In August, Tisch alumni Alessandra Antonelli and Makoa Kalai made their Broadway debuts together. Years earlier, when they were both NYU students, they took ballet classes together on Saturdays.

“You can go off on so many different journeys,” Makoa said. “I’ll see you in that one class, then I won’t see you again until we booked a national tour.”

Makoa, from Hilo, Hawaii, started out in the Tisch Playwrights Horizon’s Theater School for his two years of primary training required of Tisch drama students. At PHTS, Makoa’s education balanced acting with writing, directing and producing. His dream of training under the Tisch New Studio on Broadway, the NYU’s only musical theater studio, came true for his last two years of college before graduating in May 2022. Starring in a New Studio on Broadway production of “Pippin” as the titular character helped him secure his current ensemble role in 2023.

Meanwhile, Antonelli completed her two years of primary training in New Studio on Broadway, before switching to Stonestreet Screen Acting & Production Studios, an advanced studio for screen acting. From there, she graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts early in the fall of 2021. She took roles off-Broadway, acted in film shorts and TV mini-series, played regional parts, worked on a cruise line and dabbled in voice acting before joining the cast of “Mamma Mia!” as an ensemble replacement.

After finding their way back to each other on the “Mamma Mia!” national tour, the pair now perform eight shows a week together on Broadway. Antonelli and Makoa spoke with WSN about how Tisch influenced their careers and their experiences performing in a high-energy show.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

WSN: How did Tisch prepare you for Broadway? 

Makoa: There’s something about living in the city that forces you to gird your loins. The culture I grew up with on the Big Island in Hawaii makes you shrink yourself, be humble and be small. Moving to New York City right after graduating high school forced me to learn to survive in a city like this, but I still hold onto that humility. 

WSN: What did life look like after graduating from Tisch before being booked on Broadway?

Makoa: I spent a year auditioning post-grad, and that was the hardest year of my life. It was a very low place for me, and I was ready to give up because I couldn’t pay my rent. I wasn’t making a living, and my parents were doing their best, but it was just an unfortunate situation. I didn’t care anymore when I walked into the room for ‘Mamma Mia!’ Maybe it’s because of that I was able to be myself, and get the call that changed my whole life. In retrospect, a year is such a small amount of time, but in the moment, it felt so long and hard. I’m so thankful that I didn’t give up. 

WSN: What does it take to get into character and get that much-needed energy to perform?

Makoa: It’s a show that is so much fun, so staying relaxed and bantering with the boys in the dressing room is a helpful way to get ready for the show. When we’re having fun in there, we’re able to bring that onto stage, and that’s what ‘Mamma Mia!’ is all about. If we’re not having fun up there, the audience isn’t going to be having fun. I’ve gained knowledge from being hands-on and being with the show so long.

Antonelli joined the “Mamma Mia!” cast just over a year ago after flying to Toronto to meet the show on tour. She joined the cast as a member of the ensemble and an understudy for Sophie.

WSN: What was it like transitioning from learning about performance to actually having to perform on a Broadway stage?

Antonelli: Class was always scarier to me than performing. It’s very high pressure because someone is going to tell me that I did a good or bad job. Whereas when you’re performing, there’s more freedom to let go. But you need that training from class to lean on and end up here. It builds a thick skin so you’re able to feel that relief and trust that you have worked so hard in the classroom setting that now you can just have fun with it.

WSN: What are the dynamics on stage like as ensemble members?

Antonelli: It’s wonderful to feel like part of a team. The magic of ‘Mamma Mia!’ is that it’s about relationships between people and having fun. There’s a moment during the last megamix of the show where the two of us are partners. I was a replacement on the tour, but when I joined and found out Makoa was my partner, it felt like coming home.

“Mamma Mia!” is running at the Winter Garden Theatre. Tickets are availableonline.

Contact Alessa Alluin at[email protected].