From small beginnings to bright lights! Join us as we explore the humble stage debuts that launched some of musical theatre's most legendary careers. Watch these incredible performers take their first steps from ensemble roles and regional theatre to becoming the toast of Broadway and beyond!
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00:00On stage, there are no big names, at least not yet.
00:04I've got to get through opening night. I have a job to do.
00:08Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the debut performances of some of Broadway's biggest names.
00:14The part is more like of an orphan, and it's real fun, and I enjoy doing it.
00:23Number 10, Lea Michele.
00:24I'll be singing on my own from the seminal Broadway classic Les Mis.
00:28Fantastic. Let's hear it.
00:30On my own, pretending he's beside me.
00:38Long before she was part of television's most famous show choir, Lea Michele was storming the barricades.
00:43Michele made her Broadway debut as young Cosette in the 1995 revival run of Les Miserables.
00:48She liked me, but she loved me.
00:53She said, Cosette, I love you very much.
00:58Afterwards, the powerhouse vocalist continued her theatrical career, appearing in the first Broadway company of Ragtime,
01:06and originated the role of Wendla Bergman in the smash hit musical Spring Awakening.
01:11Michele eventually left the bustling streets of New York for Hollywood,
01:14appearing as the musical theater-obsessed Rachel Berry on Glee.
01:17But there are dreams that cannot be, and there are storms we cannot weather.
01:30Later, she would return to her roots in the long-awaited 2022 Broadway revival of Funny Girl,
01:36replacing Beanie Feldstein as Fanny Bryce.
01:38Number 9, Idina Menzel.
01:40You know, I come from doing weddings and bar mitzvahs on the weekends as a singer, paying the rent that way, so...
01:47Imagine your first professional theater credit also results in your Broadway debut.
01:51Well, that is exactly what happened to the one and only Idina Menzel.
01:55Joanne, which way to the stage?
01:57Snow!
01:58Originating the role of Maureen Johnson in The Cultural Phenomenon,
02:03Rent set Menzel up for an illustrious career in the theater.
02:06Not only was she nominated for a Tony Award for her part,
02:09but she would also go on to reprise the role in the musical's 2005 film adaptation.
02:13Take me for what I am, who I was meant to be...
02:21Since Rent, Menzel has famously starred as Elphaba in one of Broadway's longest-running musicals, Wicked,
02:26and voiced Elsa in the Disney blockbuster Frozen franchise.
02:30Let it go, let it go,
02:33When I rise like the break of dawn,
02:37Let it go, let it go.
02:40Number 8, Leslie Odom Jr.
02:43Ideals he wants to pursue,
02:46And the owner of that lot next door has the right to do with it as he pleases.
02:52Happy birthday, Jesus!
02:53Barely out of high school, Leslie Odom Jr.'s career was already taking off.
02:58At just 17 years old, Odom made his Broadway debut in Rent.
03:02I didn't dream of a career in entertainment on the arts.
03:07I wanted to be in Rent.
03:08He continued to work actively in the industry,
03:11but it wasn't until 2015 when he became one of Broadway's biggest names.
03:15Crowds roar the days
03:20Soar the babies cry
03:27Without you
03:29The musical Hamilton,
03:32in which he starred as former American vice president and founding father Aaron Burr,
03:36launched Odom into the history books.
03:38From off-Broadway to Broadway's Richard Rogers Theater,
03:41he was one of the breakout stars of the musical theater juggernaut.
03:44Click to me, I've been
03:46And no one else is in the room where it happened
03:50Alexander Hamilton
03:51What did they say to you to get you to sell New York City down every boat?
03:55His stardom continued to rise when he earned a Tony Award for the role.
03:59Nearly 10 years later,
04:00Odom continues to light up the stage as well as the screen.
04:04Number 7, Renee Elise Goldsberry
04:06Today, Broadway fans know Renee Elise Goldsberry for her Tony Award-winning role as Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton.
04:20But did you know her Broadway origins began a few blocks away at Disney's New Amsterdam Theater?
04:25Joining the cast of The Lion King in 2002, Goldsberry made her Broadway debut as Pride Rock's Nala.
04:31From there, she earned more Broadway credits in shows like The Color Purple and Rent before starting a revolution with Hamilton.
04:37I've had a nap from way back
04:40I'm breaking the rules once I learn the game
04:44So get up life too quick
04:46I know some way sick
04:47And it's tickle dancing the place
04:50Since then, she has appeared on screen in shows like Girls 5 Eva and She-Hulk
04:55I'm taking this on as a professional courtesy, but moving forward, we are not colleagues
04:59I'm the attorney, you're the client
05:01Because that's the only way this can work
05:03Agreed?
05:05Agreed
05:06In 2024, she joined a rotating cast of Broadway stars in the comedy All In, Comedy About Love at the Hudson Theater
05:13Number 6, Sutton Foster
05:15In 1996, Broadway may not have known it, but one of its future icons had just made her debut
05:32Have you any plans to go into the theater as a profession later on?
