Sitting down with Melanie Moore, currently starring in Fiddler on the Roof as Chava, you could forget that she got her start as the season eight champion of So You Think You Can Dance. Her dressing room backstage at the Broadway Theatre is adorned with photos of family and castmates. She鈥檚 as magnetic in person as she is onstage. The rising Broadway star has an effervescent energy that fills the room. It鈥檚 not always easy to make a transition from the dance world to Broadway, but now in her second Main Stem show, Moore proves she鈥檚 more than your average reality show winner.
Growing up, who inspired you to dance?
MM: My sister. She鈥檚 three years older than me, so she danced before I did. I used to put on shows at my house, really A+ shows鈥攏ot at all. When I saw my sister up there in costume, I was like 鈥淚 need to do this!鈥� I just wanted to be onstage.
Is there a movie or performance that you watched that inspired you to be a performer?
MM: I don鈥檛 think so! My mom used to take us to New York every Thanksgiving because it鈥檚 around my sister鈥檚 birthday, again, always back to [my sister] Megan, and we would see shows when we were here. We would also see shows when we were in Georgia. The Fox Theatre has such wonderful theatre there. My favorite musical is Aida. I saw it when I was really young and I just remember being so moved when they got locked in the tomb together that I was like, 鈥淭his 肠补苍鈥檛 be ending like this!鈥� I just remember loving it so much! I love the music aspect with dance. Music is really capable of moving me a lot and changing my moods so it really is a great way to get all my emotions out.
The opening number to Fiddler is "Tradition." Do you have any fun traditions in your life?
MM: We were not the most traditional family. I guess coming to New York was kind of a tradition. [Before I go on stage] I always say a little prayer. Danny Burstein is amazing and said something once when talking with me about acting: "Melanie, all you really need to know is how to listen and respond as openly and honestly as possible in the moment. And that's all you really need to know." That phrase resonated so deeply with me. So with that phrase in mind I kind of center myself and say, 鈥淧lease help me be safe and healthy and respond as openly and honestly as possible in the moment,鈥� and hope that I can thank the stage spirit gods, and anybody else that wants to help out with the performance. Also, Jenny [Rose Baker] who plays my younger sister, who is actually older than me, which is hilarious, and Samantha [Massell, who plays Hodel], we all start on the trap below the stage on the same side so we always stack our hands up and do a little shake off situation. So that has now become a tradition.
You have some heartfelt, dramatic scenes in Fiddler. Where did you get your acting training from, other than the School of Danny Burstein?
MM: I have never taken an acting class, which is crazy! I did the dance lab [of Fiddler because] I wanted to work with [choreographer] Hofesh [Shechter], because he is unbelievable. That鈥檚 how I ended up here. They vocalized us at the dance lab and [director] Bart [Sher] and [music director] Ted [Sperling] were kind of like, 鈥淲ould you be interested in singing and reading for Chava?鈥� and I said, 鈥淵ES! When? I鈥檒l do it!鈥� And they took a large risk with me because I鈥檝e never taken an acting class before. I鈥檝e had some amazing teachers in dance that have inspired me to be an actress through dance but never with my words, and Bart and his wife Kristin [Flanders] were amazing. I have so many different training aspects in my body in terms of acting, so it鈥檚 like you can sing-act, you can dance-act, or you have to be a human and act!
This is all new and felt very strange. I had some privates with Kristin, and then Bart would bring me to edge of the scene so I was basically sobbing and yelling at Danny and then he would bring me all the way back so I was very calm and appealing to his sensible side, and then we kind of ended up somewhere in between. We had the full spectrum. I guess I just got the acting lessons on the job.
What鈥檚 it like to be playing such an iconic role in Fiddler?
MM: I think for all of us this show is a difficult one for us to conquer. So many people have experiences with Fiddler, specifically. It鈥檚 beloved by so many people and so we all want to pay homage to what people love about Fiddler, but we also want to make it our own, and we wanted to make it extremely honest and not like that gimmicky, funny Fiddler that a lot of people love. We wanted to really layer in a lot of the realities of the situation.
What's your favorite number (or scene) to perform in Fiddler?
