There are many avenues to Broadway. Some aspiring actors pursue a BFA in musical theater. Recent Oasis High graduate Bailey McArthur is taking a different path. She’s moving to Brooklyn, where she hopes to gain access to the New York theater industry through open call auditions.
“I’ve gone to New York over the past year and a half five times,” said McArthur. “I’ve shown up to open calls. I’ve shown up to Royal Caribbean. I’ve shown up to Disney. I’ve gotten callbacks already. They already know who I am. So just doing that already, I’m already making it on my own, doing the auditions. That’s the job. I’m doing the job. And it’s what I’ve always dreamed of.”
Her first audition was something of a throw-away. She didn’t have the supplemental materials casting directors typically expect.
“I learned to make my songbook, a rep book, rep videos to post on YouTube to have links to different segments of you singing and monologues and stuff like that,” McArthur said.
McArthur has been taking lessons from a young age from Sami Doherty at Melody Lane and Robin Dawn Ryan at her dance academy. But now she’s added a missing piece to the triple threat puzzle.
“I now have an amazing vocal coach, Jacquelyn Donovan, who was on Broadway in ‘Les Mis,’" said McArthur. “I met her at a theater convention, actually, and I got to sing for her, and she is now my vocal coach and my mentor. So she guides me and gives me good songs to sing and what not sing. I tell her where I’m going, what I’m auditioning for. ”
You can see Bailey McArther this weekend at The Belle Theatre in Cape Coral. She plays Jael in the Southwest Florida premiere of “In Pieces: A New Musical.”
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Bailey McArthur has been performing at community theaters across Southwest Florida for 15 years. In addition to Jael in “In Pieces,” her stage credits include Cinderella in Cultural Park Theatre Company’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods,” Gloria Rasputin in “Bye Bye Birdie” at Cultural Park Theatre, Ariel Moore’s bestie, Rusty, in “Footloose the Musical” (for which she also did all the choreography), Tricia in “A Chorus Line” for Melody Lane Theatre, a Venus-a-Go-Go Girl in “Rock of Ages” for Melody Lane Theatre and Lucinda in “Into the Woods” for The Belle Theatre.
Theater has been part of her family experience for multiple generations.
“My great-grandfather was a part of the theater,” McArthur noted. “He did shows at Broadway Palm, at Florida Rep. He taught at FSW when it was Edison College. He was a professor in theater. So it’s been a family thing, if you know what I mean. Someone once told me growing up that if you loved your job enough, it’s not really going to work.”
Encouragement has come not just from her family. She earned accolades at Oasis Charter High School, where she was a member of the International Thespian Society. And audience members have approached McArthur following performances to tell her that they hope to see her someplace big one day.
“I don’t even know who those people are, but I take that, and I use that, and I put that on my sleeve,” said McArthur. “I want to do good and amazing things.”
She also wants to be a good role model for other high and middle school thespians who have big, big dreams but hail from small communities like Cape Coral.
McArthur is mindful that several of her peers are taking the BFA route to Broadway. North Fort Myers High graduate Mia Zottolo and Canterbury‘s Sophia Brook are heading to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Their contemporaries Tyler Scott and Rilyn Dick will begin their studies this fall at Florida Southern College in Lakeland. Lantz Hemmert is on his way to the University of Miami.
“I got the chance to move to the city and be with my cousin in Brooklyn,” said McArthur. “I want to be part of the hustle, and though it’s not ideal to be working in the city and seeking auditions rather than going to school, going to college, I decided that I was going to live in the city and just show up to auditions.”
McArthur is a true triple threat. She sings, she acts and she’s one of those dancers who draw the eye anytime she takes the stage, no matter how many other dancers may be included in the ensemble, chorus or a given dance number.
“I love doing dance,” McArthur noted. “Dance is something that I’ve always been super passionate about, though I don’t consider it to be my strongest suit. But it is a way to express things that you can’t express through words. It’s a good rhythm for the body, especially out on stage.
While audition opportunities for Broadway, Off Broadway and regional plays abound, McArthur monitors casting calls online and through her subscription to Backstage.com, which is a casting website and career platform primarily used by actors and other creatives in the entertainment industry. Since 1960, it has served as a marketplace for connecting talent with casting calls and job opportunities, while also providing resources like educational articles and advice for performers. Backstage is known for its large database of talent profiles and its role in facilitating auditions and casting processes.
“It works,” said McArthur. “It gets me in the door, gets me appointments and auditions.”
While McArthur has always considered her singing as her strongest attribute, she recently began voice lessons with Jacquelyn Donovan.
Donovan made her Broadway debut in the role of the young, innocent Cosette in “Les Miserables,” only to return to Broadway as Cosette’s mother, Fantine. She also received accolades for her standout performance as Ellen in “Miss Saigon” and Lily in “The Secret Garden.” Following “Miss Saigon,” Donovan joined the company of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard,” starring as Betty Schaefer opposite Petula Clark. Later that year, she was asked by composers Richard Maltby and David Shire to re-create the role of Susan Lawrence in their touring production of the hit musical “Big,” based on the Tom Hanks film. In 2014 she had the pleasure of once again crossing the United States, only this time it was as The Wicked Witch of the West in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s pre-Broadway version of “The Wizard of Oz.” Most recently, she starred as Mama Who for the seasonal Broadway production of “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” playing in Boston, Chicago and Madison Square Garden.
It’s a good fit for McArthur, who wants to land ultimately in musical theater.
“I’ve only done a couple of straight plays,” McArthur noted. “I only have a couple of straight plays on my resume, so I know that auditioners looking at my resume, they see all of the musical theater on there. So that definitely kind of overpowers my 'Midsummer Night’s Dream' as Robin Goodfellow.”
She is currently performing at The Belle Theatre in the Cape as Jael in “In Pieces: A New Musical.” Structured as a series of interconnected vignettes, the show follows a diverse group of characters as they navigate pivotal moments in their relationships and personal growth. Set against the backdrop of New York City, the musical weaves together these stories through a pop-driven score, capturing the essence of youthful exuberance and the bittersweet nature of love. With themes of vulnerability, resilience, and the courage to embrace change, “In Pieces” resonates as a heartfelt exploration of the human experience.
Adorably awkward, Jael is easily the most relatable character in the musical. The part calls for an above-average vocalist. McArthur certainly fits that bill.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.