The Ensemblist

If someone knows a thing or two about understudying, it’s Becca Petersen. Her national tour debut was as the female swing on the national tour of Newsies, followed by making her Broadway debut covering Laura Osnes in the new musical Bandstand. She’s spent the last two years as an original company member of Mean Girls, where she covers multiple roles including the leading role of Cady Heron. She jo...

Whenever New York-based actors leave the city to perform, there’s a certain amount of bravery that must take place when you walk outside the theatre’s doors. Although the production may stay the same from city to city, your life outside the theatre can change drastically depending on where you are. That challenge is magnified when the cities you’re touring to are halfway across the world in countr...

When people say “the show must go on,” Karli Dinardo is one of the people of makes that happen. As a swing and dance captain for Moulin Rouge! The Musical, she covers seven other women in the show. Before making her Broadway debut in the production, she was a swing and dance captain for Hamilton on the road. We asked her into the study to share her most harrowing - and most triumphant - stories of...

Recently, Jackson Cline of The Ensemblist has been asking several questions about queer representation in musical theatre. How has the portrayal and inclusion of queer characters evolved over the years? Are more queer artists getting opportunities to tell these stories, both onstage and behind the scenes? And does giving queer-identifying individuals opportunities to create queer roles create a ri...

Developing a character based on a real person is a challenge for any actor, in part because whether or not the audience is familiar with that person you want to make sure the role feels authentic to the people that know them. Such is the case in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, where much of the ensemble takes on people in the life of the titular music icon.  One of those actors is Jessica Rush, who...