We were lucky to catch up with Scarlett Jacques recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Scarlett thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I have been performing since I was 7 years old, and first was paid for my work at the age of 11 in Lunchbox productions NZ tour of Annie the Musical as orphan Kate. My next professional show was at age 14 in Auckland Theatre Company’s production of Billy Elliot the Musical as ballet girl Margaret Gormley. It took a lot of training and a lifetime of dedication to my craft in order to earn a living off my creative work. These two shows were as a child actor, so it wasn’t necessarily a livable wage. Once I graduated high school in NZ I decided to move NYC to pursue my passion and take the next steps in my career. I studied for 2 years at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and earned my Associate Degree in Musical Theatre. Once graduating I continued to train as a Performance Apprentice on the Broadway Dreams US Summer Tour for 6 different cities. Following my hard work and building connections with professionals here in the USA, I was offered the role of Penny Pingleton in the Broadway National Tour of Hairspray the Musical. This was the first time I was able to make a living fully off of my creative work and passion, as I toured the USA and Canada for 10 months. I don’t think this would have been possible without my consistent training in singing, acting and dancing from a young age, as well as building my resume and range of abilities by performing in many youth and community productions.

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 am an actor, singer and dancer who is focused on Musical Theatre, but also have some experience in Film/TV work. I found my love for this art through starting choir at aged 5, and for singing became my first huge passion. My mum then put me into musical theatre classes, in which it was clear I thrived, so I went on to join multiple youth theatre companies and played a multitude of different roles over the next 11 years as well as taking part in some short films, as even my own segment on Disney Channel a ‘Guide to Earning Pocket Money’ before moving to NYC.

This industry provides people with an art that they can go see for entertainment purposes, to learn something about themselves and others, as well as important messages about the world and societal issues. For me, musical theatre is something truly special as it combines so many forms of art including music, dance, acting, fashion design in the form of costuming, architecture in the form of set design and building, as well as even lighting design. Some musicals are more catered to entertain with extravagant sets, costumes, lighting and set, as well as incredible voices and acting performances that leave audience in awe. Other musicals are just as effective in entertaining the audiences even without all the extravagant designs. These shows tell us so much about ourselves and have audience members go away thinking about how they want to live their lives and what they can change to help others etc.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is inspiring younger generations in pursuing their dreams. Being on tour and being able to go out to the stage door and meet so many aspiring performers who looked up to me meant the world to me because I felt like them too. It truly is such a hard industry with so many knock-backs and nos, but all it takes is for even one person to see you and your hard work and make your dreams come true. I hope to be able to encourage these young people to understand that they can do it too, and that all Broadway and professional performers were in their position at some point in time. It is so rewarding to know that I can help others by performing and showing them my art, and that they should share their talents with the world, because they deserve to be able to tell their stories just like so many before them have. Knowing that people look up to me and have followed my journey in hopes of doing the same, drives me to keep going, knowing that I have so many people who believe in me.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

As a performer, I struggled with self-doubt and worrying that what I had to offer wasn’t enough. I’ve always been a perfectionist, and that transpired into something concerning when I started to struggle with my mental health. Especially during Covid, it was hard to know that the industry I had always dreamed of being part of was shut down and no one knew if it would ever be the same. When I was stuck at home with not much to do, it was very difficult because I have always enjoyed being busy and going to so many activities throughout my life including acting lessons, voice lessons, dance classes, rehearsals and more, that I didn’t know what to do with myself when all that seemed to go away.

I was diagnosed with Anorexia in late 2020, after struggling for almost a year. This was the biggest setback I had ever faced as I was accepted into 5 different colleges in Australia to pursue musical theatre in 2021. However, due to my declining mental and physical health I wasn’t able to take up any of those offers due to be being too unwell to leave NZ. This was heartbreaking, and I truly felt hopeless for a while because it didn’t feel like I would be able to have the life I had always dreamed of and pursue the career I had been training for my whole life. However, this eventually became the driving force in my recovery. I couldn’t let this stop me from doing what I loved, and even being told I couldn’t dance for 3 months until I gained enough weight was a huge motivation. I knew I had to get better and I knew that this wouldn’t get in my way. After making a full physical recovery I was then accepted into the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and moved to NYC in late 2021.

Although it is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through, it made me into the most determined, passionate, resilient person that I am today, and I see it as a massive part of my journey as a performer. It showed me just how badly I wanted this career and that despite what I had previously thought, I am capable of so much more than I could’ve ever imagined.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.scarlettjacques.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarlettjacques/?hl=en
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scarlettjacques