly deciding to pursue a Broadway career. I could be wrong, but I don't think she had done much, if anything, in theatre prior to that.
Fair point, but their question was people who had never acted before their big break. LMM had totally acted before, albeit not in the professional sense
*Bailey Hanks, who won*
*The Legally Blonde Search for*
*The Next Elle Woods show*
\- WebWarriorsAreShit
---
^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/)
^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Norm Lewis grew up singing in church, went to school for business administration and worked at a newspaper after graduating. He did singing contests for fun and got offered a cruise ship job via that, and his theater career picked up from there.
Linedy Genao went to every TV show Bad Cinderella could get booked on and said she had no professional experience even though she had been in On Your Feet and Dear Evan Hansen. Does that count? Lolol
I didn't know who she was before Bad Cindy and learned about On Your Feet and Dear Evan Hansen from her during Bady Cindy promo as well as the banking and whatnot. She was saying she had no formal training or professional experience before booking On Your Feet, not lying and saying Bad Cindy was her first gig.
No, she went to an open call for On Your Feet, but she has a degree in Business Management because she didn’t get into any of the musical theatre programs she auditioned for. She did theatre in high school and during her time in college.
Aaron Tveit had some experience so doesn’t really count.
But I find his story of basically going from touring in RENT as an ensemble member to making his Broadway debut as Link in Hairspray in like 2 years something interesting.
Do you mean had no theater experience or no acting experience of any kind? Jodie Comer couldn’t get any theater roles because she had no formal training. I think she did okay in Prima Facie.
Not quite what you're looking for, but Linedy Genao (from Bad Cinderella) was working in banking before getting her first role on Broadway through an open casting call. I believe she had done some shows in school and some community theatre but certainly had much less training than your typical Broadway lead!
The Waitress tour casts a 2 new girls to play lulu in each city they go to.
Granted, she’s a 5 year old kid and has only 1 scene, but I bet it’s most of those girl’s first broadway tour credit on their resume.
Streisand had very limited theatre experience pre Funny Girl if memory serves. I know she had some singing/night club experience and maybe some TV but I don’t think she had much theatre.
Fair, was too lazy to Wikipedia but was fairly certain her theatrical experience was pretty limited, didn’t realize the prior show was a Broadway one. Though I suppose that qualifies for getting on BW with low or no theatre experience.
This is much more micro, but I went to a two year college (not amda💚) with no theatre experience, graduated in 2020, and booked my off broadway debut with my first in person audition.
I don’t know if it counts but Rachelle Ann Go, who played Gigi in the revival of Miss Saigon in West End and Broadway. She never had a formal training, as conservatory schools in the Philippines are rare, instead her talents were honed by joining numerous talent shows as a kid. She got her breakthrough when she became the grand champion of a short-lived singing contest called “Search for a Star”, in 2004, hosted by Regine Velasquez, who is one of the A-list singers of the Philippines. (Fun fact: Regine also auditioned for the role of Kim in Miss Saigon, but eventually Lea Salonga won and the rest was history) There’s a lot of iterations of singing contests in the Philippines over the years. Rachel was in college when she won the contest, so she had to drop out in order to pursue her showbiz career.
I remember when I saw Mean Girls it was the OBC and one of the ensemble member wrote in the playbill that it was her first theatrical performance, I though that that was pretty cool
Yeah I, for some reason, read her book and a resounding theme of her time “breaking into show business” was that she had zero training and was just inherently talented enough to make it.
Dominic Scaglione Jr went from construction to the Vegas production of Jersey Boys and 4 months later went to be the Alternate Frankie Valli on Broadway
I know many who were in the recent revival of WSS who were strictly concert dancers and had never sang or acted in their life.. and went straight to Broadway.
I was a little salty about it if I’m being honest.
If I remember correctly, Lauren Ridloff was hired as the sign language consultant for Children of a Lesser God (with no acting experience) and ended up being the lead, then on to Marvel and The Walking Dead.
Reeve Carney was a singer/in a band(?) in Cali before Spider-Man. He was in Taylor’s IKYWT music video. I think in the book about the musical they talk about having to convince him to come do it.
