Meryl Streep appeared in various school plays throughout high school and college before getting noticed by people both on campus and off. She appeared in more than a dozen stage productions while at the Yale School of Drama, so many that she got sick from being overworked. After graduating, Streep moved to New York City where she was cast in “Trelawny of the Wells” at the Public Theater. Streep appeared in 5 more roles before starring in the musical “Happy End” on Broadway where she won an Obie Award for her performance.
Ahead of tonight's annual Tony Awards, check out which stars got their big break starring on Broadway.
In 1995, Menzel auditioned for her first Broadway show and landed the part in “Rent” (bottom left). Menzel was nominated for her first Tony Award for playing Maureen Johnson in the popular musical. After “Rent,” Menzel went on to release her first solo album while continuing her stage career. In 2003, Menzel landed one of the biggest roles of her life in the Broadway classic “Wicked” along with Kristin Chenoweth.
Before Sarah Jessica Parker hit television screens across the county as Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City,” she was making a name for herself on the stage. Her first role on Broadway was in William Archibald’s “The Innocents” as a child. In 1977, Parker was cast in the Broadway musical “Annie” (pictured left) first as a small role until she succeeded two more actresses to play Annie starting in 1979. After playing Annie for a year, Parker moved on to television acting where she would rise to prominence.
At the age of 12, actress Anna Kendrick was cast in her first prominent acting role as Dinah in the Broadway musical “High Society” in 1998. Her role in the musical led to a Tony Award nomination, making her the third-youngest Tony Award nominee. Kendrick is pictured at her first Tony Award red carpet in the bottom left photo. From there, Kendrick went on to appear in numerous other stage productions including “A Little Night Music.”
Actress Lea Michele got her start on Broadway at the young age of 8. In 1995, Michele went to her first audition for Les Miserables where she sang the song “Angel of Music” from the musical “The Phantom of the Opera” since it was the only one she knew at the time. Although Michele had originally gone to support a friend, she ended up landing the part herself as Young Cosette in the 1995 play. She then moved to Toronto, Ontario to perform in the Canadian production of “Ragtime” (pictured left). After taking off time to concentrate on school, Michele returned to Broadway in “Fiddler on the Roof.”
After dropping out of high school, John Travolta landed a role in the touring company of the musical “Grease” as well as on Broadway in “Over Here!” His Broadway debut made way for his acting career as he soon after moved to Los Angeles to join show business. By 1977, Travolta was cast in the movie version of “Grease” in the lead role Danny Zuko.
Kristen Bell took an interest in theater at a young age participating in her school’s drama club and music clubs. Bell went on to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she ended up leaving a few credits short of graduating to take a roll in the Broadway musical “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” (pictured left). Bell then starred in “The Crucible” before moving to California to pursue a successful career in television acting.
Julie Andrews got her start in theater while still living in London with her parents. In 1954, the day before her 19th birthday, Andrews made her debut performance on Broadway portraying Polly Browne in “The Boy Friend” (pictured left backstage). Upon the ending of the musical, Andrews was immediately cast in “My Fair Lady” on Broadway. It was also around the same time that Andrews made her first appearance on television in the tv-film “High Tor.”
Actress Kristen Chenoweth appeared in numerous stage performances throughout high school and into college before making her Broadway debut. Chenoweth traveled to New York City to help a friend move when she auditioned and landed her first role as Arabella Rittenhouse in the musical “Animal Crackers.” From there, Chenoweth appeared in several regional theatre productions before starring as Hyacinth in the Roundabout Theater Company production of “Scapin” (pictured bottom left).
While in high school, Diane Keaton participated in her school’s singing and drama clubs where she performed various plays. Upon graduating and moving to Manhattan, Keaton became an understudy to Sheila in the original Broadway production of “Hair” (pictured bottom row, middle in left photo). After being in “Hair” for almost a year, Keaton moved on to Woody Allen’s production of “Play It Again, Sam” where she would be nominated for her first Tony Award.
Although actor Hugh Jackman always had an interest in theatre growing up, he didn’t land a role on stage until 1996 when he played Gaston in a local production of “Beauty and the Beast” and later in “Sunset Boulevard.” In 1998, Jackman became well known when he played Curly in the Royal National Theatre’s acclaimed production of “Oklahoma!” in London (pictured left).
Meryl Streep appeared in various school plays throughout high school and college before getting noticed by people both on campus and off. She appeared in more than a dozen stage productions while at the Yale School of Drama, so many that she got sick from being overworked. After graduating, Streep moved to New York City where she was cast in “Trelawny of the Wells” at the Public Theater. Streep appeared in 5 more roles before starring in the musical “Happy End” on Broadway where she won an Obie Award for her performance.
In 1996 at the age of 25, Diggs played landlord Benny in the Tony Award winning production “Rent” (r.). After “Rent” came to an end, Diggs appeared as Mr. Black in the off-Broadway production of “The Wild Party.” At the same time, Diggs also played The Bandleader in the 2002 version of the long-running Broadway revival of “Chicago.”
At the young age of six, Nick Jonas was discovered in a barber shop and was referred to a professional show business manager. A year later, Jonas was cast in his first Broadway play as Tiny Tim in “A Christmas Carol.” In the years that followed, Jonas starred as Little Jake in “Annie Get Your Gun” in 2001, Chip in “Beauty and the Beast” in 2002 and Gavroche in “Les Miserables” in 2003.
