Photo: @abbyjaros on Instagram
Boca Raton native, Abby Jaros has been dancing for 22 years now, ever since she was 5 years old. She was chosen to portray Woman #1 and was part of the ensemble for Hamilton’s Philip Company.
On tour, Jaros enjoyed seeing just how many people got to experience musical theater because of Hamilton. There were a lot of people she met around the country who had never been to a musical.
“It was really cool to see so many walks of life going to the show and seeing themselves on stage. It was a big part of what the creatives wanted. They wanted everybody in the audience to see someone up there that resembled them,” she said.
According to Jaros, the most challenging aspect of her role was singing so high and dancing at the same time, since she was the top harmony of all the women in the ensemble. Although it takes a lot of care and warming up, she loved singing that part, because it felt like "you can conquer the world when you can do that.”
Photo: Abby Jaros and Lin Manuel Miranda. // @abbyjaros on Instagram
Before she was in the room where it happens, Jaros auditioned for the Philip Tour nine times over the span of two years. The auditions involved a lot of singing, dancing, and learning different parts of the material to demonstrate a variety of skills. She described the process as:
“Everybody is a little bit of the puzzle piece and so up until that point I was a piece but I wasn’t for a specific puzzle until the Philip Tour was being created. It was really exciting.”
She still remembers the exact place she received the call. Jaros was back home in Florida, sitting at her countertop and was bummed she hadn’t received news about another show. It wasn’t Hamilton that she was waiting for. When her agent called, her parents were on the other side of the countertop to celebrate.
Touring a show as intricate as Hamilton comes with its own challenges, but Jaros found a way to remain healthy physically and mentally while traveling the country. She recommends finding an activity. For her, it was getting a puppy.
“Once I got him, I went out more, I got to meet a lot of locals which was really cool. It was just a great little thing to come home to and wake up to every day,” she said.
Photo: Abby Jaros and her dog, Ernie. // @abbyjaros on Instagram
She also joined Orange Theory. Abby focused on doing weights at first to keep her body balanced, because she would do the same movement every day in the show. Some of her other touring tips include: warming up, stretching, and eating right.
Having traveled as an ensemble member for Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat prior to Hamilton, Jaros has visited 48 out of 50 states thanks to her job. She is very grateful to see as much of the country as she has been able to, however, her main goal career wise is to stay in one place, particularly New York City.
The biggest lesson she learned during her time with the Phillip Tour was working with incredible people every day creatively and on stage.
“It definitely changed my life and it’s changed my career in the sense of how I approach every job afterwards. It really is a life changing show and I think anybody who’s done it or seen it can attest to that,” Jaros said.
After Hamilton, she played Liz in the musical Chicago for the Maltz Jupiter Theater in Jupiter, FL. She liked having a character who told a story in the form of a monologue. Portraying Liz’s comical side was fun because she could see the way jokes landed with the audience.
A Boca Raton High School alum, her theater career began in American Musical Theater class. It was the only way she could dance in high school at the time. Once she did her first musical, she fell in love with the art form.
“What I love about musical theater is that you can leave your life at the door and then just go and focus on something for a few hours,” Jaros said.
She studied for her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Musical Theater and Dance Minor at the University of Central Florida. The life skill she learned while in college was practicing time management. It has truly come into play in her life considering the schedule in New York City is as hectic as college.
Having been in their shoes not so long ago, Jaros' advice for aspiring Broadway performers in high school is to not give up. She notes opportunities will come and go, and you can be back to square one fairly quickly in this industry.
“What I urge people to find and don’t take this as an assignment, more of just like a joy. Find something that makes you happy and keep those things in mind when you are in between jobs or in between your high career points,” she said.
Photo: Abby Jaros and Shoba Narayan. // @abbyjaros on Instagram
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