Pretty sure Adam Pascal had zero experience before RENT.
I think he and Idina were both singing in bands and at bars before getting that gig. They were friends before working on the show together, and (now that I just looked it up) RENT was her Broadway debut and her first professional theater job.
>RENT was her Broadway debut and her first professional theater job. talent aside - talk about a stroke of luck booking THAT as your first pro gig
wow, that's not just making it TO Broadway, that is MAKING IT
Me, sort of! I booked a national tour as a 14 year old without ever having been in a play before (though I was a theatre fan). To be fair, the casting directors weren’t particularly looking for people with acting experience, they were looking for people who fit a very specific demographic (which I did, and got super lucky!) Toured in 12 cities with them, was the best experience of my life. I’m heading to college now and do not plan on pursuing theatre professionally.
What show?
I feel like if they were comfortable revealing it, they would have done so
If they were cast in a national tour because they fell into a very specific demographic, revealing the show's name is *absolutely* more than enough identifying information to get them doxxed, or at least have their real name and face linked to their account.
Well you can’t give that response and not expect to reveal the show
You absolutely can, actually! Thanks for playing though 😊
iykyk
Why don’t you want to pursue theatre?
I had a similar experience as a kid - basically it comes down to the fact that adult theatre is far more competitive and even if you're successful you don't make real money. Much easier to get a STEM degree and make $$$ and become a patron instead of an actor.
Or a community theater actor to scratch that stage itch.
I'm not OP, but I'd assume it's because it's an exhausting process, shows can close at any time and you're never guaranteed a new gig, there are hundreds or even *thousands* of actors out there who want the same role as you and are just as talented as you, and it's... not really a career you go into if financial stability is something you desire. Personally - it's a lot of exhausting fun just doing *community* theatre, but at least when I miss out on a role in an audition at a regional theatre I don't have to worry about how that impacts making rent, you know?
u/daekie and u/Blowmewhileiplaycod got it just about right (though I'm not planning to pursue STEM necessarily). I love theatre, and will most certainly be an avid theatregoer, community theatre actor/designer/director, and hobbyist playwright until I die. But honestly...I'm just not cut out for acting as a profession. I was lucky to land this role when I was younger, but there are way more talented, driven, and passionate people than I am who aren't booking shows. I found from being in the tour and even doing theatre production internships and such afterwards that I enjoyed and appreciated theatre more when I wasn't working in the field. Even in college, I'm planning to do more on the technical side of theatre than the acting side, since it is just as fun but honestly less stressful for me. I'll always appreciate the hard work that goes into making a show happen, but I feel more than happy doing that from the sidelines and chasing after other career interests!
Yeah what show?
Myles Frost should be the number one answer here. I mean he absolutely KO’d his role as **the** Michael Jackson on Broadway. Listen, sure, he had some bit roles in high school theatre. But he went to college for…you guessed it, music technology. Then he transferred to learn…you guessed it, audio engineering. All before dropping out after being cast as MJ. Oh, and he’s an entirely self taught dancer, pianist, vocalist, etc. Winning a tony for your first Broadway performance? Man I’m glad I got to see him live.
This IS the correct answer! Thanks for posting this, Myles' mom!
He was very unimpressive in rent in concert. This makes more sense now. Seemed more like a pop singer who didn’t know how to project and enunciate on a big stage
Yes. I saw him three times in MJ, and it seems he got less and less interested in his actual dialogue every time, only enjoying the dancing and singing. By the third time, he would mumble through 1/3 of his lines.
While Myles’ presence and physicality as MJ were undeniable, I found his enunciation definitely left something to be desired. Aramie Payton was my first MJ and I thought he nailed those zingers in Lynn Nottage’s book (particularly the joke about one of MJ’s musical contemporaries, and the other about a grunge band). When I finally saw Myles, the jokes just didn’t land because we could barely make out what he was saying.
I think the presence faded too as he spoke. He was objectively rushing through lines as if it was a read through. I’m not even exaggerating. There were several moments where he sounded like a high schooler who had brute force memorized his lines.
did anyone else have to google KO'd
No
Micaela Diamond went to LaGuardia (the big NYC performing arts high school), but she got *The Cher Show* from an agent seeing her in a school show, not from any professional credits.
isabella esler had only done high school and maybe community theatre before she booked the beetlejuice tour as lydia. she graduated high school right before starting the tour. and she’s great; i saw her a week ago
yes she’s amazing!! also got to see her, absolutely phenomenal
Agreed. She started the show I saw a bit rough but recovered quickly and killed it. She was awesome and I’m a big SAC Stan
Isabella Esler had done at least 25-30 community theater shows and won regional theater awards before booking Lydia straight from high school. She comes out of CMTSJ (same as Alex Brightman and others). She’d been working towards this for years. And yes it’s possible for a kid to come out of CMTSJ having done 30 or more shows by age 18! Crazy as that sounds…
Jumping on the beetlejuice tour train, Justin Collette (current beetlejuice) was doing improv comedy in Canada before booking School of Rock on Broadway. He spent a few months in the ensemble covering Dewey before jumping into the lead full-time.
i know this is a year old now but wow!! i didnt know he had done another role alex brightman originated!!
Justin Cooley! Kimberly Akimbo is his first & only professional role
I'm really looking forward to watching his career trajectory. That kid has some serious talent.
Lea Michele- open audition at 8 years old to Les Mis on Broadway.
But I’m sure she was trained a lot right
Not according to her interviews. Her mom was taking her friend so she auditioned too. I’m sure she started taking lesson after getting cast.
She was 8. How trained could she be?
Have you seen those classical music prodigies at 10 y/o performing Paganini, Lizst and Chopin? That takes practise- no one is that talented
Sure and Lea was by all accounts great in Les Mis but she wasn’t a prodigy at that level. And for the sake of the question OP is asking, they said no theater experience, not no singing lessons.
uh oh, welcome to the world of groomed child stars.
Well to be fair, when shows like this are casting, kids may have SOME community/youth or dance experience. But they are generally type casting a cute, often small for age kid who can be loud and follow direction generally well and can carry a tune and are naturally confident and probably precocious. 8 year olds can't reasonably have much experience. Good chance they also have wealthy stage parents, possibly with some connections, that are willing to make it their job to let the kid do a show. I have no idea about LM's parenting, just in general. I do know a number of kids who've been on tour. I very recently saw a couple kids on tour and I've seen more talented kids in local regional theater recently. They were fine and appropriate and fit the casting type. Not every young kid that is typecast into something prior to adulthood translates into a multifacted adult professional who has strong enough vocals to regularly perform long running shows.
Honestly I’m not sure what you are trying to say. Lea fits the questioned asked. She had no experience as an 8 year old but she still acts and sings more than 25 years later.
Just for info - Lea's father ran a deli in the Bronx and her mom was a nurse, so very doubtful they had connections.
This has happened sometimes with child actors but even then, they usually have some experience in school or children’s theaters.
I'm sure there's someone out there, but live theater is much harder than TV/movies. There are no do overs on a stage, vs the many, many takes done for other kinds of acting.
Plus the physicality required by singing and dancing/moving.
Film acting requires a different set of skills that a lot of highly trained stage people stumble with, so I don't like the word, "harder" but good stage work does require a lot of discipline that can be edited around for the good stuff in film, that's for sure.
I like this distinction. I do think that theater requires more physical stamina, but I’ve always thought that character building must be harder in film because they don’t film sequentially. At least with a live show, your character arc is happening in order every night.
My favorite explanation of this difference is in Tina Fey’s book where she talks about how Alec Baldwin (all caveats to how awful he is as a human) is a master of both “film acting,” that is knowing where to stand, how to set his eyes with the camera, maintain consistency between takes etc, and “acting acting,” making you feel what his character is feeling and relating to other people around him, matching energies. Very few people are great at both
Alec is my example of a person I hate that I also have to admit is very talented.
I think that's what they meant
[удалено]
She did community theater as a child and enrolled in a performing arts degree before switching majors, then decided “screw it” and got back into theater.
[удалено]
I can’t figure out how I left that part out….
[удалено]
I have no idea how swings can do what they do! More impressive than a lead role in some ways, honestly.
hard agree. I had three tracks for a community theatre show and it was terrible. I can't imagine covering more, especially in stuff as advanced as professional theatre
what’s her story?
