Built For The Stage Podcast

Natalie Kassanga is a professional actress and singer from England, and she is best known as a musical theatre performer. A 10-year-old Natalie was first seen in the West End as Young Nala in The Lion King, a role she portrayed for about a year. Later, she joined Oliver! In its original cast as Fagin alongside the renowned Rowan Atkinson. Most recently Natalie was seen playing Irene Roth in Susan Stroman's West End Revival of Crazy For You! For the first time, Natalie returned to the West End ever since she was a child, to pick up the lead role. She has been in the West End for about a decade. Her first work as the leading lady happened in Motown: The Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre, where she portrayed the character of Diana Ross. Awards: Natalie was nominated for the Best Female Performer Award in the 8th annual Mousetrap Awards. Theatre: Credits include her role as Diana Ross in the West End’s Motown: The Musical (Shaftesbury Theatre); Dear Evan Hansen (Noel Coward Theatre) where she is a part of the original West End cast and understudies Zoe Murphy and Alana Beck. She also plays Young Nala in The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre). She is an original cast member of Cameron Mackintosh’s Oliver! At the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Want to try working with your own Broadway fitness coach? www.builtforthestage.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joanna Woodward / @thejoannawoodward is currently starring as Clare in the West End production of “The Time Traveler's Wife” and was seen before on the West End in Pretty Woman. Joanna is an internationally renowned singer, actress, and burlesque dancerwith multiple performances in theatres and cabaret clubs all around the world. She grew up in Glastonbury, Somerset. Training: She received training in Acting and Musical Theatre at the Central School of Speech and Drama and achieved a BA Honours Degree. Theatre: Joanna has numerous stage credits that show her skills wonderfully. The roles she has played include Princess Atlanta in The Adventures of Jason and the Argonauts at Scoop Amphitheatre; Glauke in Medea; Kimberley in Pages: Promised Land at the Union Theatre; Princess in Sleeping Beauty, and Puss in Boots at the Newbury Corn Exchange; Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at the Kilworth House Theatre; Tinker Bell in Lost Boy at the Charing Cross Theatre and Finborough Theatre; Mary in The Life at the Southwark Playhouse; Emily in Zombies: The Musical and Eulpha Miziam in Confessions at The Other Palace. She understudied Beth/Meg/KT in Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter Theatre, Menier Chocolate Factory. She understudied and played Carole King in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at the Aldwych Theatre. *Free Broadway Fitness Program: www.builtforthestage.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fernell Hogan / @fernellhogan (Martin) Credits: The Prom (Broadway); Mean Girls (National Tour); For You Paige (TikTok musical); Fernell is overjoyed to return to Kimberly Akimbo after an exciting run at The Atlantic Theater Company. Huge thanks to his family, friends and the Carson Kolker Organization for their continued love and support! https://builtforthestage.com/ - fill out the form and ask about our next fitness challenge! www.broadwaypodcastnetwork.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Angie Schworer / @ngieschwore - "It's all about the button, baby." - Susan Stroman Broadway! The Prom (Angie ), The Producers (Ulla) , Something Rotten!, Big Fish, Catch Me If You Can, Young Frankenstein, Annie Get Your Gun, Chicago, Sunset Boulevard, Crazy For You, and The Will Rogers Follies. Met Opera: The Merry Widow. Regional: The Cher Show (Georgia/Lucille Ball), Annie (Lily St Regis), Disaster The Musical (Jackie), Mamma Mia (Tanya), Always A Bridesmaid (Monette), Sweet Charity (Nikki), Chicago (Roxie), Damn Yankees (Lola), The Full Monty (Vicki), Minskys (Ginger), Crazy For You (Irene), The Will Rogers Follies (Z’s Fav). TV: Rosie O’Donnell Show, Dana Carvey Show, Law and Order: CI, QueerEye, As The World Turns, Kennedy Center Honors, and Smash . Film: The Producers https://lifeism.co/the-dash-poem-by-linda-ellis Headshot John Ganun / dressing room photo Micheal Kushner https://builtforthestage.com/ - fill out the form and ask about our next fitness challenge! www.broadwaypodcastnetwork.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"It's a matter of staying true to yourself while putting up healthy boundaries for yourself. Especially in our business, we don't want to dissapoint anybody. But at the end of the day if you stay true to yourself, if you stay authentic, then the right jobs will actually come to you. Then you won't have to be chasing things and you won't need to worry because you're remaining true to yourself." Devon Hadsell is a Broadway dancer, singer, and actress who is currently in the original Broadway cast of Some Like It Hot which opened at the Shubert Theater in December of 2022. She made her Broadway debut in 2018 as part of the original Broadway cast of Mean Girls. Devon is a California native and former employee in Entertainment at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA and Universal Studios, Hollywood. She graduated from Cal State University, Fullerton with a BFA in Musical Theater which led her to performing in many regional shows all over the state after graduation. Her