INTERVIEW - Alyssa Carol (University of Michigan, BFA in Musical Theatre; Bad Cinderella on Broadway)

The Creative College Journey with Scott Barnhardt

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​​Scott sits down with a former student, Alyssa Carol, for a heartfelt and lovely conversation about Alyssa’s pathway towards higher education at the University of Michigan's famed Musical Theatre BFA and making her Broadway debut as an original Broadway cast member in Andrew Lloyd Webber's brand new musical, BAD CINDERELLA.
And while in many ways Alyssa is living what from the outside looks to be a Broadway Cinderella story… she comes to the podcast to share her personal journey to this moment to highlight the fact that the road to Broadway is rarely glamorous or picture book perfect, but this journey is often a deeply satisfying, valuable and artistically illuminating process.
Alyssa Carol is a performing artist originally from Orange County, CA. She grew up dancing, singing and acting and eventually attended the Orange County School of the Arts to study Musical Theatre from 7th-12th grade where she discovered a deeper sense of her artistry and the cathartic nature of performing. And I had the privilege to be her conservatory director for her junior and senior year at OCSA.
She is currently completing her last semester at The University of Michigan in their BFA Musical Theatre program remotely from NYC… so that she could join the original cast as a swing of the Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s BAD CINDERELLA covering 9 tracks and triumphantly made her Broadway debut during previews on March 9th.
At the University of Michigan she was featured in productions of The House of Bernarda Alba, Hair, Michael McElroy’s Sonnets, Soliloquies and Soul, The Wild Party; she made her professional debut as the female swing in The Ogunquit Playhouse staging of The Nutty Professor; At OCSA, she played Charity in SWEET CHARITY, Olive in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, was in the ensemble of OCSA’s productions of Jasper in Deadland, Footloose as an Associate Choreographer (with Emily Baggerly) on an epic production of EVITA.
On a personal note, Alyssa is a light in this world and a ferocious quadruple threat - actor, dancer, singer AND creative/maker. She is a wonderful example of leading with the love of an artform, and practicing that abundant mindset at every turn of the creative process.
In this episode, we talk about the many facets of her talent and creative interest; what helped her be her authentic self in audition settings; How she decided to say YES to a school like University of Michigan; And a touching story of being guided by the legendary Broadway dancer and choreographer, Ann Reinking, just weeks before her passing.
If you'd like to reach Alyssa Carol you can find her at:
Instagram: @aalyssacarol
To see footage of Alyssa's Ann Reinking exchange from a Zoom master class conducted with Broadway Arts Community:
click here
Bad Cinderella - NOW on Broadway
https://badcinderellab

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Introduction voice-over: Sara Cravens
Or find our host Scott Barnhardt on Instagram.

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1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. Meet Alyssa Carol (00:00:55)

3. How are you doing... actually? (00:03:04)

4. What makes up the artist that is Alyssa Carol? (00:06:07)

5. College Decision Making (00:11:00)

6. What was it about Michigan that made you say "yes"? (00:16:50)

7. What classes/concentrations inspired you in college? (00:21:38)

8. What was your audition prep? What helped you be SEEN during your college auditions? (00:25:50)

9. How did you balance professional artistic pursuits with an academic life? (00:33:05)

10. What would be your Agent of Chaos? (00:37:45)

11. Finances (00:42:21)

12. Ann Reinking Story (00:49:13)

13. What's the one thing you wish you had understood better about the college application process before you started? (00:54:55)

14. Gratitude (00:58:03)

15. Sign-Off (00:58:16)