Tony Nominee Beth Malone Speaks at Belmont Troutt Theatre

Erica Aubrey (left), and Beth Malone (right), discuss acting and industry tips at the Troutt Theatre, Samantha Grassle.

Tony and Grammy nominee Beth Malone spoke to Belmont students on Friday in the Troutt Theatre about her experiences as a Broadway and TV actress. 

In the conversational interview between her and Erica Aubrey, program coordinator for the College of Music and Performing Arts, Malone opened up about her triumphs and failures in the industry, her journey as a queer actress and what's next in her career. 

Malone has performed on Broadway in “Angels of America,” and “Ring of Fire,” on top of appearing in the TV shows “City on Fire,” “Alma and the Wolf” and “Chicago P.D.” 

However, much of her talk revolved around her experience playing Alison Bechdel in the award winning musical “Fun Home.”  

“I thought the music and writing was creating some kind of world I wanted to be in, and then it was just this crazy ride going from an obscure play to the Tony awards show and it changed my life," said Malone.

Malone's path to the Tonys was not straight forward, she initially did not know what to do in her acting career after losing a lead role in “Sister Act” until she was offered a role in “Fun Home,” said Malone. 

“I think failure is like a boulder on this river of life, it just turns you in a new direction,” said Malone.

Although “Fun Home” was an incredible landmark of her career, Malone also shared that it presented challenges in her queer identity.

“I played this very masculine lesbian role on ‘Fun Home,’ and then I kept getting typecast as that after and then not getting the role because I actually present more feminine, but with time, I’ve been able to play a variety of queer characters which helps show the world we don’t fit into a box,” said Malone.

Malone also spoke highly of her most recent role as Judy Ogle in the “Dolly: A True Original Musical,” and the work to tell Dolly’s life in an engaging manner.  

“Telling the story of someone’s life makes it different when structuring a joke. You have to understand the concept of building. The next scene builds on top of the next scene which goes on top of the next and the tension continues to squeeze. And if you're not doing that, you're doing a documentary,” said Malone. 

Malone shared a future project: a musical she is co-writing with the Indigo Girls set at a dark sky reserve in Northern Idaho. 

“I’m really excited for this play because I think the idea of being so connected with the stars brings us back to the root of human connection and self discovery, " said Malone.

The interview closed with questions from the audience where Malone gave students advice on building industry relationships, landing auditions and staying true to oneself.

Her ability to connect with students and infectious passion for the arts left a mark on students.

“Her unfiltered, insightful views on different elements of the theatre industry, from acting to scriptwriting to directing, was incredibly impactful. There was something for everyone to listen and learn from in the discussion,” said Maxwell Collins, a sophomore theatre performance major. 

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This article was written by Samantha Graessle.