favorite roles were Lysistrata in Lysistrata Jones, Velma in West Side Story, Florika in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Ensemble in Something Rotten, and Alice in The Secret Garden. A year after graduating, she booked the tour of The Little Mermaid and was able to save enough money to make the big move to New York City in 2016. Since being on Broadway, Devon has been able to perform on Saturday Night Live, The Today Show, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and twice on The Tony Awards. She has also found a huge love for teaching these past few years and enjoys inspiring people of all ages and abilities to have fun while expressing themselves through the performing arts! You can find her on Instagram and TikTok as @devonhadsell and through her website at www.devonhadsell.com. https://builtforthestage.com/ - fill out the form and ask about our next fitness challenge! www.broadwaypodcastnetwork.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leslie Bowman / @lesliegbowman booked Hamilton on the West End with a broken collarbone throughout the entire audition process! He also performed on the streets to raise money to support his studies to go to conservatory. Leslie's story of climbing from the bottom to the absolute biggest stage on the West End is beyond inspiring! THEATRE INCLUDES: Hamilton (Original London Cast, Victoria Palace); Guys & Dolls (Bridge Theatre); South Pacific (Chichester Festival Theatre, Sadler’s Wells, UK Tour); West Side Story (Royal Exchange); Children of Eden 30th Anniversary Concert (Cadogan Hall); Thriller! Live (Lyric); But I’m a Cheerleader (Turbine); The Wiz (Asst. Choreographer, Hope Mill) FILM & TV INCLUDES: High Strung: Free Dance (Feature Film); Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway (ITV), Hamilton at The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. https://builtforthestage.com/ - fill out the form and ask about our next fitness challenge! www.broadwaypodcastnetwork.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jarvis Manning Jr / @jarvisbmanningjr - "Be yourself. It's so basic but it's such a freeing phrase. I was told that exact phrase, 'Go into the room and give them Jarvis. No one is going to go into the room and do Jarvis today.'" Broadway: Motown the Musical Ain't Too Proud Some Like It Hot Corinne Louie Photography - Headshot https://builtforthestage.com/ - fill out the form and ask about our next fitness challenge! www.broadwaypodcastnetwork.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ayla Ciccone-Burton / @aylaccb - "I'm a very firm believer that your words matter and saying things out loud. You just have to keep being sure of yourself." Ayla Ciccone-Burton is over the moon excited to be joining the Queendom! Credits: Tina: The Tina Turner Musical (Broadway), The Book of Mormon (Australia), Dirty Dancing (National Tour). Many thanks to Marc & Dustin, TKS, her family and friends for their love and support, & especially her mother, Christa and puppy, Alfie! @aylaccb https://builtforthestage.com/ - fill out the form and ask about our next fitness challenge! www.broadwaypodcastnetwork.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nick Drake / @nickxdrake - "The biggest thing that I've learned is that you have to be kind. As a younger generation person, you just have to show up as yourself every single day." NICK DRAKE (Ensemble)(They/them). Broadway Debut!! From St. Louis, Missouri, they grew up performing at The Muny as a child and decided to extend their education in Music theatre at Baldwin Wallace University. Nick’s other theatre credits include Kinky Boots (Angel/Lola Cover), Ain’t Too Proud (Swing/Dance Captain) Hadestown (Assistant Choreographer). TV and film credits include Fire Island (Hulu), “Saturday Night Live” (NBC), and “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” (NBC). Thank you to everyone who helped me get here. It truly does takes a village :) #BLM #YJ4L IG/TikTok: @nickxdrake https://builtforthestage.com/ - fill out the form and ask about our next fitness challenge! www.broadwaypodcastnetwork.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Riaz Yoder / @richardriaz - "The people that fall, are the people that are really dancing." Richard Riaz Yoder is an award-winning tap dancer, performer, and veteran of 6 Broadway shows. He has been seen on Broadway in White Christmas, On the Twentieth Century, Shuffle Along…and all that followed, Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady, and can currently be seen in Some Like It Hot at the Shubert Theater. Richard has worked with nearly every Broadway Tap choreographer, including Savion Glover, Randy Skinner, Warren Carlyle, Chris Gattelli, Maurice Hines, and currently with Casey Nicholaw. He has been teaching across the country for ten years and has taught at many of the leading dance studios in New York. His love of tap comes from when it was first introduced in high school. It has been a mainstay in his life and career since that moment. He started late as a tap dancer at the age of 17 under the tutelage of Mr. Robert Reed III. From Mr. Reed, he learned the love and legacy that tap dance has within it. His style is rooted in the bases of all tap dance which is rhythm tap, and he uses his music theatre sensibility to create a fun and lively atmosphere. https://builtforthestage.com/ - fill out the form and ask about our next fitness challenge! www.broadwaypodcastnetwork.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices