BW Interviews: Jessica Lee Goldyn: This Business Chooses You

"You really don't choose this business; it chooses you," Jessica Lee Goldyn says of her becoming a professional dancer and actress while still in her teens. That bright career which has taken her to Broadway and around the country performing in musical theatre now brings her to Brunswick, Maine, to reprise the role of Elizabeth in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, which opened at Maine State Music Theatre August 6th. The role of Frederick Frankenstein's glamorous and fickle wife has been tailored to her extraordinary dancing abilities by director Marc Robin, and, as she tells Broadway World a few days before opening, she is enjoying the experience enormously!

She loves Mel Brooks' tongue-in-cheek humor. "I am such a fan of his comedy style, and the musical is so well written. There are so many moments when you are allowed to break the fourth wall, and that is great fun! The show is sharp, witty, and I am finding new things this time around." She played the part for the first time at Lancaster's Fulton Theatre with Robin directing in 2014. She recalls that "the audience loved it there just as they did in New York. "People love the Frankenstein story, and then, when you throw in the huge tap numbers and the incredible production moments, it is irresistible."

What Robin has done with the current version, she says, is to scale back the show to "somewhere between the huge extravaganza it was on Broadway - insane explosion of money and stage action - and the more intimate movie and find the balance between the two. I think it works better this way." She adds that Robin knowing that "I am first and foremost a dancer, [has] utilized that for Elizabeth, and I am very grateful that he has showcased the things I do best." The three musical numbers Elizabeth has also enchant Goldyn. 'Please Don't Touch Me' is so funny; it's just the boys and I and wonderful dancing. Then I disappear for an hour and come back in the second act for 'Surprise' and "Deep Love" with a perfect, hilarious, show stopping feature." Goldyn hopes the Maine audiences take away "an appreciation for Mel Brooks' comedy, for Robin's incredible choreography, and that their bellies hurt from laughing. We have been laughing so much in rehearsal and at the photo shoot, the tears were coming down our faces; we had to touch up our makeup. So I hope this audience has a blast!"

Goldyn, who has been on stage professionally for more than a decade, found herself entranced by musical theatre and dance from her childhood. She grew up in Parsippany, New Jersey, started dancing at age three and was a competitive gymnast for five years destined for the Olympics, until some injuries made her decide to abandon gymnastics for fear it would derail her dancing, which was her first love. As she tells it, at age ten after gaining recognition for singing a solo in church choir, she decided to fill the gap left by giving up gymnastics with voice lessons. But the moment when she knew the musical stage would be her destiny came "after I saw Chicago on Broadway. I told my parents that this was what I wanted to do." She began to appear in musicals at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse, making her debut in the children's ensemble of Gypsy and understudying Baby Louise in 1998 and following that at age fifteen with performances in Carousel. Numerous other appearances followed in her secondary school years, where she attended New York's High School for the Performing Arts and continued to dance with the New Jersey Ballet. She left high school to join the tour of Fosse, taking her GED at a later date.

The decision was a risky one, but Goldyn says she had her parents support throughout. "My mom had danced, though not professionally, so she understood. She was a good stage mom; she never pushed me. She encouraged me only if I wanted to do something, and I did! My dad was nervous when I left school because he knew how difficult this life could be, but when he saw that I was actually doing what I loved, making money, and seeing the world, he thought, 'maybe this will happen for her.' They both wanted me to do whatever would make me happy, and they understood I wouldn't be happy doing anything else."

By 2006 Jessica Lee Goldyn had made her Broadway debut in a manner that almost seemed like a fairy tale. She was cast as Val and as Cassie's understudy in the acclaimed revival of A Chorus Line in one of the most celebrated audition processes in recent memory. Goldyn tells the story, most of which is documented in Adam del Deo's and James Stern's 2008 film Every Little Step, which traced the audition and selection process of this quintessential show about musical theatre dancer-singer-actors.

