Success Stories

Kianna Kelly-Futch (BM ‘24) will play the role of Janelle Woods and one of the singers in the musical group the Shirelles in the musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical during its scheduled run at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, from November 16 to January 5.

The Asolo Reperatory Theatre is the largest Equity theatre in Florida, and the largest Repertory theatre in the Southeastern United States.

Read our MSM Spotlight on Kianna when she studied at MSM, here.
More about the Asolo Reperatory Theatre production here.

Ayanna Nicole Thomas (in photo on bottom left) is joining the cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on November 12 at the Lyric Theatre, playing the role of Rose Granger-Weasley as one of 9 new cast members. Ayanna studied Musical Theatre at MSM from 2020 to 2023, when she took a leave of absence to join the Broadway cast of How to Dance in Ohio.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child first opened on Broadway as a two-part experience April 22, 2018. The production would go on to be nominated for 10 Tony Awards, winning five, including Best Play.

The condensed, one-part production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opened December 7, 2021, at the Lyric Theatre following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learn more about the new casting here.

MSM Musical Theatre alumnus Willie Clyde Beaton (BM ‘20) will make his Broadway debut as part of the ensemble and as a swing/ understudy in this new musical based on the life of Louis Armstrong. Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart stars as the jazz legend and American icon Louis Armstrong.

Previews at Studio 54 begin October 16 with opening night on November 11.

More information on the musical here.

Jasmine Amy Rogers (’19) is being called a “rising star” by the Associated Press after being cast as the iconic flapper Betty Boop in a new musical BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical set for an initial run in Chicago from November 14 to December 24.

“I always dreamt that I would get to do something like this and bring to life somebody as important and as loved as Betty,” says Rogers. “But I never dreamt that in a million years that it would be Betty herself. So it’s really crazy!”

The musical has songs by multiple Grammy Award-winning composer David Foster, Tony Award-nominated lyricist Susan Birkenhead and a story by Tony Award-winning book writer Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone, The Prom).

The musical is directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, who discovered Rogers while he was directing the musical Becoming Nancy at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in 2019.

Mitchell is a two-time Tony Award-winning choreographer and director whose shows include Kinky Boots, Legally Blonde, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hairspray and La Cage aux Folles.

Learn more about the casting of Jasmine Amy Rogers here.

The New York Times features the esteemed multi-award-winning playwright, novelist, and composer Rupert Holmes (’67, HonDMA ’21) – who studied at MSM in the 1960s – in the publication’s “At Home With” section. Mr. Holmes has written a soon-to-be-produced new play about the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg as well as a new novel.

MSM Musical Theatre performed The Mystery of Edwin Drood, his musical adaptation of the unfinished Dickens novel, in an online production in February 2021. Mr. Holmes called the production, which took place roughly one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, a “triumph of innovation.”

Read The New York Times article here.
Read Rupert Holmes’ response to the MSM production of Edwin Drood here.

Recent MSM Musical Theatre alumna Torinae (BM ’22) is part of the cast of the 2nd National Tour of Lincoln Center Theater‘s production of My Fair Lady. The critically acclaimed production is touring Missouri, Colorado, and Texas from October 28 to December 7.

Torinae is in the ensemble, plays Clara Eynsford-Hill, and understudies the role of Eliza Doolittle.

Learn more about the production here.
Learn more about Torinae here.

Recent MSM Musical Theatre graduate Alysia Velez (BM ’22) is making her Broadway debut as Rapunzel in the critically acclaimed, star-studded revival of Into the Woods. The hit production of Stephen Sondheim’s and James Lapine’s beloved musical officially opened on July 10, with its initial limited run now extended through October 16.

The cast includes Sara Bareilles, Gavin Creel, Joshua Henry, Bryan d’Arcy James, Patina Miller, and Phillipa Soo.

“I’m grateful to go into the woods each night with these people,” writes Alysia on a post of photos from opening night on her Instagram account.

The show famously combines elements of fairy tales like Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack and the Beanstalk into a unique musical whole.

Read about the production here.
Learn more about Alysia here.

Recent MSM Musical Theatre graduate Alysia Velez (BM ’22) has been cast as Rapunzel in the upcoming Broadway revival of the Stephen Sondheim – James Lapine musical Into The Woods on Broadway opening June 28 at the St. James Theater for an eight-week run.

Information about the production here.

Learn more about Alysia here.

Godless is a one-act play that delves into the origins of the human psyche between Adam and Eve, discusses the controversy surrounding humankind’s perception of a higher power, and how each of us defines faith.

Performances of Godless take place at the New York Theatre Festival on Nov 8 and 10 at 9 PM and Nov 13 at 6:45 PM.

Jarrett is a singer, actor, composer/lyricist, and playwright who graduated from Manhattan School of Music in 2020 with a Bachelor of Music, and from Berklee College of Music with a Master of Arts.

For more information and tickets visit this page.

MSM voice alumna N’Kenge Pacurar (BM ’96) appears as The Moon in the Roundabout Theatre Company production, while Joseph Joubert (BM ’79, MM ’81), a member of the Artistic Advisory Committee for the MSM Musical Theatre program, is music director and orchestrator of the production.

Both are pictured here outside Studio 54 theatre with MSM President James Gandre who attended a preview performance.

Learn more about the production and buy tickets here.

From July 26 to 30, the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, the world’s longest continuously running Yiddish theatre in the world, is having a benefit concert online honoring its director of long standing, Zalmen Mlotek (BM ’72), who is celebrating his 70th birthday.

Zalmen received his Bachelor of Arts from MSM in Theory, and is an internationally recognized authority on Yiddish folk and theater music. He is a leading figure in the Jewish theatre and concert worlds, as well as a conductor, pianist, musical arranger, accompanist, and composer.

His acclaimed production of “Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish” with Folksbiene ran for two years after a planned run of just two weeks at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, moving to Off Broadway.  It closed in January, 2020.

The benefit concert, entitled “Yiddish Renaissance” will include 140 artists from around the world, is also being billed as a celebration of the growing interest in Yiddish language and culture.

More information here.

Bebe Neuwirth, an MSM Honorary Doctorate recipient, is set to announce the 73rd Annual Tony Award Nominations LIVE on Tuesday, April 30th. The nominations can be viewed on CBS This Morning at 8:30 PM EST and will be live streamed in their entirety at www.TonyAwards.com.

Neuwirth has been dancing and singing and working in theatre, television and film for the last 40 years. Some of her Broadway credits include A Chorus Line, Little Me, Dancin‘, Sweet Charity (Tony Award), Damn Yankees, Addams Family, Chicago (Tony, Drama Desk, Astaire, etc. Awards), and Fosse.

The smash hit has received rave reviews from The New York Times, Time Out, and NYPost, and features four alumni and one current student: Alexandrina Boyanova (BM ’10, MM ’12) as the solo violinist; Samantha Hahn (BM ’21) as Beylke;  Cameron Johnson (MM ’14) as Fyedke; Zalmen Mlotek (BM ’72), conductor; and Raquel Nobile (MM ’17) as Shprintze. The production, directed by Broadway legend Joel Grey, will run through September 2019 at Stage 42. 

Buy tickets to Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish here.

Darnell Abraham (photo above: in costume in Puerto Rico as George Washington, and posing with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda) is a member of the cast performing last week in Puerto Rico. The smash-hit musical has moved on to San Francisco, launching the third national tour of the production.

Info about the tour here
More about Darnell Abraham here

Amy is thrilled to be part of the revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel! She’s covering and performing the roles of Nettie (alternating with Renée Fleming) and Julie.