Members of the Broadway cast of“ SpongeBob SquarePants.”
Convinced her joy and enthusiasm shined through that quick audition, Gilliland ended up booking a position in“ Wicked,” leading to her Broadway debut in 2005 and more than a year performing with the show.
“ So you’ d think after performing in a show like‘ Wicked,’ other Broadway shows would just line up to book you— but that’ s not really the case,” says Gilliland.“ I still had to audition, sometimes at open calls, or through my agent.”
She had an old friend in the casting office who helped her get an audition for“ Legally Blonde,” a new show at the time that was coming to Broadway. After a series of auditions, she was cast in her first original company of a Broadway show. Her name appears on the cast album, the original company information and even in the script, because of a last-minute change to the show before opening that required Gilliland to be a sorority sister in the opening sequence for just one line. The writers named the character Gaelen in the script, because the character never had a name originally.
From there, Gilliland went on to perform on and off Broadway including in“ 9 to 5,”“ Honeymoon in Vegas,”“ Kinky Boots” and the first national tour of“ The Addams Family.” After two months in“ Kinky Boots” on Broadway, Gilliland auditioned for“ SpongeBob SquarePants,” in which she’ s currently starring as The Mayor, and the musical has been nominated for 12 Tony Awards.
“ As an actor who performs in Broadway shows, one hopes to land a show that will run for a long time for job security,” she explains.“ Nothing is secure in this business, but so far, so good with SpongeBob, and we’ ll see how
long we can go! There have been a lot of skeptics who don’ t think it would make a good musical, but I’ m here to tell you that everyone who comes to see the show loves it, has a fantastic time and walks out changed from their skepticism.”
When it comes to advice for Broadway hopefuls, Gilliland has several words of wisdom.“ No matter how much or little success you attain, it’ s always important to have a good foundation of family and friends— they keep me humble and remind me of who I am while supporting me indefinitely,” she says.“ I am always thankful for my family, especially my parents, who have supported me every step of the way to pursue a career that has many ups and downs. My husband is a real champion, too! Not only does he have to deal with the ups and downs, but he’ s a part of the business too— working as a stagehand— and understands and supports my crazy schedules and emotions.”
She continues,“ It’ s really important to know who you are authentically and to be that person when you walk in the audition room. You just need to be yourself and be blatantly honest with yourself about what your best qualities are, and what you have to put forward with your talent. It’ s not a business for everyone, but thankfully, theater is vast and has a lot of avenues to pursue if you really love it.” ■
PHOTO BY DIRTY SUGAR PHOTOGRAPHY
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