"That documentary felt like reality television," she recalls. "That Chorus Line audition was only my second audition for a Broadway show. I came into the process very late; it was the last week and they had been auditioning for over a year. I had asked my then-agent to get me an appointment, but he felt I was too young, so the day my contract with him expired, I found a notice for the open call and went to it. I had no time to think. They asked us to sign a release for the documentary filming, which, of course I did. There I was in the last week of the calls, dancing next to my idols, and having cameras follow me around. When they asked if they could come to my house, I suspected that might mean something, but I didn't really have any plan other than to stay on my own two feet and do my very best."

Goldyn was clearly not prepared for what came next. "When I got the call, I was completely overwhelmed. I thought they might have been looking at me as a cover. I love that show so much I would have been honored to be associated with it in any way. But when they told me I was to play Val, I was stunned! What you see in the documentary is exactly how I received the news. I thought they might have made a mistake." Every Little Step captures Goldyn's almost speechless disbelief. In hindsight, she says, "It was not how I dreamed I would react to that kind of big news."

Goldyn played Val until 2008 and took over as Cassie for the last two weeks of the show, one of the few from the initial revival cast to close the production. And the musical has remained a cornerstone for her career. "Chorus Line is an anthem for every dancer. That show has a timeless magic. Every time I do it, I am able to bring more to it. I am another year older; more has happened in my life, so it is like another layer of the onion to unpeel. It is also one of those shows where you are encouraged to be yourself. That is the hardest thing, but also the most rewarding. It is a perfect mirror of life influencing art and vice versa. Every time I do the show" - and so far she has been in five productions of Chorus Line - "I gain so much more in my life. I will continue to do it every opportunity I get because it makes me a better actress and person."

Goldyn says that as she continues her relationship to the show, she feels ever more drawn to Cassie. "Val was perfect for me at that [early] point in my life. But by now, I know what it is to work and not to work, and what it is to want to do good work. I am still some years younger than Cassie is supposed to be, so I have plenty of time to play her. And each time, the role clicks more."

Besides her identification with Chorus Line, Goldyn has to her credit quite a few other plum musical theatre roles in shows such as Crazy for You, Sweet Charity, Chicago, Legally Blonde, Damn Yankees, and On the Town. She says she especially loves doing "Fosse and anything Gwen Verdon ever did. I love the older shows for their richness of choreography and for the simplicity of their storytelling. You look at Jerome Robbins or Bob Fosse and you see their stories are driven from the inside out. I love the way Fosse could trust people to just stand there and twirl a finger and rivet attention."

One of Goldyn's recent appearances was a run in the television musical series, SMASH, where she danced in the ensemble, played Lucy, and served as a stand-in for Megan Hilty in the Marilyn numbers. "Working with [choreographer] Josh Bergasse was very special, and I enjoyed being able to support his work and assist." She got to work with the SMASH team again on the recent Actors' Fund benefit of Bombshell, which has now generated new Broadway buzz. She says that for the moment she is happy to assist with choreography if asked, but any outing as a choreographer herself is a way down the road. "At this point I think I can help with tweaking, cleaning things up, or being the second set of eyes. But I am still young, and I am still dancing, and I want to do that for as long as I can." She concedes, however, that she would love to take part in any effort to preserve the legacy of Chorus Line and Michael Bennett's choreography for future generations.

Though Jessica Lee Goldyn already has an impressive resume behind her, she has a long professional future to which she can look forward. Asked how she sees herself continuing on that journey, she replies that she feels it is important to find a balance between personal and professional life and to find meaningful relationships, perhaps even that special one. "I would love to continue to do what I am doing, whether it is work in New York, regional theatres, televisions, or on tour. When I was growing up, I believed the pinnacle was Broadway, but I have learned that art is art. If you love it - and you have to love it to be successful in this business - it doesn't matter where you perform. What matters is being in the present moment, not getting caught up in trying to climb a ladder. I have learned to enjoy where I am right here and now. I believe everything happens as it is meant to be. I am meant to be here right now in Young Frankenstein, working with this incredible cast, crew, and creative team, and learning and growing from the experience."

Photos Courtesy MSMT, Roger S. Duncan, production photo photographer

Young Frankenstein runs from August 5 - 22, 2015, at the Pickard Theatre, Brunswick, ME 207-725-8769 www.msmt.org