(random talking) She is show and business.

Allison Bailey is making her mark in the entertainment industry for over three and a half years.

The Pensacola Tate High School graduate toured the nation playing the role of Glenda on the Broadway National Tour of Wicked.

And now for the business part.

In 2022, the Boston Conservatory graduate added a masters of Business Administration from the University of West Florida to her already impressive resume.

From Pensacola little theater to Broadway to touring the nation in a hit musical, we're happy to have Allison Bailey back in town for a conversation.

Thanks for joining us.

Thank you so much for having me.

Tell me, where did the love for entertainment and particularly musical theater come from?

Oh, my goodness.

You know, it's funny because my family is are not performers at all at all.

So they don't know how.

But I think I talked with my hands a lot.

I was very animated as a child.

And so I think my mom was like, what do we do with this?

And so I started to do community theater and voice lessons.

And then I loved it.

I fell in love with just being on stage and just continued that through high school and then decided I want to make a career out of it.

Now, you went to Boston Conservatory.

I did.

So what was that like?

I loved every second of it.

It was a long way from home.

It's about a 26 hour drive.

Right.

And honestly, like, I had not really been away from home very much.

I had gone to a couple of, you know, sleepaway camps for like Broadway theater project in high school.

But I think some people will tell my parents, like, don't pack your bags too long, you'll be back.

But I just I loved it so much.

I was singing and dancing every day and honing my craft, and I learned so much.

So when you were young and you were doing it through Pensacola, a little theater and various other organizations here in town, what were you thinking?

Was it always a big dream?

I want to be on Broadway?

Or what was what was your mind like?

Definitely.

My mom took me on a girls trip in fourth grade to New York, so I think that's probably what really lit that spark of I love theater.

I saw Lion King for the first time, and it was just magical and amazing.

And and so I guess that every time we would take a trip to New York that just reignited that spark, and I'd go back home and then start, you know, practicing my voice lessons.

And when we had cassette tapes that, you know, that's how I would practice back then.

And so, yes, definitely.

I think that was always a big dream.

You always don't know if your dreams are going to come true.

But I definitely see that was always what I wanted to do.

What was your motivation that kept you going?

Because I know enough about the entertainment industry to know that everybody's going to tell you, you know, it's a tough business.

You might not make it in because of your background.

I mean, obviously, I mean, you have an MBA, so you're very practical.

What what is it that kept you saying, okay, I'm going to continue to pursue this?

I'm a go getter.

I'm pretty stubborn.

So it's not that I don't necessarily like to hear.

No, but I like to push through that.

No.

And if there's going to be a door, I really try to open it.

I'm definitely for me, it sounds cliche because a lot of my time on stage has been with Wicked, but after I saw Wicked for the first time when I was 12 years old, I was like, I want to come out of that bubble if it even if it's just one time.

And that really kept that determination going of, you know, if I keep, you know, working hard, if I go to school for this, maybe one day I'll get that chance to come out of the bubble.

And you did?

I did.

And I did.

Yeah.

So tell me about that.

First of all, let me get you to kind of explain the story of Wicked for for people who don't understand.

And you give me the Reader's Digest version of it, so to speak.

Sure.

It's another take of the beloved tale, The Wizard of Oz, that we see, and it's the backstory of the two witches and it's how they meet.

And not everything is at face value of what you see.

Not necessarily is the good witch or the bad, which is what this is necessarily does wicked mean.

And so I played Glinda and she's the one that comes out of the bubble, the good witch, and she's blond.

So maybe that's why I identified with her so much when I was 12.

But I love that bubbly personality and pink and sparkles, and that really personified me growing up and kind of now, Yeah.

How did you get the part?

Oh, goodness.

Well, so I graduated from the Boston Conservatory in 2014, and then I moved to New York City shortly after I auditioned my whole way to the city.

I got my agent out of my college showcase, and for a year I auditioned, auditioned, auditioned.

I think I even auditioned for Wicked three times before I booked the role.

And it was a process.

I went in, I had to sing and do a couple of sides, which means basically some scenes.

And then they sent me to the music director at the Gershwin, had a coaching session there, went back to casting and did the same material again, and then I had a dance call.

So it was a process.

And then they called me that night and that was it.

I was packing my suitcase in six days.

I was on the road and I started as understudy.

Okay.

What was it like when you got the call?

It was the best feeling in the world.

It's the call they dream about your whole life.

It's amazing.

I laughed because I was working at a cycling gym at the time.

I was at the front desk and I fell to the floor and I was crying and they said, Why are you crying?

