We were lucky to catch up with Michael Olaribigbe recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Michael thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
Yes I have for 3 years full time. I think it was because I had the right people in my corner guiding me through my every step. I started during the summers of college I would work professionally (we call it summer stock jobs). This gave me a huge boost once I graduated and post pandemic because I had already started making connection and acquiring points to join the actors equity association. I would that this industry has 55% to do with talent, and the rest is subjected to the quality connections that you make and the tenacity to use every audition as a chance to meet new people who want to hire you. There are just a lot of political decisions that you can not take personally, you have to move forward with your head held high and continue to keep having successful auditions. A huge milestone for me is when I booked the U.S Regional Premiere of Kinky Boots at The MUNY led by Tony Award winner J.Ghee Harrison. This was my dream theatre to work at and I couldnt believe I was 20 years old at the start of this contract. This not only gave me the confidence that I could achieve my goals on being on broadway, but also I learned so much and grew so much from my cast mates. They were so kind and showed me so much love and it change my perspective and made me have more drive to do it. Since the MUNY I’ve worked at a handful of Top theatres in the country like The Griswolds Broadway Vacation (5th Avenue Theatre),Tiger in West Side Story (Lyric Opera of Chicago), and Roy Brown in ELVIS: A Musical Revolution, Purlie in A Christmas Carol (North Shore Music Theatre). and Now I proud to be in the Broadway Original Cast of The Heart of Rock and Roll!! I don’t think i could have speed up the process because then I’d have to prevent a global pandemic… ;/ But to now be 25 years Young and accomplishing this with my journey and the INCREDIBLE people that I have meet and been supported by along the way the timing feels just right.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m Michael Olaribigbe! I am a proud Nigerian immigrant who moved to the US when I was 4! I got into the arts when I was in the 6th grade and I sang at my middle school choir! This led me to then start performing around Atlanta! I did my first musical in the 8th grade and bite the there bug! It wasn’t until junior year of high school where I decided to give up my initial plan on going to college to be an OB/GYN and pursue an acting career. I think what sets me apart from others is that I am a triple threat and I want to exist in multiple fields of entertainment. One thing that I am the most proud of is the perseverance that I was able to maintain throughout my journey. There are so many obstacles in this industry and I was prepared for it thanks to the support from my friends and family. I’m proud to say that I am now in a new musical on BROADWAY!! Something I want people to know is that dreams come true but it takes a lot of tenacity. So never give up on your dreams. If I told the 17 year old boy who saw his first show on Broadway that he would be there in 8 years, I’d be in shock! But here I am and I can’t wait to continue to keep going!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn how to stop chasing fulfillment in my line of work specifically. There isn’t a specific way to get to Broadway. As I got older I realized that there’s something to gain for every project I was working on. What has benefited me the most is realizing that Im not suppose to feel fulfilled just because I’m a “working” actor. It’s a job and sometimes is comes with it’s challenges and it then becomes not fun. The key to this is having a healthy work life balance. Your work should not at be the center of your life. There are so many things that can bring joy into your life. It’s your job to find it! Always remember that whatever is for you will not miss you. Now that I’m where I wanna be what next for me is to enjoy this opportunity and in it find other things that bring me joy and make me feel fulfilled!
Have you ever had to pivot?
The pandemic
This was a very hard period for me. This happened during my last semester of college. Our industry was shutting down. Our Senior showcase that we were planning on having for us to get scouted by industry professionals and agents was cancelled. Agents were not looking for new clients. And our graduation ceremony was cancelled. It seemed that everything that we as a class worked so hard for did not matter. So I moved back home to Atlanta and worked 4 jobs simultaneously in the meantime. Although it took some time before I started these jobs, this was a blessing in disguise. I was so career driven and determined to move to New York and join the union and hit the ground running so much to the point that I did not know what else I liked to do. This was a period where I discovered my love for fitness, teaching, fashion, and most important songwriting! I found my passion in so many different things and was able to lean into those things and it made this traumatic time for the world-barable!
Shortly when the world slowly started coming back my drive into getting back out there was hunger than it’s ever been before but also I was able to work and utilize a lot of these Newly discovered passions passions of mine !
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Olar_25
Image Credits
Alisha Mckellar