Interview: Jessica Vosk of JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT at The Muny

Next week when JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT opens at The Muny a real-life dreamer will narrate the story of biblical dreamer Joseph. Jessica Vosk, who plays the narrator in JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, never studied musical theater in college. Instead, she studied business and accepted a finance job in investor relations prior to graduating college. She said she wanted to land a job that would make her parents proud and put food on the table. She thought she needed to have a job that was stable, provided health insurance and a retirement account, but choosing this career path resulted in her developing anxiety and stress. She knew it was time to leave the business world behind and follow her dream to pursue a career in performing. So, after three years she accepted a lay off and worked as a babysitter for six-months until she landed her first role in an ABBA Concert Show at Carnegie Hall.

Since that first role Vosk has never looked back. After her first gig, she landed a role in the Broadway company of the Jason Robert Brown scored BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY. Following Bridges, she was cast in FINDING NEVERLAND and covered the role played by Carolee Carmello. Then, she had the opportunity to play Fruma Sarah in the revival of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF where she also covered the role of Golde for Jessica Hecht. "One night at intermission I had to go on as Golde due to an injury sustained by Jessica Hecht," she said. Vosk credits director Bartlett Sher with getting her into acting shape using the simplest concepts in theatre acting. Working opposite Danny Burstein, as Tevye, was a different experience that felt grounded and intimate.

It was at that time that she was approached by producers to audition for WICKED. While Vosk said that playing Elphaba was not her dream role, this role did give her the opportunity to lead a company. Following the audition, she booked the job and toured with WICKED for 13-months. After a five to six-month break from the tour she got the opportunity to play Elphaba for another year on Broadway as part of the 15th anniversary cast.

Following WICKED she met Muny Artistic Director and Executive Producer Mike Isaacson while workshopping a new show called BECOMING NANCY that was closed due to the pandemic. During this pre-Broadway workshop, Isaacson talked with Vosk about work at the Muny. It was when she was in St. Louis performing a concert that Isaacson invited her to The Muny campus during the winter Muny off-season. She said, "I had heard other performers talk about their work at The Muny, but I had no idea how many people The Muny employed, the extravagance of the productions here, and how all the work is done in-house." Vosk said that when she was offered the role of the narrator that it was an immediate yes! She said, "Everybody wants to work at The Muny!"

Vosk has learned that she can never become complacent. "This career requires hard work, and you have to remember to hustle," she said. She shared that students who major in musical theatre are not required to take any accounting, finance or business classes. Her work on Wall Street taught her that she could translate what she learned in business into her performing career. As a performer you are your own business and are responsible for your own marketing, public relations, and publicity according to Vosk. She said, "Afterall this is show business."

Vosk says that JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT is a show that is pure joy and pure fun. She said this is a story of a man in a precarious situation who continues to dream and takes responsibility to change his own story. Like how she changed her own story, leaving her Wall Street career and making her Broadway debut at 30. Vosk says, "You can do whatever you want to. There is no expiration date on what you can achieve."

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT opens at The Muny on August 12th and runs through August 18th. For more information visit muny.org. To purschase tickets, visit The Muny Box Office in Forest Park or visit metrotix.com.

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