And it's not because I don't have to come back tomorrow.

I loved my job, but I was very excited for a new opportunity.

Well, tell us, what is it like?

So you go on the road and this is, I think, a hugely popular play.

And so what's it like when you're when you go on the road and the preparation that's involved?

It really is the dream.

It really is.

You are able to travel the whole country, even Canada.

I played Toronto, which was wonderful.

It was my first time there and it was a great experience.

And you get to play houses of, gosh, I believe it's Atlanta, there's 4800 people and I have never been in a room of 4800 people before.

That's just there's nothing like it.

And it just really exposes you to new opportunities.

What's the preparation like?

You get ready for that.

Oh, goodness.

Well, I had two weeks of rehearsal for my understudy role and then I also had two weeks of my ensemble track.

And so it's like a month of rehearsal.

Some people only have a couple of days.

It just depends on, you know, if it's emergency replacement, but it's pretty intense.

And then they they give you a put in, which means basically you run the show with the whole cast.

You're the only one in costume.

Everybody's in their plain clothes and that's your only run through.

And then they put you on stage and then it's off to the races.

It's off to the races.

So you started out as an understudy.

Tell us the story, how you came up to be the main character.

I did.

So I understudied for about three years, eight months.

And I. I loved my job.

I absolutely loved it.

But I felt in my heart there was this some kind of pull that it is just time for a change.

And so I put in my notice and I left Tore and two weeks later I got a call from my agent that said, Would you submit a self tape for the role?

And I actually was in Zion National Park at the time.

It was like, Guys, I only have like a sweatshirt.

Like I don't look appropriate for this audition.

And they're like, Just send it anyways.

And I did, and I didn't think anything of it.

I just submitted the tape and let it go.

And they called about five days later and said, You got the part.

And that was my favorite phone call in the world, I'm sure, because I was with my mom and you know, it's a culmination of every sacrifice that my parents have made watching their child's dream come true, but also watching my dreams come true and her dreams come true.

It was just it was the best day.

Were your parents always supportive when you were young, coming up?

I mean, because, you know, you tell your folks, I want to go into show business and they're like, wow, this is for.

Sure.

Absolutely.

My mom, her license plate was taxi for two.

She drove my brother and I everywhere for all of our activities.

And I spent so much time at Pensacola Little Theater.

I was doing probably two or three shows a year, and that probably was minimum.

I might have done four.

And they're very much so always.

They really encourage pursuing my dream.

I'm sure my dad was a little hesitant, but I told him I wanted to go for musical theater because I you know, I really I loved high school.

I really excelled in academic land.

And so I think he was a little hesitant, but he was on board once I started working in the industry.

Right.

Once you lead roles in Wicked, everything's great now.

That's all you should do.

All right, that's good.

You know, they're very supportive.

Speaking of well, there's so many ways I want to go with this, but.

So you're the lead in the touring all around the nation and you're doing this for several years, right?

Yes.

Okay.

Then you end up on Broadway.

So how did that happen?

Yes.

So, goodness, I'm it seems like so many things happen even to that point.

So I went back on tour and that was September of 2019.

And I toured for six months until our industry shut down completely for COVID March of 2020.

Is when the world stopped, especially for us.

So we had a six month shutdown and then we were the first professional production of theater show to start in the United States.

And so we opened August 3rd of 2021, and then I toured for another six months, and then I ended in March of 2021.

And so between then of March 2021, I was finishing my MBA and then spending a lot of time with my family.

And then I got the call in December of 2020 to, Oh gosh, yeah, I guess, yes.

And I said, I finished March of 2022 and then December of 2022, And that's when they called and asked if I would make my Broadway debut standing by for Glenda.

And that was the absolute dream.

So you're standing by flying by for Glenda.

But yes, it gets better.

It does get better because I get to go on.

Yeah, I do.

And that was crazy, too.

I got the call when I come to get my art, how my Broadway debut in December and I was in This is a funny story.

I was in rehearsal going to my first rehearsal for my Broadway debut, and then my agent called and said that there had been some kind of outbreak of sickness with COVID in the cast, in the touring company in D.C. And what I actually go down to make my Kennedy Center, I guess, debut as Glinda.

And I said, Yes, but can I still come back and make my Broadway debut?

And he said, Yes.

I said, You promise?

And he said, Yes.

So I went down for seven shows at the Kennedy Center and then went back up to my where Broadway debut.

So at that point, you knew that, okay, now I'm done.

I think we're going to be okay.

I think we're going to be okay.

It had been nine months, so it was really exciting.

That's awesome.

That's awesome.

Tell me a little bit about you.

And we were talking about this off camera and you said it was okay if I ask you about it.

So I'm going to show you during that time you had a health challenge.

I did.

So tell me about that.

While this story is that in there's so many dates in January of 2020, 2020, I am I had gone to just a routine doctor's appointment and it was supposed to be in and out.

You know, I come home for a couple of days and I'm back on tour.

And the nurse practitioner that I was seeing, she said, You have a somewhat a nodule on your thyroid.

And I thought she was crazy because I was like, No, no, no, you don't understand.

Like, I'm a singer.

I touch this part of my body all the time.

We're good and she's like, No, sent me to get my bloodwork drawn.

My blood work was fine, but my mom's a nurse and she said, Your blood work can be fine and you can still have thyroid cancer.

And when everybody started talking about cancer, I again, I thought everybody was crazy.

And I because I was like, Guys, I'm in perfect health.

You know, I'm in the middle of this contract.

Everything's good.

But my mom said, your next city is Columbia, South Carolina.

You're going to go up there and you're going to get an ultrasound.

I did.

They did see the nodule, but they said, check it in six months.

You're good again.

My mom still not having that piece.

So a couple weeks later, I was going to Baltimore and that's where Johns Hopkins is.

And so she said, if you can get an appointment there, I'd feel better just to see if we can make sure everything's good.

And I said, okay with the schedule.

Okay, Mom and I did.

And the doctor, his name was Dr. Russell.

I owe my life and he did a biopsy and ended up coming back is cancer.

And so I was in by that time.

After the results came, I was in Wisconsin.

You can tell I travel a lot.

So I was in Wisconsin.

It was a Wednesday.

And I just remember looking in the mirror going, Why in the world am I in the middle of my dream contract and I have thyroid cancer.

And it thank goodness, the kind that I had is, you know, you have a surgery, you remove it.

And as long as it's not transferred to your lymph nodes, and even if it has that, but you should be you should be able to live through that.

That's totally okay.

But it's scary when you're a singer because this is your job, it's your livelihood.

And I was really scary.

And so that was a Wednesday.

And then by Friday, we had news that our show was shutting down.

And at the time we thought it was going to be like two weeks.

You know, I think that's what everybody thought.

And it was See you in Michigan.

And I had I called my doctor and I said, How soon can you get me in for surgery?

And he said, I can get you in next week.

So I had surgery.

I thought I had two weeks to heal and I ended up having six months and never missed a day of work.

I'm just so thankful.

And now you're all good.

I'm completely cancer free.

I still even have half my thyroid.

It's amazing.

I don't have a scar because the doctor that I went to and Dr. Russell's amazing.

He's a miracle worker.

He ended up going through my mouth.

Oh, wow.

And so it's a scar list procedure.

Good deal.

Great.

So now during this time, you took advantage of that off.

Time to start working on your MBA, right?

I did trigger that.

Oh, goodness.

So after I had my surgery, I was healed.

It's I definitely took 5 to 6 months just to heal.

Take a break.

You know, I had been moving at that point for the last five years on tour.

I hadn't stopped.

And so this was a time for me to really, you know, reassess my life and really see where my priorities were.

I was spending more time with my family.

And then once we kind of realized that we weren't going to be able to go back to the show as quickly as that we would have loved, I just couldn't have the thought of just sitting and not doing anything.

And so I decided to go back and get my MBA and really utilize that time to go back to school.

Yeah.

What does that help you in?

Because, you know, I think about this for a second that being an actress and singer and a performer is a very creative endeavor.

And, you know, whereas business is is, you know, indifferent type person, does it help you kind of combining the two?

Is it do you know what the word I'm looking for?

Do you draw some energy off it, off of them.

Absolutely.

You know, I knew I would never regret furthering my education.

And I feel like knowledge is wisdom.

It only can make you better.

And maybe this isn't true, but I've always said to play stupid.

You need to be smart.

You know, I think part of it and so maybe they do cross.

I just always believe in furthering your education and always make you a smarter person.

Yeah.

And what do you want to do in the future as you move forward?

You want to continue to do stage work, I'm assuming.

But what about film?

Television?

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

I love musical theater.

There's nothing like being on a stage with a live audience, and so I love it so much.

I also love film and television.

I love being behind a camera and there's a whole different work there to total different entities.

Just because you don't have that initial response from an audience that it's still a lot of fun.

Yeah.

How do you prepare differently for each one?

Because you're right, the disciplines are different, clearly so.

So how do you prepare for a Broadway show versus a film project or a television project?

