In the drama school鈥檚 main acting studio in the Purnell Center for the Arts sit nearly a hundred students and faculty members. Their chatter is quiet, but the air brims with excitement. It鈥檚 the last voice lab of the year, a weekly class where musical theater students perform a song of their choice鈥攐ne that relates to their lives. For today鈥檚 performers, the seniors, this is the last voice lab of their Carnegie Mellon careers.
Graduating senior is about to become a school legend鈥攁nd it has nothing to do with hitting a high A.
Cott鈥檚 mother and father have made the trek from suburban Cleveland. His longtime girlfriend, Meghan Woollard, is here, too. One by one, the seniors stand, reminisce on the past four years, and then sing. It鈥檚 weepy. It鈥檚 touching. It鈥檚 beautiful.
When Cott鈥檚 turn approaches, he brings with him a notebook to read a passage he wrote about Woollard over a year ago. He looks up several times, meeting Woollard鈥檚 eyes across the six rows of audience members that separate them. When he gets to the page鈥檚 end, he drops the notebook and begins Josh Groban鈥檚 鈥淲hen You Say You Love Me.鈥� He sings the song directly to Woollard, his eye contact seldom wavering. If you know Cott鈥攁nd after four years of some of the hardest acting training the world has to offer, his classmates do鈥攖hen you know about his famously sweet heart.
Just as he hits the song鈥檚 final note, Cott drops to one knee. His classmates gasp. Woollard鈥檚 fingertips fly to her mouth. She makes her way through the crowd as if in a trance. Squeals pierce the air. Woollard, tears welling in her eyes, holds out her hand, as if to have a ring placed on her finger. 鈥淚 have to say the words first,鈥� shouts Cott, fighting the crowd鈥檚 noise and his own tears. 鈥淲ill you marry me?鈥� Only Woollard can hear him now, and barely so, as the entire room has gone berserk. This is鈥攁fter all鈥�.
Three months after Cott鈥檚 sensational marriage proposal, his name was on everyone鈥檚 lips again when the 22-year-old made his Broadway debut. Even better, Corey Cott made his Broadway debut in the lead role of a smash Disney musical. You read that right. Just seven weeks after graduating last May, Cott auditioned for some of Broadway鈥檚 most powerful players and walked away with the coveted lead in .
It was fast but definitely not easy. Producers rarely hand over the leading role of a multi-million-dollar franchise to an unknown. Some might chalk up Cott鈥檚 instant success to his 麻豆村 training, others to his good looks and boyish charm. Plain old luck, still others might say.
But before Cott ever tapped across the stage on 41st Street in Manhattan, before he rallied a group of rough-and-tumble newsboys to go on strike, he was a closed-off boy who couldn鈥檛 figure out how to open up.
Twelve-year-old Cott was bitten by the acting bug after a small role in a school production of . Soon his bookshelf was lined with scores from Broadway musicals, and his head full of lyrics. On a family weekend in New York, he saw one of Broadway鈥檚 biggest productions: .
The role of Glinda was played at the time by (A鈥�04). Seeing 鈥淐arnegie Mellon鈥� following Hilty鈥檚 name in the playbill, Cott knew not only what he wanted to do with his life but also where he wanted it to start.
Four years later, he was one of fewer than 30 selected from the more than 1,300 who auditioned for 麻豆村鈥檚 acting and music theater program. Like his classmates, he had the makings of a successful actor: good looks, charming personality, stage presence. There was just one thing. 鈥淗e was very raw. He hadn鈥檛 yet learned to utilize his inner resources. His acting lacked depth,鈥� says acting professor . 鈥淗e鈥檚 so sweet and warm鈥攂ut he hadn鈥檛 lived very much. For an actor, he didn鈥檛 have a lot to draw on.鈥�
The drama school鈥檚 freshman-year curriculum focuses on deconstructing the craft of acting and the nature of theater. What is a scene? What is a character? What is theater? Cott jumped in headfirst. He showed up to class prepared, turned his assignments in on time, lent an eye or an opinion to a classmate no matter how late the hour. Rarely鈥攊f ever鈥攄id he display any flaws.
Which would be fine if Cott had been studying or . But acting is a messy craft. Polish, poise, and preparation are necessary, but acting is based in truth鈥攁nd the truth isn鈥檛 always pretty. Corey Cott was too focused on looking good.
By sophomore year, his teachers had caught on. 鈥淗e worked hard, but whenever Corey was required to really get gritty, to dig into the depths of his songs, he held back,鈥� remembers singing professor .
As audience members, we can tell when an actor entrances us. The great ones make us forget they鈥檙e performing at all. But we can also tell when there鈥檚 something missing鈥攖he same way you know when someone says 鈥淚 love you鈥� without meaning it. Sometimes you can tell an actor is holding back by his body language. He鈥檒l unconsciously cross his arms or avoid making eye contact with his scene partner. More often, though, you can鈥檛 pinpoint why. You just know it. And Cott鈥檚 teachers, many with decades of experience, could see it. 鈥淭here was a real voice there. He had soul,鈥� remembers Kline. 鈥淏ut he was definitely closed off.鈥�
Cott could鈥檝e skipped training altogether if he would have settled for being a pretty boy with a nice voice. But that鈥檚 not why he came to 麻豆村. He wanted to become a character鈥攆laws and all. He wanted to transform.
