We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Liana Monaco. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Liana below.

Hi Liana, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

My senior year of high school I went through the grueling musical theatre college audition process. I auditioned for 18 schools- including any that were listed on the “Top BFA Musical Theatre Programs” list on Playbill.com. As many people know, this process is extremely competitive, stressful, and heartbreaking. I ended up being waitlisted at 2 of my top schools and was eventually rejected.I was heart broken. I was SO close to attending my dream school, and I was not going to take “no” for an answer. In the mean time,I had to decide what I was going to do after high school graduation. Did I take a gap year and reaudition for schools? Or did I attend one of my safety schools I was accepted to? I chose to do both! I attended the safety school with the full intention to reaudition for my Top 3 schools again later that year. My first semester at college was jam packed. I dove head first into my theatre classes, took on a double major in dance, made some amazing friends, and secretly filled out applications and filmed musical theatre prescreens AGAIN for other programs. The program I was in was quite good, and my classmates were so talented. I was learning so much about acting (something I was REALLY bad at at the time), but there wasn’t enough emphasis on singing and dancing. I knew that I wanted to be a true triple threat by the time I graduated college and I didn’t think that the program was the right fit for me if that was the end goal. So, I auditioned again. I received 2 rejections and one acceptance. “CONGRATULATIONS! We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Point Park University’s Musical Theatre Class of 2022!” I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was in shock. I had gotten into the program of my dreams…but there was also a little sadness there. I was having the time of my life at my current school. I loved my roommate and friends, and learned to love this school in a little farm town in the middle of nowhere NY. Point Park is in an awesome city (Pittsburgh, PA) with SO MUCH to do, their program is so highly ranked, and I would even get a senior showcase, BUT it was also far more expensive than my current school, I would have to start over as Freshman, and I would be far from home and away from all my new friends who I loved so much. But I knew the right decision ( or calculated risk) was to transfer to Point Park, so I did. Let me just say that my 4 years at PPU were nothing like I had expected. There were many many lows, and the fact that covid effected a majority of my time there did not help. Point Park was competitive, I cried a lot, and felt deprived on opportunities most of the time…but thats the business, and luckily I had a wonderful support system back home to push me to keep going. I also met some of my best friends for life there who kept me sane. The program was not perfect, but i am glad I took the risk. I can say that I am a true triple threat and have the confidence to walk into a NYC audition and hold my own. Pittsburgh connected me to my first professional job at Front Porch Theatricals, where I was in the ensemble of their production of “Bright Star”. Following graduation, I was blessed to be in Pittsburgh CLO’s 2022 Summer Season in their productions of “Kinky Boots” and “Sister Act”. I even booked a swing contract with Norwegian Cruise Line after they came to the school to have seniors audition. I’m not sure if I would’ve ever had those opportunities without connections at Point Park. I’ll never know if I hadn’t taken this risk if these things would’ve happened anyway, but if your gut is telling you something you should listen to it, and I am so glad I did!

Liana, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Liana Monaco, I am 24 years old, and I am a recent graduate of Point Park University’s Conservatory Arts where I earned a BFA in Musical Theatre and minor in jazz dance! I began dancing at the age of 3 and instantly fell in love with the feeling of performing. My parents saw my love for dance and enrolled me in more classes right away and within a few years I started dancing competitively and somewhere in between all of that we discovered that I could sing. When I was in 3rd grade I was in my first musical as the “Star To Be” in Annie…and I was hooked! It wasn’t until I saw Newsies on Broadway in 8th grade that I knew wanted to pursue performing as a career. I dove headfirst into more theatre throughout high school, juggling schools shows, community shows, dance classes, a show choir, and flute lessons! All of that hard work paid off and eventually helped land me a spot in my dream Theatre program at PPU.

What am I most proud of?

I am most proud of my persistence, positivity, and kindness. Since I was little I have never been the first choice. In dance class I was always in the back, I rarely got lead roles in school shows, I was 2nd chair in band, not first, I got cast ONCE in college even though I was paying the same tuition and working just as hard if not HARDER than most people in my program who were getting the opportunities. Maybe I sound bitter? I was. It wasn’t fair, and this industry still isn’t fair, but nothing was going to get in the way of my dream because I KNOW I have what it takes! Throughout college I went above an beyond rehearsing outside of class, took on extra scene work, and even though I was unhappy with my lack of opportunity I did everything with a smile and did my best to remain positive. I was supportive of Everyone. Was it hard to see my classmates bonding at cast parties and rehearsals that I couldn’t be at? yes. Was it hard to see peoples resumes getting bigger while I was stuck with a bunch of credits from high school? YEP. But I remained kind to everyone and went to all of those shows, sat in the audience and clapped and cheered even though it hurt. But it also fueled me. I wanted to prove people wrong who never thought I was good enough, but I also wanted to prove to myself that I was going to have a great career regardless of the countless “no’s” I received. So far I think I am doing pretty well…I booked 2 equity contracts and a cruise line right out of school and I know the future is only going to get brighter no matter what happened in my past. Keep on keeping on!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal as an artist is to take people out of the real world for just a few hours to simply ENJOY something. When I was in 8th grade I went to NYC with my family for the first time to see Newsies on Broadway. I was bouncing off the walls with excitement. Unfortunately, just hours before we went to the show we received tragic news about a family member. My family was in shock, devastated, and had no idea what to do. It felt so wrong to be on vacation when something so awful had happened, but we were leaving the next morning and decided to go see Newsies even though it would feel impossible to enjoy it. Newsies changed my life. Not only did it solidify my desire to pursue musical theatre as a career, but it took me out reality for 3 hours. I laughed, I cried, and I was inspired. THATS why I choose to entertain as a career, it can truly change lives!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Playbill.com-Has all the auditions you need for theatre, and you don’t have to Pay to submit!!

Scribd- saves me so much money on sheet music if you get the monthly membership

Sheri Sanders Rock The Audition- she has pre cut audition songs for any genre of music you could need on music notes.com!

Contact Info:

• Website: liananicolemonaco.com
• Instagram: liananicole_monac0

Image Credits
Ricky Gee Photo Xander Cavanagh