The Ensemblist

Taurean Everett made a splash last season in the ensemble of The Cher Show. He brought the house down as Bob Mackie’s Assistant by wearing only a loincloth and a beaming smile. Taurean was also the lead campaign image for this year’s edition of Broadway Bares. It goes without saying that this is a guy who takes care of his body. However, that fitness was called into question when he was injured in an audition toward the end of the summer. Here’s our conversation…

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Closing shows are just part of the big, beautiful cycle of musical theatre. And yet sometimes those closings are so sudden that they defy explanation. Such was the case last fall with the North American tour of Bat Out of Hell - The Musical. While playing its opening stint in Toronto, the show’s producers announced that the multi-city run would shutter its doors before even reaching its second city. Left in the lurch were dozens of performers, including this week’s guest Emilie Battle.

Emilie was a member of the original off-Broadway company of Dear Evan Hansen understudying the role of Alana Beck. But in the last twelve months, she’s been a part of two productions that closed prematurely Bat Out Of Hell and this summer’s off-Broadway run of an entirely new commercial musical Broadway Bounty Hunter. I asked her into the studio to share these two very different experiences, and how they were at all united. Here’s our conversation...

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Jovan Dansberry made his Broadway debut last season in the ensemble of King Kong. Performing both as one of the show’s dancers and as the manipulator of Kong’s left paw proved to be a monumental challenge, one that took him out of the show for months and ultimately stopped him from closing the Broadway production. But for Jovan, the biggest challenge was not the physical recovery but dealing with the stigma of being an injured performer. Here’s our conversation...

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As performers, our bodies are our instruments. We use our physical beings to create sounds, embody characters and tell stories. So when that physical instrument is suffering, how does that affect a performers’ artistry? And, perhaps more importantly, what does it do to a performer’s psyche when they aren’t able to work to the best of their abilities.

That’s a conversation I wanted to explore in this new mini-series Hurt and Healed: an honest look into actors’ injuries, recoveries and the stigma that comes from not being able to be your best onstage.

There is not a theatre performer who leads with more grace than Caissie Levy. Yes, she’s played some of the most iconic roles in Broadway history - from Elphaba in Wicked to Fantine in Les Miserables - but she’s also a warm soul that pulses with kindness.

...it’s probably because she’s Canadian, eh?

Recently, Caissie (who currently leads the Broadway cast of Frozen as Elsa, opened up on social media about a vocal fold injury she incurred during a decade ago, how she worked towards recovery and the stigma she still sometimes endures as a result. Here’s our conversation...

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Chloe Campbell made a name for herself performing in London in four West End musicals. Since making a leap across the pond, she performed in the Chicago company of Hamilton and the national tour of In The Heights. Her Broadway credits include the short-lived Tuck Everlasting and the just-closed production of King Kong. Here’s our conversation...

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Since making his Broadway debut in the original company of Newsies, Michael Fatica has gone on to perform in five additional Broadway musicals in the last three years, including originating the role of Chubby Man in Groundhog Day. In addition to performing in the national tour of Matilda The Musical, he also spent a chunk of last summer setting the show’s international company in South Africa. Last week, he finished a run as Phil Spector, Sid the Censor and others in Broadway’s The Cher Show. Here’s our conversation...

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Making it to Broadway is a dream come true for many. But no matter the show, living that dream will eventually come to an end. Whether your show runs for one month or one decade, eventually every Broadway musical will close. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first Broadway show or your tenth, closing means a future of artistic and financial uncertainty. And yet, closing shows is just part of the big, beautiful cycle of musical theatre.

This summer seven Broadway musicals are shuttering their doors, sending scores of ensemblists back to unemployment. But is there a good side to having your Broadway show close? Or at least a silver lining? That’s what I am interested in finding out in this mini-series with three actors who have closed Broadway musicals this summer.

Hannah Florence is no stranger to Broadway with four Mainstem musicals to her credit. However, she’s also no stranger to closing Broadway musicals as she was part of the final companies of all four: Scandalous, Gigi, Paramour and, most recently, My Fair Lady. She’s also an in-demand actress off Broadway and across the country, performing in This Ain’t No Disco at Atlantic Theater Company, Grand Hotel at City Center Encores! and playing Meg Giry in the North American Tour of The Phantom of the Opera. 

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Eliza Ohman was in the onstage ensemble and assistant dance captain of King Kong on Broadway. Her onscreen credits dancing in Fosse/Verdon and next season’s opening episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. However, her first Broadway job was as a swing on Hamilton. Working as the dance captain and universal swing, she covered the five female ensemble roles in each of the show’s four North American productions of the show for more than a year. Here’s our conversation…

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Stephanie Klemons is the Associate Choreographer and Global Dance Supervisor of Hamilton. She was part of the process as it grew from a small idea to an international phenomenon with six companies world wide. In addition to being a member of the original cast, she now works to cast the multiple productions of Hamilton. She’s also a choreographer in her own right on top of being a wife and mother. 

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