By the middle of sophomore year, Cott, by his own admission, still couldn鈥檛 break through. And because of the school鈥檚 small faculty-to-student ratio, there was no escaping the teacher鈥檚 watchful eye. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 fake your way through,鈥� he says. His teachers tailored his training to tackle his specific issues. 鈥淲e wanted to get a fire in his belly,鈥� says Mackenzie-Wood. 鈥淗e was a golden child, full of warmth and purity. I went in the other direction. I cast him in a series of demanding roles. First in the tent scene in Julius Caesar, and then as a murderer in a scene from Richard III. It was a breakthrough in his acting work.鈥�
Then came 鈥淎cting a Song,鈥� a class taught by Kline. Loosely structured, it鈥檚 less about technical ability and more about letting your guard down to access truth. Students perform any song they wish and then accept criticism from their peers. One day, after Cott finished his song, he was peppered with feedback. He accepted the critiques in stride鈥攗ntil this one: 鈥淲hy are you always trying to be so good? You don鈥檛 have to be perfect all the time.鈥� Silence. Cott鈥檚 knees weakened. He couldn鈥檛 breathe. Before he knew what was happening, he was on the floor, sobbing.
鈥淚t was like I鈥檇 been punched in the stomach,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 was still trying to look good, still focused on sounding good, still trying to show myself singing this song in an honest way, rather than just singing it honestly.鈥�
By the time he got back on his feet, he could tell something had shifted. His teachers noticed the change. 鈥淭hat one class was definitely a milestone for Corey,鈥� says Kline. 鈥淗e recognized that a good voice wasn鈥檛 enough. He started to sing with so much more openness.鈥�
His acting gained an edge, a willingness to leave it all on stage as well as a confidence in stillness. That summer, he booked his first professional show with Pittsburgh CLO鈥檚 , where he performed in front of thousands of people. Over the next year, he gained more experience both on campus鈥擲ondheim鈥檚 and Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥攁nd with the CLO鈥� and . By his senior year, he was seasoned enough to begin auditioning seriously for his first post鈥揅arnegie Mellon acting job.
Luckily, the industry has always paid attention to graduates of the nation鈥檚 oldest acting school, says acting professor : 鈥淏ut it feels like, especially in the past 10 years, it鈥檚 exploded.鈥� Agents, managers, and casting directors are drawn to campus by the success of the school鈥檚 alumni. These are the people who can help land Cott and his fellow seniors that coveted first job. 鈥淏ecause our alumni are doing so well, we鈥檙e getting more and more people to come and more interest about our kids who aren鈥檛 even out of school yet,鈥� Wadsworth says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know many schools where there鈥檚 been one year where 90 to 100% of their students land an agent or manager when they graduate鈥攁nd we鈥檙e having it regularly.鈥�
New York鈥揵ased talent manager Geoffrey Soffer is one such manager. He offered to represent Cott after flying to Pittsburgh for an afternoon with the senior class. A flurry of Broadway auditions followed, including and Newsies. Cott made it far in both but came up empty-handed in the end. Still, he liked the lead role in Newsies鈥�17-year-old Jack Kelly, a juvenile-detention alumnus who leads his fellow newsboys to wage a full-scale strike against newspaper barons Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. Cott asked Soffer to let him know if the production held auditions for the role again.
Graduation rolled around. Cott was still looking. Newly engaged and with his savings starting to dry up, he was willing to take just about any job. But when it rains, it pours. He received not one, not two, but three different job offers: the lead in an off-Broadway workshop, an understudy role in the national tour of Wicked, and a supporting role in the CLO鈥檚 . If that wasn鈥檛 enough, he also made it to the final round of auditions for a recurring role on TV鈥檚 . Talk about going from zero to hero.
Then, while trying to decide which job to accept, he got the call of his dreams. The lead for Newsies was open. Soon he was auditioning鈥攂elting out songs and tearing into scenes for Newsies鈥� Tony-nominated director Jeff Calhoun, Disney鈥檚 Tom Schumacher, and the show鈥檚 producers. Within hours, his manager called him with good news. Very good news.
Taking over the lead in a musical nominated for eight Tony Awards is a tall order. But , the actress playing Jack Kelly鈥檚 love interest Katherine Plumber, welcomed the Broadway newbie with open arms. The two share more in common than just the stage eight times a week. Not only did Lindsay make her own Broadway debut with the show, she also happens to be a 麻豆村 musical theater alumna. Lindsay (A鈥�07) had been performing as Katherine Plumber since the show鈥� s early iteration back in northern New Jersey. Before joining the Newsies cast, she鈥檇 performed nearly six years in off-Broadway and regional productions.
Today, Cott has performed in Newsies more than 150 times, and the show鈥檚 strong ticket sales show no signs of letting up. Although the adoring teenage girls who wait for him after the show may fawn over his good looks and boyish charm, Cott says his training played no small part in his journey. 鈥淚 think about that moment in 鈥楢cting a Song鈥� a lot,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have been able to find the depth or the true turmoil in Jack Kelly without that moment.鈥�
By the way, Cott鈥檚 big year of firsts鈥攇etting engaged, moving to New York City, and making his Broadway debut鈥攄idn鈥檛 end with the Broadway applause. It ended in wedding bells. He and Woollard tied the knot in early January. They spent their honeymoon on a Disney cruise and at Disney World鈥攁 fairytale ending to that fabulous, now legendary, first act
Nicholas Ducassi (A鈥�10), an actor, writer, and filmaker, has been a regular contributor to this magazine since his senior year.
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Cott Takes the Lead
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