Absolutely.

And I think everybody's technique is probably different.

For me, with theater, you you have the same script, you have the same lines and songs every single night.

And that's the amazing part of theater is how to make that fresh, how to make that new.

And so I always think about the youngster and the audience seeing it for the first time and remembering that feeling that I had, seeing the show for the first time, too.

And so, like, that's a whole, you know, element of performing in itself.

And then with, you know, film and television, you may do several takes of the scene.

But then what did you know?

You don't you don't get to go back and, you know, redo a film or anything once it's set it set.

And I think that's a lot of spontaneity in that in making these choices and then letting it go and go on to the next scene.

So there are a lot of changes going on in the entertainment industry.

And, you know, the first thing I think about is how the industry has kind of been upended, you know, due to streaming.

What are your thoughts moving forward of how the industry starts to look?

Sure.

It's really interesting, too, because when I sent in a self tape to my agent back in 2019, we had sent self tapes and here there before.

But usually it was for individuals that couldn't make their way to New York or were on tour.

And then it became self types are just a part of life.

Once COVID happened and there's so many more self tapes now for auditions and it's, you know, it's a catch 22.

It's always wonderful to be in the room.

But then it also provides opportunities for individuals that can't be in New York at the time.

And also with a caveat, social media has definitely played a huge part with the industry.

I think that individuals that, you know, may have not had access to different shows, they now have it at their fingertips.

They can talk to different actors or they can talk to the social media team, which we didn't have growing up.

We didn't have social media.

So for the good of the bad, definitely media has definitely changed for sure.

Yeah, and I would definitely think that it would give a performer an artist, whether singing, acting, dancing, etc., more opportunities because like you say, they can get their brand out there via social media that whereas in the past you probably had to show up and saw and we all, you know we we grew up with YouTube of course you know, and you grew up with YouTube up there, but you still remember when television was black and white.

So, yeah, okay.

I'm not quite the that I was a child, you know, But, you know, but we did have YouTube, so that was great.

So I even remember in college, we you know, if we saw our favorite performer, if we saw them singing like 54 below, like at a concert, you know, we would search and watch them and admire them.

And so, you know, that was the beginning stages, I think, of what social media now you can go to a different actors handle on Instagram and they can post maybe a concert that they have performed and you can watch their work.

So it's definitely has become a little bit more accessible, which is great, but at the same time more competitive, I would think.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

I believe, like I said, social media wasn't a huge part of my education when I graduated 2014, but I believe it's the curriculum for certain colleges now.

They really teach you how to make yourself date, how to produce either your website or work or YouTube, which there's something to be said about that.

They're able to move and change with the times.

I know you do some teaching as well.

I do.

I do.

Absolutely.

It's that.

There you go.

That's a it's social media has helped us so much with that.

You know, it was really difficult when we were shut down with the show because we couldn't perform.

And one of the parts that I missed so much was the stage door, because that's where you were able to meet, you know, fans of the show and people that loved just to say hi.

And I loved that.

And they, you know, they would send artwork.

And that was just I keep every little artwork or note that's ever sent to me at the stage door.

And so that was wonderful.

On Zoom, you can teach to anyone around the world.

I talked to somebody that was overseas and you know, obviously a time difference is a little difficult, but it was wonderful because I would have never had that opportunity.

What advice would you give a young person who wants to pursue their dream in the entertainment industry, whether it be singing, dancing, acting, etc., never give up?

Absolutely.

I think it's important to become very well-rounded.

If you feel that you're very strong singer, take a dance class.

If you feel like you're a very strong dancer, take a voice lesson.

And I think that's just if you feel like you're a phenomenal singer and dancer, then go take a gymnastic class.

There's always something that can give you a competitive edge.

But I think it's just honing your craft, really taking lessons, taking training and never giving up.

What is it about?

And I'm curious as to what you would say if you were teaching somebody.

I call it being able to punch through the camera or punch through What is it about people who can do that?

How do you how do you position yourself to be able to punch through the screen or to punch into the audience?

You know what I'm talking about that that charisma?

How do you how do you develop that?

Gosh, I don't know.

I don't know if that's just something that's in someone or it can be taught.

I don't know that.

And you're right, because I do see that.

I see that spark with certain performers, even the youngsters, you know, even at a young age, you see that and you're like, oh, my goodness, I don't I don't know if that can even be taught.

But I think the spark is there.

It's just it's that determination.

Yeah.

Because, you know, you're right.

