— My First Broadway Show
I was nineteen, a wide-eyed kid who had just moved to New York to study at NYU. The school had a strict “no audition” policy, but something in me knew I was ready for the big leagues. So I broke the rules.
Through a wild twist of fate, I landed a spot in a spoof boy band called Fresh Step on The Late Show with David Letterman. It was meant to be a joke—but that joke changed my life. A few of the guys in the band were performing in Footloose on Broadway, and the choreographer of Fresh Step happened to be the same one from Footloose. When a spot opened up in the show, the stars aligned.
Before I knew it, I was auditioning for Walter Bobbie and stepping onto a Broadway stage for the first time—dancing in cowboy boots eight shows a week. I had to drop out of college to take the job, but it was the easiest hard decision I’ve ever made. That moment was the spark that lit the rest of my career—proof that sometimes, breaking the rules is exactly what sets you free.