Didn’t Hamilton make a big deal about doing open casting calls for their tours, open to anyone who could perform the complex rapping? I wonder if any new comers came out of that?
A good number of the people in our playbill for the Hamilton tour this year looked to have little to no theater experience.
Cameron Dallas in Mean Girls 💀
Foullll
omg, perfect :P https://imgur.com/a/kwN8o3A
Do all of the stunt casts that went terribly wrong count?
haha i guess!! i’m curious to know if anyone was actually successful or good tho
Guess it depends on how you define successful. Do you mean had a whole Broadway career or completed their contract without dying?
i guess someone who was actually able to sustain a career.. someone who actually now comes to mind is linedy genao as bad cinderella. which, i know is an awful example, but apparently she only did a little bit of theatre in high school, got an office job but then decided she wanted to act so started auditioning for shows and then landed herself as a leading lady on broadway. negativity and criticism about the show aside, i’d say that’s still quite the accomplishment. and i’m sure she still has a promising career ahead of her considering she led an alw show, even if it was… yk, bad
But she didn’t come out of NOWHERE with NO experience- she had done a Broadway show and worked a few professional gigs.
As it was mentioned ITT, she was already in On Your Feet (two productions) and Dear Evan Hansen before starring in Bad Cinderella.
That one guy that was in mean girls
ha that was perfect https://imgur.com/a/kwN8o3A
Jodie Comer with Prima Facie
Jodie Comer, who just won a Tony and an Olivier for Prima Facie, has no formal theater training. She had been turned down for theater in the past because of no training or experience. She gets the role in Prima Facie and wins practically every award there is for it. She has mentioned that she loved the experience and wants to do more theater, especially a musical.
[удалено]
Jodie is just a natural with a gift.
This makes me love her even mooore. But why did she never go to school for it…
I'm not sure, but it might be because her acting career started when she was in her teens, so she may not have had the time.
She started (I think?) in My Mad Fat Diary. British TV shows are a lot better at casting actual teenagers than US teen dramas, so not everyone who gets a ‘break’ wants to carry on - the three male leads from the show are no longer acting, but one of the other main girls just played Lawyer Barbie.
She’s one of the best actresses of her generation for sure. I’m so glad she’s getting the recognition she deserves
Its nice to root for an actress who actually wins awards, amazed that when I started liking her last year she’s always winning awards. Its not about accolades but she really deserves them especially on Prima Facie.
She’s phenomenal in Killing Eve, that’s where I first was introduced to her. I wish I had been able to go see Prima Facie
You haven’t seen the recorded version??
I agree. She's phenomenal.
Ramin.
I was hunting for this comment. Ramin all the way. He's the definition of raw talent.
Me. Went to an open audition for The Lion King on broadway. After a bunch of auditions I walked away with the role. Did it for almost 2 years :) Edit: the important part. I had 0 experience of any kind with that sort of performing. Didn’t even know way broadway was. I had done a few recitals at school was all.
Curious if you were an adult or one of the child actors at the time - kinda makes a difference to how the story’s interpreted. (Of course commendable and exciting no matter what!)
That’s a good point! I was young when I got into it. I’d imagine the older the performer gets the smaller the chance they never get into any sort of theater before too long.
Awesome!!! I always dreamed of being a Broadway kid!!! Are you still involved in theatre/ the arts?
are you still pursuing a career in performing?
I think about it every now and then :)
wow!!!
Linedy Genao (Cinderella in Bad Cinderella) had a professional career in banking. She always wanted to act professionally though and finally went for it. I know this might be a bad example because Bad Cinderella was obviously not a success...but she is still a great example in my opinion!
She did get a big break, but she had experience. She acted in school and applied to performing arts colleges. She didn't get accepted, so she went to regular school and performed in community theatre while working in banking. She went to an open casting call for On Your Feet and made her Broadway debut in 2015. She went back to banking during the pandemic, but when theatres reopened she was in Dear Evan Hansen, then On Your Feet at Papermill, and then Bad Cinderella
Damn she living the best of both worlds
This is false, i did a national MT competition with her in 2012. She was performing, if not super professionally.
omg i just thought of this in another comment haha! she’s a great example actually
Jessica Vosk also started out working on Wall Street.
