We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Becca Ayers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Becca , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

My parents were super encouraging of both my sister, Heather (who is, also, in show business) and I growing up. My dad always had the secret desire to be an artist, and they both allowed us to flourish in theater and dance. They started me in dance lessons in Great Bend, Kansas with an amazing teacher name Karyl Morrison when I was five. My sister took lessons with her, too – and she would have us sing songs before we would do our dances, so that got us singing early. I, also, did community theater (the first show of which was, “Fiddler on the Roof”, choreographed by Karyl) with my sister and dad growing up. My mom never wanted to be on stage, so she would help with props and costumes, so theater was definitely a family affair!

I spent the bulk of my childhood in Columbia, Missouri, and my folks would often drive us to St. Louis or Kansas City to treat us to the Broadway touring shows. We were so very lucky. Then, my dad changed jobs to a place in California when I was in high school, and he scoped out an arts high school for me to attend. I auditioned and got in! It was called the Orange County High School of the Arts, and I spent my last three years of high school there. My parents could not have done more to support my sister and my dreams! We were so very fortunate!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I suppose the first thing that made me want to be in show business was seeing, “Annie” as a kid! My mom says that she would come into my room and the record would be skipping at the end as I was passed out on the floor from mid-spin while singing and dancing to it! Since then, I have always done theater, and got my BFA from Stephens College (a women’s college in Columbia, Missouri) in theater. I moved to Kansas City for a short amount of time, and got a gig in Wichita, Kansas which would, by lucky happenstance, get me to NYC; I was understudying one of the leads in a show called, “Silver Dollar” (a beautiful show) which had a creative team from New York City. One of the writers; Mary Bracken Phillips, was at a promotional event that I was asked to sing at because the person I was understudying was under the weather that day. Mary saw me sing and said she had a friend (Julianne Boyd) at a theater called Barrington Stage Company doing a production of, “Cabaret”, and she wanted a young Sally Bowles, like in the Christopher Isherwood novel. I was twenty-one. I flew to New York to audition and ended up booking the gig! So I moved to NYC knowing that I had a job beginning in a month! That was how I got my equity card (my union card) and how I got my first agent!
I did a ton of regional theater, and ended up booking my first Broadway show (“Avenue Q”) when I was thirty. It’s not always a straight trajectory in this business! There have been lots of hills and valleys!
I’ve done six Broadway shows and a handful of Off-Broadway shows and, like I said, a ton of regional gigs. I am, currently at the Weathervane Theatre in New Hampshire getting ready to open the global regional premier of, “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” starring Blair St. Clair from, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”. I, also, just closed a show here of Maltby and Shire songs, directed by Richard Maltby Jr. himself! I’m having a blast and am grateful for the work because, as I mentioned, there are always major ups and downs in this business. I’m, also, just plain grateful for this place and for these people. It’s an amazing company all around!

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I’m grateful that I went to Stephens College because I loved the classes and I got my chosen family there. We did have one New York guest artist that I can think of, but besides that, I can’t think of it (at least back then) giving me any connection to New York or LA. Once I started doing Broadway shows, I learned what schools had New York showcases and connections; schools like Carnegie Mellon, Michigan, and Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, to name just a few. Those schools have NYC showcases that connect students with agents and casting directors. I might have auditioned for some them had I known – but like I said, it was a trade off because I loved my classes and my friends at Stephens.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One of my favorite quotes is from Austin Kleon. He said, “It’s one of my theories that when people give you advice, they’re really just talking to themselves in the past.” That really struck me because my mentors, although they meant well, may have led me astray by encouraging me to go to Kansas City and get my Equity card before I went to New York. I didn’t really jive with Kansas City until I got that Wichita gig, so maybe it all worked out for the best, anyway. All I know is that I was anxious to get to NYC, and perhaps should have followed my gut instead. Either way, it all worked out, but I encourage folks to take any hard and fast advice with a grain of salt and to follow their gut!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.BeccaAyers.com
• Instagram: @becca__ayers
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beccafornow
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@beccaayers
• Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/JSEy8pv5TkedBMhi8

Image Credits

Pamela Bob
Deniz Cordell
Laura Marie-Duncan
Lew Whitener