One day on Broadway … the next a barista.
That’s the harsh reality for many aspiring singers and dancers seeking fame and fortune in New York City, and that’s the predicament Damon Gillespie, a 2012 graduate of Center for Creative Arts, found himself in after the closing of “Newsies” last August.
But after three months of auditions, the dancer has rebounded from no job to two high-profile offers, as well as landing a sketch on Comedy Central’s “Inside Amy Schumer.”
Gillespie made news last summer when he was cast as Buttons in the ensemble of Disney Theatrical Production’s “Newsies.” But the day before his debut, Disney announced the musical would close at the end of August, leaving Gillespie just one month to appear on Broadway.
To take the Broadway role, Gillespie had to forfeit a spot he’d won in the ensemble of “Newsies” touring company. The tour had already recast his character when the Broadway production closed, so the dancer began auditioning for other roles at night, working as a coffee barista by day.
“To me, it was backtracking to go from Broadway to being a barista,” Gillespie admits. “It took a toll on me, but it was motivation to keep auditioning. It really humbled me because it taught me that, no matter where you are in your career, you can always be brought back down.”
But things broke in December, when Gillespie received two exciting offers: Dancing in Radio City Music Hall’s New York Spring Spectacular or a role in the workshop cast of an original musical.
The Spring Spectacular is a seven-week production that runs from March 12 to May 3 in Radio City Music Hall. It stars Derek Hough of “Dancing with the Stars,” the Rockettes and Laura Benanti, who currently plays Sadie Stone on “Nashville.”
The musical is a workshop — meaning rehearsals are not full production with sets and costuming, but scaled-down, concert-like versions of a musical. But it carries the potential to become a Broadway or off-Broadway show. But Gillespie says he’s sworn to secrecy and cannot give out details.
George Quick, executive director of the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, says the workshop format of rehearsing then introducing a new musical started in the 1970s when “a composer, lyricist and other key people did songs around a piano to entice investors.”
Damon Gillespie spent a month dancing in “Newsies” on Broadway before the show closed. He then worked as a barista until he received two great offers in New York.“Starting with ‘A Chorus Line,’ the whole workshop process started to gain favor in that you could be working on the show while you were getting investors,” he explains.
Quick says that, while some workshops are shrouded in secrecy, such as Gillespie’s, others are performed in front of potential investors.
“The object is to show the material and some of the actors associated with the piece, if they are ‘names,'” Quick says. “Workshops are to generate interest from investors and hone the work to make it commercially viable on Broadway,” explains the director.
Gillespie chose the workshop. Rehearsals began this week.
Even though the Spring Spectacular would pay more, he says the new musical offered bigger opportunities to showcase his talents. It was still a risky choice, though, because there is no guarantee the musical will move to Broadway or off-Broadway after its debut.
“It’s the start of a brand-new musical, and I get to be part of it!” Gillespie says enthusiastically. “I had to decide whether to stay in a dancer’s career or explore my options as an actor, singer and dancer. I’ll get to develop and stretch my talent with this workshop.
“‘Newsies’ pushed me to my limits as a dancer. I wanted the same thing as an actor, so I took the workshop,” he says.
Gillespie also has completed taping an episode of “Inside Amy Schumer,” which will be shown during the third season of the Comedy Central show. The new season debuts April 21.
“Inside Amy Schumer” features sketches, stand-up comedy, Schumer’s woman-on-the-streets interviews and celebrity interviews. Hollywood Reporter calls her “the mouthpiece for contemporary womanhood.”
Gillespie’s sketch is a parody of boy band One Direction and its hit, “What Makes You Beautiful.”
“On the show, we’re singing how beautiful she is without her makeup, then she takes her makeup off, and we are all shocked,” Gillespie says.
He laughs as he describes the audition: “They took us in groups of three or four, played us the song twice, and told us to channel One Direction. It was one of the more interesting auditions I’ve ever done.”
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.