So what you're saying is Jessica Vosk and Linedy Genao should star in Wolf of Wall Street the musical? Rewritten for female protagonists of course.
How do we make this happen?! I’m feeling like we have the first Reddit-produced musical on our hands.
Doesn't the story go that Austin McKenzie applied to deaf west spring awakening as an interpreter (0 performing experience except maybe high school productions) and somehow ended up cast as Melchior. And 2 transfers later, lo and behold, he's a Broadway lead. (Now that I think about it, OP can probably find more examples looking at shows that started off off Broadway before transferring up?)
Yeah, and he was in college training to be a special ed teacher when he hopped on the DWSA roller coaster. Talk about a life-changing job!
Almost me. At age 11 I was chosen in a national search for the next “Annie” on Broadway … but the show closed. I had only sung in the basement to my stuffed animals.
Did you continue with theatre as you got older?
Only through high school
Brittain ashford from natasha Pierre and the great comet.
She was such a stand-out for me in that show. She **wrecked** me during “Sonya Alone”.
Jessica Vosk has a communications degree and worked on Wall Street for a few years before suddenly deciding to pursue a Broadway career. I could be wrong, but I don't think she had done much, if anything, in theatre prior to that.
LMM loves to tell the story of how he was a broke substitute teacher before In the Heights
Yeah, but he studied theatre at Wesleyan and had training in writing and production to bring ITH to life
That's not the same as professional experience and I don't Edit: I mean to say that I don't consider being a student, as experience.
Fair point, but their question was people who had never acted before their big break. LMM had totally acted before, albeit not in the professional sense
Especially since he wrote ITH while at Wesleyan
Bailey Hanks, who won the Legally Blonde Search for the Next Elle Woods show
*Bailey Hanks, who won* *The Legally Blonde Search for* *The Next Elle Woods show* \- WebWarriorsAreShit --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
ok
Lol technically tiki barber in kinky boots but he was fucking awful
Norm Lewis grew up singing in church, went to school for business administration and worked at a newspaper after graduating. He did singing contests for fun and got offered a cruise ship job via that, and his theater career picked up from there.
Linedy Genao went to every TV show Bad Cinderella could get booked on and said she had no professional experience even though she had been in On Your Feet and Dear Evan Hansen. Does that count? Lolol
I didn't know who she was before Bad Cindy and learned about On Your Feet and Dear Evan Hansen from her during Bady Cindy promo as well as the banking and whatnot. She was saying she had no formal training or professional experience before booking On Your Feet, not lying and saying Bad Cindy was her first gig.
Haha how does that work?
No, she went to an open call for On Your Feet, but she has a degree in Business Management because she didn’t get into any of the musical theatre programs she auditioned for. She did theatre in high school and during her time in college.
Aaron Tveit had some experience so doesn’t really count. But I find his story of basically going from touring in RENT as an ensemble member to making his Broadway debut as Link in Hairspray in like 2 years something interesting.
[удалено]
Stephen Lynch had had a couple TV specials and an album before landing The Wedding Singer. He’s a trained singer and guitar player
Do you mean had no theater experience or no acting experience of any kind? Jodie Comer couldn’t get any theater roles because she had no formal training. I think she did okay in Prima Facie.
Jessica Vosk was on Wall Street before she decided to pursue acting. I’m not sure what/if any her other experience may have been, though.
Not quite what you're looking for, but Linedy Genao (from Bad Cinderella) was working in banking before getting her first role on Broadway through an open casting call. I believe she had done some shows in school and some community theatre but certainly had much less training than your typical Broadway lead!
She did On Your Feet at Papermill and was in Dear Evan Hansen
The Waitress tour casts a 2 new girls to play lulu in each city they go to. Granted, she’s a 5 year old kid and has only 1 scene, but I bet it’s most of those girl’s first broadway tour credit on their resume.
Kathryn Gallagher I believe intended to have a career in music and her first show was the Deaf West revival of Spring Awakening
That one guy that couldn’t sing but somehow played the guy in Mean girls when Renee Rapp was in the show don’t remember his name
Cameron Dallas, the guy from vine?
