Curtain Up! BWW Looks Back on 2016's Memorable Broadway Debuts
By: Caryn Robbins Dec. 27, 2016
From a 14-year-old up-and-comer to a DANCING WITH THE STARS' mirrorball champion, 2016 has been a year filled with noteworthy debuts on the Great White Way. Below, BWW looks back on the talented actors who were profiled in this year's "Debut of the Month" feature.
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF's Hayley Feinstein -Fourteen-year-old Hayley Feinstein made her Broadway debut as youngest daughter Bielke in the revival of Fiddler on the Roof, opposite Broadway veterans Danny Burstein and Jessica Hecht. "It was cool because all the people who were making their debuts got to experience it together, so I wasn't alone. It was so nice because there were fifteen of us who were all together debuting and even though we were all different ages and at all different points in our life, we got to go through that same experience together. So that made it really special!"
(Click here for full feature)
DISASTER's Lacretta Nicole - Lacretta Nicole made her debut as 70's disco diva 'Levora' in Broadway's hilarious original musical Disaster! Set in the wildest decade of the 20th century, the show featured earthquakes, tidal waves, infernos and some of the most unforgettable songs of the 1970's! "The sweet is to know that all that hard work, going to undergrad, going to grad school, the times that I had shows consecutively in a year and the times when years went by and I had to work at Staples and had to do what I had to do to get that rent paid, it was all worth it. So to step out and make my Broadway debut, it really means a lot to me because I know the kind of work that I put in. And if a girl from Kansas City can grace the stage with these people, in this kind of show, then there's hope for a lot of people. So I'm humbled and I'm grateful and I'm super-excited!" (Click here for full feature)
THE CRUCIBLE's Jenny Jules - Jenny Jules made her Broadway debut as Tituba in Ivo Van Hove's revival ofArthur Miller's The Crucible, a modernized re-telling of the Salem witch trials that took place in Colonial Massachusetts during the late 1600's. "I think essentially, as human beings, we have not evolved. You know modern man is over 150,000 years old and yet we still behave in the same way. We still project our feelings in the same way, we still dream the same way, we still have the same fears and desires. So until we change our nature, I think plays like The Crucible and plays that Shakespeare wrote will always be relevant, because they are about the human condition and human nature." (Click here for full feature)
WAITRESS' Kimiko Glenn - Kimiko Glenn made her Broadway debut in the new, original musical Waitress, featuring music and lyrics by 5-time Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles, a book by acclaimed screenwriter Jessie Nelson and direction by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus. "I was so overcome with emotion because I seriously had wanted to be on Broadway since I could remember singing a song. I was such a performer as a kid and when I started doing theater I got really into Broadway and I was into the Broadway kids and everything, and I always dreamed of living in New York, I thought it was so unfair that I lived in Phoenix and couldn't audition for New York shows. So the idea that I was making my Broadway debut, and not only a Broadway debut, but I was one of the leads, it was kind of unbelievable to me. And seriously, it was the best day of my life!" (Click here for full feature)
AMERICAN PSYCHO's Drew Moerlein - Drew Moerlein made his Broadway debut as Paul Owen in the dark, musical comedy American Psycho, based on the best-selling novel by Bret Easton Ellis. "I think that was one of the larger things that we worked on in the rehearsal process, figuring out the tone and understanding how to keep people on the edge of their seat, keep people active, yet also keep them laughing. But right after they laugh, just throw them a curve ball and throw a knife in their side. And we hope what the show does most effectively is the unexpected, the unpredictable , the lack of recycled predictable outcomes, and I think that's what really sends people for a loop." (Click here for full feature)
THE LION KING's Adrienne Walker - Adrienne Walker was "swept off her feet" when she made her Broadway debut as 'Nala' in Broadway's long-running, Tony-Award winning musical. "I think that people can identify with THE LION KING no matter the culture. With the puppetry and the spectacle of it all, I think that not only does the story support its longevity, but just the intense amount of drama that is put on the stage helps support it as well. The costumes are beautiful, the music is exciting and touching and authentic and I think that really helps the show live, no matter if it's 10 years ago or if it's 10 years from now." (Click here for full feature)
CATS' Emily Tate, Ahmad Simmons, Christine Cornish Smith and Daniel Gaymon - September's Debut of the Month column profiled four of the talented actors who made their Broadway debuts in the revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's iconic musical, CATS and found out just how purrfectly special they were! "The messages of the show are simple and universal. Everyone on this planet can understand feeling lonely, proud, loved, shunned, and this show represents it in a way that crosses over language and cultural barriers. It's truly brilliant," shared Christine Cornish Smith. (Click here for feature)
JERSEY BOYS' Mark Ballas - "Dancing with the Stars" superstar Mark Ballas became the final actor to take on the iconic role of 'Frankie Valli,' making his Broadway debut in October and continuing in the role through the end of it's historic run on January 15th. "What's great about the show is that you have the generation who grew up on the music of The Four Seasons, and they just lose themselves in the show. It's kind of like The Beatles to some people, or Michael Jackson to some people, they grew up on it. They know these songs, they remember where they were when they first heard them, they remember jumping up and down on their bed singing 'Sherry' and throwing teddy bears at each other. And back then, The Four Seasons were considered the bad boys of music, their music was cool, it was different, so all the women still go nuts when they hear it today." (Click here for full feature)
LES LIAISONS DANGERUSES' ELena Kampouris Straight off her starring role in MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2, talented young actress Elena Kampouris made her Broadway debut as wealthy yet naive teenager Cécile Volanges in the Donmar Warehouse production of Christopher Hampton's LES LIAISONS DANGERUSES. "I now understand why people respect theater so much and love it so much. It's so live and instant with the audience. Film can get a little static at times, it's a wonderful process but it's very different than theater, the dimensions are totally different, and learning that difference through this experience has really been eye-opening. And I don't know how I'm going to let theater go because it's really latched on to me and I absolutely love it." (Click here for full feature)
NATASHA PIERRE & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812's Grace McLean - Grace McLean made her Broaway debut as 'Marya D' in Dave Malloy's original new pop opera, adapted from a slice of Leo Tolstoy's classic novel 'War and Peace.' "For me, it's like time-traveling, especially at the end when we are all just looking at the comet and watching Pierre. In fact the text of that song is basically taken right from the book. So we get to listen to those words that were written over two hundred years ago and we get to look at the comet and stars and space and things that were created a millennia ago. We get to look at them and hear them now. And these characters and these words will continue to live on for centuries. So to me, it's surreal and it's beautiful." (Click here for full feature)
DEAR EVAN HANSEN's Will Roland - Will Roland made his Broadway debut as snarky high schooler Jared Kleinman in the new, contemporary American musical Dear Evan Hansen. "I think in a show like this that is so heavy and so emotionally full at times, people are hungry to laugh, they're hungry for a little bit of levity. And so when I come out, there's always a warm and strong reaction from the audience just because I think people are very, very ready to laugh and feel light at that moment. So yes, the comedy is welcomed with such open arms." (Click here for full feature)
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