MM: I have a favorite number, but I鈥檓 not in it! [It鈥檚] 鈥淟'chaim鈥� or 鈥淭o Life鈥�. I watch it every day from the wings. I鈥檓 their biggest fan! Bart was so sweet, he allowed me to be in the Macy鈥檚 Thanksgiving Day Parade with them because I knew a lot of the choreography from the dance lab. When I got transitioned over to Chava, I didn鈥檛 have to do a lot of dancing in the show, so he was like, 鈥淢el, you鈥檙e not really dancing in the show, do you want to be in the parade?鈥� and I was like, 鈥淵ES!鈥� So I finally got to live out my 鈥淟鈥檆haim鈥� dreams on the parade.
How has the transition from the dance world to Broadway been?
MM: It was something that happened kind of naturally. I was working in L.A., and I was grateful for that, but I wasn鈥檛 really happy. I just finished doing Still Motion, Stacey Tookey鈥檚 dance company, and I decided: I have a full year, and I don鈥檛 know if I鈥檓 going to be an all-star this year [on So You Think You Can Dance], so I鈥檓 just going to move! I moved back to New York and worked with my agents and said, 鈥淵ou know, I don鈥檛 want to go out to any auditions, I just want to sing for a year.鈥� For a year I worked with my amazing voice teacher and took lessons twice a week to try and retain that muscle and get it back. Then the first audition I went out for was Finding Neverland.
Wow, so you booked your first audition?
MM: Yeah, and it was a perfect fit! I had never worked with Mia [Michaels, Neverland鈥檚 choreographer] on So You Think You Can Dance, and it was wonderful that I got to work with her. It was something that was very new for both of us! She had never done a Broadway show and I thought she did such a beautiful job. I didn鈥檛 know she was going to be there. I walked into the room for an undisclosed choreographer for an undisclosed Diane Paulus project and [there was] Mia!
What was your audition song for Finding Neverland and for Fiddler?
MM: Oh my god, it鈥檚 amazing! So, for Neverland they asked for a British pop rock song, so how could you not go with the Spice Girls? I sang, 鈥淪top.鈥� I ended it, 鈥淪top right now!鈥� [with a Spice Girls pop star move.] Diane and [music director] Mary-Mitchell [Campbell] were all like, 鈥淥k, I guess she鈥檚 committed.鈥� It was hysterical. I don鈥檛 know, I鈥檓 crazy! And it turns out that Elliot Kennedy [who wrote music for Finding Neverland] actually wrote songs for the Spice Girls. For Fiddler, I sang 鈥淪tranger to the Rain鈥� from Children of Eden, which literally has nothing to do with Fiddler on the Roof, nor is it a traditional song. It just felt like it was very in the character of the three sisters, so I just went for it.
Fiddler also talks a lot about family values - your Mom and Grandma were very memorable on SYTYCD. Are you close with your family?
MM: I am! My Mom is just my hero. She is the biggest rock star in the whole world. I look up to her in so many ways. My Grandma is so wonderful; she actually passed away earlier this summer. She had been sick, and she was ready. It was when I was doing Finding Neverland and that鈥檚 all about losing somebody close to you. It was actually my last week in Finding Neverland so I was already an emotional mess. It was such a cathartic moment for me to be throwing glitter and giggling [as Peter Pan]. It was the perfect time for that.
What was a harder audition? SYTYCD or Broadway?
MM: Oh, they鈥檙e very different. I鈥檝e watched my audition for So You Think You Can Dance a couple times and it鈥檚 so difficult to watch! They screen you a couple times, and they had talked to me a lot about my dad. I鈥檓 a crier, so I was already on the verge of crying. They literally make you the most uncomfortable possible before you get in front of those judges. It鈥檚 a wonder I didn鈥檛 have a nervous breakdown! I was terrified. And then there was a camera there, and I was newly 19, too. Then there鈥檚 Broadway where you go into a dance call and you鈥檙e like, 鈥淕reat, I feel awesome,鈥� and then they鈥檙e like, 鈥淧ull a song from your book we want you to sing.鈥� The first time they asked me to sing I literally started doing pli茅s because I got so nervous. I was like, 鈥淲hat am I doing? This isn鈥檛 going to help me sing!鈥�
Do you have a dream Broadway role?
MM: I do! I want to be Millie [in Thoroughly Modern Millie] because she dances and sings and acts and she鈥檚 the best! Sutton Foster is also the best. Or, also, this is a new show and I don鈥檛 know if I would love to do it yet but Anna in Frozen. I could just see myself singing 鈥淒o you wanna build a snowman?鈥� and just being an idiot because her personality is really similar to mine. Or, I鈥檝e had a lot of people tell me that I鈥檓 a lot like Joy from Inside Out, so if they ever made that into a musical!
