"What I Was Born to Do": Bring It On Boasts a Record 32 Broadway Debuts; Meet the Newbies

By Michael Gioia
12 Aug 2012

A scene from Bring It On: The Musical
A scene from Bring It On: The Musical
Photo by Joan Marcus

Maybe they should have called it New Faces of 2012. Playbill introduces you to the 30 first-time Broadway actors of the new high-flying cheerleading musical Bring It On.

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Before Bring It On: The Musical had plans for a Broadway life, the production made its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA, in early 2011, and soon after launched a five-month North American tour. In May 2012 the cast and creatives of the new musical, which fuses the worlds of competitive cheerleading and musical theatre, learned that the production's next stop would be Broadway's St. James Theatre.

A whopping 30 out of 35 cast members from the new musical, as well as two members from the production's Equity stage-management team, took their first Broadway bow July 12, marking a modern-day record — Most Broadway Debuts in a Production.

Aside from the Broadway spectacles of the Golden Age, a spokesperson for Actors' Equity Association confirmed to Playbill.com that it's thought that Bring It On has "the most Broadway debuts in recent times" — close seconds were last season's Jesus Christ Superstar, the revival that gave 23 actors their Broadway debut, and Newsies, the Disney musical that welcomed 13 Broadway newcomers.

Playbill.com reached out to the 32 fresh faces via email. They shared how their Broadway dreams turned reality.

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