You'll see it even with young kids and, you know, elementary school plays or whatever, there's always one or two that just kind of has that little bit of charisma and they just sort of punch through the punch through the camera or the spoon and Beauty and the Beast.

Yeah, that was one of my roles at Physical, a little theater.

You're like, that's been she's really doing something.

So.

No, I'm with you.

Yeah, this is interesting.

And I was just kind of curious if there's, you know, again, I think a lot of it, you're probably just born with it.

But I just wonder if there's anything that you can do to kind of enhance that, to build up on it.

You know, I think it's just determination and becoming comfortable just in front of people.

Yeah, I'm I think once you get past like I'm a very nervous person, I get nervous.

I don't think that it doesn't matter if I'm in front of one person or 4800, I'll always be nervous.

And but I think once you get past that point of you're like, but I love I love doing this so much, then that just shines through.

And I think people see that.

See, that's interesting you say that because I would have never thought you were really.

Yes.

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, I mean, because you just seem very fluent.

Carry on conversation and and not you know, I've seen people who are on television who are nervous here.

Are nervous.

Yes.

Yeah.

Interesting.

Yes.

That's you know, I, I would get nervous.

I think it's just because I'm a perfectionist at heart and I'm in the wrong business for that, because you have to push perfection aside.

You know, every night is going to be different.

Every performance is going to be different.

And that's wonderful.

That's how it should be.

You don't want it to be the same.

And so I think that's why which brings me to another question.

If you do have a bad performance, what do you do to get over it?

You got to keep going.

You have to know that, you know, tomorrow's a new day.

And sure, there's there's you know, have I ever had a performance where I've gone home and gone, Gosh, you know, I really wish I wouldn't have made that choice or I wish this would have gone differently.

Sure, we're all human.

I'm but I think knowing that you get to do it another day, right, and make another choice, that's the beauty of theater.

That's what just not letting it get in your head.

Yes, absolutely.

Because I always think about just using this analogy of like the great quarterbacks, you know, a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady or somebody like that, they throw an interception and then it's over with.

They go to the sideline, they come back and it's forgotten.

And the next thing you know, it's a it's a touchdown because, you know, we always talk about to like when you sing a note, okay, there's probably 1200 more notes that you're going to sing with the show.

It was just one you have to move on because you don't want the rest of your show to, you know, be a bad show just because of one mistake.

Right.

Right.

So and half the time, the audience does it now.

Right.

Right.

Okay.

Just real quick, I'm going to wrap up here.

We've got about a minute left.

I mean, what has the Pensacola arts community meant to you?

Everything.

Everything is the backbone of, you know, my education of performing.

And I grew up in the ensemble for most of my roles.

I really did.

And it taught me how to be a team player and look on to, you know, actors that are a little bit older than me and really hone my craft.

But I've had so much support from my hometown and it means the world.

That's that's great.

Well, congratulations on making so many your dreams come true.

And I'm sure there are a lot more that are waiting in the wings to come true.

It was an absolute pleasure to talk to you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

She is quite accomplished.

Clearly.

Successful actress, Broadway master, degree MBA.

I mean, what more do you want, right?

Pretty impressive.

Allison Bailey, by the way, you can check out all things Allison at Allison Dash Bailey dot com and by the way you can see this and many more of our conversations on the PBS video app and also at our reorg slash conversations I'm Jeff Weeks thank you so very much for watching.

I hope you enjoyed the program.

Take wonderful care of yourself.

I will see you soon.

From Pensacola, Little Theater to Broadway.

Allison Bailey.

She's making a name for herself in the world of theater.

She played the lead, Glenda, in the touring show of Wicked.

We had a delightful conversation with her.

I hope you'll join us on the next conversations We'll see you next time on conversation is with Jeff Weeks.

From Pensacola, Little Theater to Broadway.

Allison Bailey.

She's making a name for herself in the world of theater.

She played the lead, Glenda, in the touring show of Wicked.

We had a delightful conversation with her.

I hope you'll join us on the next conversations Tomorrow on Conversations with Jeff Weeks.

From Pensacola, Little Theater to Broadway.

Allison Bailey.

She's making a name for herself in the world of theater.

She played the lead, Glenda, in the touring show of Wicked.

We had a delightful conversation with her.

I hope you'll join us on the next conversations Tonight on Conversations with Jeff Weeks.

From Pensacola, Little Theater to Broadway.

Allison Bailey.

She's making a name for herself in the world of theater.

She played the lead, Glenda, in the touring show of Wicked.

We had a delightful conversation with her.

I hope you'll join us on the next conversations Next on Conversations with Jeff Weeks.