They Started on the Stage: Popular Artists Who Began in Musical Theatre
Singing, dancing, acting… the trifecta of musical theatre talent. In fact, many Hollywood careers have been launched thanks, in part, to musical theatre backgrounds.
We’re all fairly well aware of the fine musical pedegree of some of Hollywood’s elite: Hugh Jackman, Lea Michele, Julie Andrews and Liza Minnelli, to name just a few. But you may be surprised by some of the former theatre kids who became even more famous for their on-screen rolls and mainstream music careers. It just further proves how much we theatre kids rock!
Read about a few our favorite stage-trained actors/artists below, and answer our trivia question at the end for your chance to win an exclusive Musicnotes theatre kid t-shirt for FREE! (CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED)
1. Amy Adams
As a teen, Amy Adams sang in her school choir and danced ballet, aspiring to dance professionally after graduation. However, instead of pursuing a career in dance, Adams used her talents to land rolls at dinner theatres in Colorado and Minnesota. Adams then returned to musical theatre in 2012 with a roll in Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Into the Woods‘ as part of the The Public Theatre in New York’s Shakespeare in the Park festival.
2. Jon Hamm
Jon Hamm dabbled in musical theatre in high school, but it wasn’t until college at University of Missouri that Hamm began to consider a career of it. He starred in UM productions of ‘Cabaret‘ and ‘Assassins,‘ then taught acting classes prior to landing rolls on television.
3. Morgan Freeman
Before starring in blockbuster films, Morgan Freeman commanded the Broadway stage in a supporting roll of ‘Hello, Dolly!‘ (alongside Cab Calloway and Pearl Bailey) in 1968. Freeman also understudied for the title roll in ‘Purlie‘ two years later.
4. Anna Kendrick
You only need to see her initial “Cups” audition in ‘Pitch Perfect‘ to notice Anna Kendrick’s stage star power. The actress has some serious musical theatre credentials! Her role as Dinah in ‘High Society‘ at age 12 earned Kendrick a Tony Award nod, making her the 3rd-youngest Tony nominee of all time. And, she has more plans to bring her triple-threat talents to the big screen. We can’t wait to catch her in the film adaptations of Jason Robert Brown’s ‘The Last Five Years‘ and Sondheim’s ‘Into the Woods‘ later this year, as well as ‘Pitch Perfect 2‘ slated for 2015.
5. Lady Gaga
When she was still best-known as Stephani Germanotta, Lady Gaga was lighting up the stage in high school productions of ‘Guys and Dolls‘ and ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.’
6. Joe Jonas
Joe Jonas was a long way from Disney when he auditioned for, and was cast in, Baz Luhrmann’s Broadway production of Puccini’s ‘La Bohéme‘ at age 12. The middle Jo-Bro of course would go on to become a household name after uniting, and subsequently disbanding, with his siblings.
7. Meryl Streep
Yes, one of the most acclaimed movie actresses of all time cut her teeth singing, dancing and entertaining in musical theatre. As a child, Meryl Streep took opera lessons and participated in high school musicals. After graduating from the Yale School of Drama, Streep first embraced the theatre, leading the cast of ‘Happy End’ on Broadway and the all-singing ‘Alice at the Palace’ off-Broadway, before beginning to audition for film roles. Her thespian talents joined forces in ‘Mamma Mia!‘s 2008 big-screen adaptation.
8. Kristen Bell
For the first time in forever we all got to hear Kirsten Bell’s tremendous vocal talents on display as Princess Anna in ‘Frozen.’ Before she befriended snowmen and cracked cases as Veronica Mars, Bell was very active in musical theatre, starring in numerous high school productions and pursuing a degree in musical theatre at NYU. Bell left college just before graduation to play the role of Becky Thatcher in the musical version of ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ on Broadway.
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Now it’s quiz time! Of course, there are many other tremendous talents who’ve graced the stage. We’re thinking of one ‘city’ girl in particular, who’s married to another movie and Broadway actor. She may have felt a bit like a ‘square peg’ after emerging from her ‘hard knock life‘ start, starring on Broadway at age 11.
Who is the actress we’re thinking of? Leave your answer in the comments below to enter our drawing for a FREE theatre kid t-shirt, and display your love of the stage with pride! (WE’RE SORRY, THIS CONTEST HAS CLOSED AND THE WINNER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL.)