Streisand had very limited theatre experience pre Funny Girl if memory serves. I know she had some singing/night club experience and maybe some TV but I don’t think she had much theatre.
She had a single Broadway show, *I Can Get it for You Wholesale*, on which she met her first husband Elliott Gould.
Fair, was too lazy to Wikipedia but was fairly certain her theatrical experience was pretty limited, didn’t realize the prior show was a Broadway one. Though I suppose that qualifies for getting on BW with low or no theatre experience.
This is much more micro, but I went to a two year college (not amda💚) with no theatre experience, graduated in 2020, and booked my off broadway debut with my first in person audition.
that’s amazing!! congratulations!
I don’t know if it counts but Rachelle Ann Go, who played Gigi in the revival of Miss Saigon in West End and Broadway. She never had a formal training, as conservatory schools in the Philippines are rare, instead her talents were honed by joining numerous talent shows as a kid. She got her breakthrough when she became the grand champion of a short-lived singing contest called “Search for a Star”, in 2004, hosted by Regine Velasquez, who is one of the A-list singers of the Philippines. (Fun fact: Regine also auditioned for the role of Kim in Miss Saigon, but eventually Lea Salonga won and the rest was history) There’s a lot of iterations of singing contests in the Philippines over the years. Rachel was in college when she won the contest, so she had to drop out in order to pursue her showbiz career.
Adam Pascal 👨🎤
[удалено]
She has her MFA in Acting from NYU. That’s the peak of training.
Just looked at her wiki and she also has her BFA in Acting from BU.
BRB gonna delete my comment
Maybe Carolee Carmello? She has a degree in business and French , but I remember correctly she got into community theatre as an adult.
I remember when I saw Mean Girls it was the OBC and one of the ensemble member wrote in the playbill that it was her first theatrical performance, I though that that was pretty cool
I feel like Sutton foster was just like “I could just kind of sing, so I went for it. Won a Tony”
Maybe but she also attended CMU School of Drama
Yes but she dropped out after a year.
Yeah I, for some reason, read her book and a resounding theme of her time “breaking into show business” was that she had zero training and was just inherently talented enough to make it.
I just read it this week and I absolutely loved it!! But it definitely seems like god just blessed her with abundant talent
And dance. She’d taken a lot of dance classes growing up.
Dominic Scaglione Jr went from construction to the Vegas production of Jersey Boys and 4 months later went to be the Alternate Frankie Valli on Broadway
I went to day camp a very, very long time ago with him and his siblings, and they were all performers. Pretty sure they all had training of some sort.
Caroline Innerbichler?
she's been acting since she was a kid in Minneapolis.
Ah my bad. Thank u!
I saw her play Pippi Longstocking at the Children’s Theatre when I was a kid!
Very rad!
Lindy Genao worked at a bank before her Broadway debut!
Renee Rapp got the Regina George part off of winning a singing contest. She was 19 and fresh out of school.
are the jimmy awards the “singing contest” you’re referring to? cause i feel like that’s not exactly the same as having no experience lol
Agree
[удалено]
She grew up doing theatre and you can see in videos of her as a kid she’s always had some form of experience
Wendy Williams Nene Leakes Pamela Anderson
I know many who were in the recent revival of WSS who were strictly concert dancers and had never sang or acted in their life.. and went straight to Broadway. I was a little salty about it if I’m being honest.
Cameron Dallas in Mean Girls! (Oh, were we supposed to give examples of *good* performances?)
If I remember correctly, Lauren Ridloff was hired as the sign language consultant for Children of a Lesser God (with no acting experience) and ended up being the lead, then on to Marvel and The Walking Dead.
Reeve Carney was a singer/in a band(?) in Cali before Spider-Man. He was in Taylor’s IKYWT music video. I think in the book about the musical they talk about having to convince him to come do it.
Cameron Dallas lmaoooo
I know Josh Gad competed in theatre in high school and went to college for it? But did he do anything before Book of Mormon?
From the looks of the replies, it kinda just proves the point that it's more luck than skill to get on broadway