05:36Maybe just a little
05:38Appearing as Sandy Dombrowski in the 1994-98 revival of Grease, Sutton Foster's career was already picking up steam
05:45Shortly after Grease, Foster booked roles in other Broadway shows like Annie, Les Miserables, and The Scarlet Pimpernel
05:52In 2002, everything changed when Foster was cast in her breakout role as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie
05:58A role which earned her her first Tony
06:00This canary's ready to fly free
06:03Cut the cord
06:06Is that a man I once adored?
06:09He's nothing but an albatross
06:10No great loss
06:11Double cross
06:12Sir, forget about the boy
06:14Since then, she's earned a prolific career as one of Broadway's living legends
06:18Tackling coveted roles such as Reno Sweeney, The Baker's Wife, Mrs. Lovett, and Marion Peru
06:23Number 5, Mandy Patinkin
06:32He has my lilies hazel eyes
06:36Both eyes that saw me a happy look
06:39From artists to lords
06:43Mandy Patinkin has built a career out of playing some of theater's most challenging roles
06:47He got his professional stage debut in 1975 with Arthur Wing Pinero's 1800s comedy Trelawney of the Wells
06:55Starring alongside Meryl Streep, who was also making her Broadway debut, Patinkin went on to appear in more plays, which eventually led him to musical theater
07:03Portraying Che in Evita and later George in Sunday in the Park with George
07:17He has worked with some of the genre's biggest composers such as Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber
07:22Studying the hat
07:23Entering the world of the hat
07:27Reach through the world of the hat like a window
07:32Number 4, Barbara Streisand
07:35Don't tell me not to fly
07:37I simply got to
07:38If someone takes a spill
07:40It's me and not you
07:41Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade
07:45Although she has not appeared on a Broadway stage since the 1960s, Barbara Streisand's impact on the Great White Way is immeasurable
07:52Long before she was one of showbiz's brightest icons, she was cutting her teeth as a rising star in New York
07:58It was on a Broadway stage that my career really began
08:02So to receive this honor takes me back where I came from and that feels kind of nice
08:11She made her Broadway debut at only 19 years old as Miss Marmelstein in I Can Get It For You Wholesale
08:18Even my first name would be preferable
08:22Though it's terrible
08:24It might be better
08:26It's yetter
08:27Directed by the legendary Arthur Lawrence, the musical saw Streisand receive rave reviews for her comedic performance
08:34A short time later, she appeared in the role that would make her a star, Funny Girl's Fanny Brice
08:39They're the luckiest people in the world
08:50Famously, she would go on to reprise the role in the film adaptation, which won her an Academy Award
08:55Number 3. Patti LuPone
08:57It's impossible to mention Broadway and not immediately think of the one and only Patti LuPone
09:18A force unlike any other, this Tony Award winner has graced Broadway stages for decades
09:24And it all began in 1973
09:26Fresh out of Juilliard, LuPone made her debut in a production of Anton Chekhov's The Three Sisters
09:31Only a few years later, she landed her star-turning role in Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical Evita
09:37And the rest, as they say, is history
09:39From New York to London's West End, LuPone has gone on to play some of musical theatre's most iconic roles
09:45Including Reno Sweeney, Norma Desmond, Mrs. Lovett, Mama Rose, Fantine
09:50As well as originating countless roles
09:52There are dreams we're gonna need
09:59And there are storms we cannot weather
10:05Number 2. Audra McDonald
10:08I need to thank everybody in Fresno, California, my hometown
10:11And especially everyone at Good Company Players for raising me
10:14And telling me that I could be a performer
10:16Since the early 90s, Audra McDonald has been a familiar face on the Broadway stage
10:20Winner of a record-breaking six Tony Awards
10:23It's hard to remember a time when she was an up-and-gummer
10:26In 1992, she earned her first Broadway credit when she joined the cast of The Secret Garden
10:30As replacement for the part of Aya
10:32Fast forward to a couple of years later
10:34And McDonald became a Tony winner for her portrayal of Carrie Pippridge in Carousel
10:39When I marry Mr. Snow
10:46The flowers will be buzzing with the horn of bees
10:50The birds will make a racket in the Churchill trees
10:54From then on, her career continued to grow
10:56With her gaining praise for her roles in a myriad of shows
10:59Like Ragtime, Porgy and Bess, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
11:03And currently, the 2024 revival of Gypsy
11:06I had a dream
11:09A wonderful dream, Papa
11:13All about June and the Orpheum circuit
11:15This child is going to be a star
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11:33Number 1, Lea Salonga
11:48At only 17 years old, Lea Salonga's life took a major turn
11:52After an extensive audition process, Salonga was selected to star and originate the role of Kim in Miss Saigon
11:58Debuting in London's West End, the musical came to Broadway in 1991
12:13With Salonga continuing to lead the production
12:16Anywhere you may be, I will sing with you
12:25Her passionate and heart-wrenching portrayal of the ill-fated character earned her a Tony Award in a lead acting category
12:31Making her the very first Asian performer to do so
12:34From that point on, she was cemented as a musical theatre idol
12:37Going on to perform in Broadway and international productions like Les Miserables, Flower Drum Song, Allegiance, Once On This Island, My Fair Lady, Cats, and most recently, Here Lies Love
12:49Some folks will come away from the show feeling more curious about Philippines and Philippine history
12:58Which one of these Broadway icons is your favorite? Let us know in the comments
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13:21We'll see you again in the comments