Jessica Vosk Celebrates 10 Years off the Corporate Ladder in Hell's Kitchen: 'I Worked Hard to Get Here'

Jessica Vosk is an under-the-radar Broadway star, a singer’s singer equally comfortable channeling Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall and belting Alicia Keys’ “Pawn It All” as protective mom Jersey in Hell’s Kitchen. Best known as one of Wicked’s outstanding Elphabas, Vosk has done her share of supporting and replacement roles in New York while wowing out-of-town audiences in Waitress and the long-gestating musical version of Beaches.

A savvy multitasker, Vosk built a national fan base from expertly crafted concerts, including one featuring holiday classics from her latest recording, Sleigh. On top of all that, she is undoubtedly the only top-tier musical actress who earned a degree in investor relations and spent much of her 20s working in finance before pivoting to the stage. In a recent chat, Vosk traced her winding career path and shared the advice she gives to aspiring performers.

You’ve made a smooth transition into the cast of Hell’s Kitchen. Did Alicia Keys give you advice about playing Jersey [a character loosely based on her own mother]?

Oh yes, I had a meeting with Alicia, and we wound up singing together. That was not on my bingo card! It was a snowball effect from there, hearing from her who these characters are based on vocally—people she had talent crushes on. For Jersey, she had [the late R&B singer] Teena Marie in mind, which has been amazing because, without knowing that, fans at the stage door [have said], “Oh my god, you reminded me of Teena Marie.” The advice Alicia gave was to listen to her albums and go back to basics with the sound and the story she wanted to tell. It’s been a beautiful challenge, getting to soar in these songs while telling the story of an empathetic, tough-cookie mom.

What’s the biggest challenge in playing this hyper-vigilant mother?

A lot of people think of women in a black and white way—they believe that a tough mom is just mean and angry and doesn’t understand things. My goal was to come in with the motto that two things can be true at once: She can be an incredibly loving, vulnerable person and also closed off and scared of things, a single mother trying to do the best she can and make it seem like everything’s okay. It’s been a challenge to show both of those sides to this character. There’s a lot of my mom in what I’m bringing to the table here. She was not a single mother, but a businesswoman who worked all the time and showed me what it was like to be an independent boss lady. We didn’t see eye to eye for many years. I was a terrorist when I was a teenager.

A terrorist? You would sneak out?

Oh sure, I did it all. I would think I was pulling one over on my mom and she would always say, “Jess, I found out you were doing these things because I did them first.” That’s a Jersey quality. It’s no mistake that I wound up at this show playing this role at this time in my life.

You have a natural give-and-take with Maleah Joi Moon [as Jersey’s daughter, Ali]. Did that happen right away?

Truth be told, because of my fast-and-furious [put-in] process, our first time doing the show together was on my opening night, but we’ve had a great rapport from day one. It’s amazing to be on stage at the top of one’s vocal game with other people who are also at the top of their vocal game. And it’s nice when people say, “I knew you could sing, but the acting cut me to the core.” We former green girls don’t often get meaty acting roles. They know we can belt and sing really high and throw in a riff, so it’s a joy to be able to tell a story.

You’ve embraced your association with Wicked, including a year playing Elphaba on tour and another year on Broadway. Does it still feel good to be identified with the show?

Yes, especially because I had come from the world of finance and the first show I got to lead was Wicked. It was one of the most challenging experiences of my life, and it taught me a lot about what I’m capable of, physically and especially vocally. It’s been very cool to revisit that journey since the film came out. I’m quite close with Ariana Grande; we’ve known each other since I did the 15th anniversary on Broadway, so it’s been beautiful to watch her going through that experience. I’m proud of what I was able to do, and now it’s nice to move on to other things, doing my concerts and creating new roles.

Speaking of that, what’s the status of the Beaches musical? [Vosk played Cee Cee, created on screen by Bette Midler, in a May 2024 production at Theatre Calgary.]

We're still working on it, and I’m crossing my fingers every day that we get to bring it home to New York or London or wherever we land first. It’s the role of a lifetime, just a master class in vocals and comedy and heart and intense acting. My dressing room at the Shubert Theatre was one of Bette Midler’s dressing rooms in Hello, Dolly!—she’s an absolute idol of mine, so I’m manifesting the possibility that we get to do something big [with Beaches].

Beyond musicals, you are a major concert artist. How did you decide to make that a priority, and what do you love about it?

I had the chance to make my Carnegie Hall debut in 2021 when theater doors first opened again. I sat down with a dream team: [director] Warren Carlyle, [musical director] Mary-Mitchell Campbell and fabulous musicians, and we put together a beautiful show that was received so well. The first one was called “My Golden Age”; the season after that, I did [a tribute to] Judy Garland; and most recently I did the Pops [holiday concert]. After the first one, a great management company said, “How would you feel about making a life out of this?” It’s been one of the coolest things I get to do, because it’s not just about singing—I tell stories, and there’s a lot of humor and heart.

You’ve given master classes in conjunction with some of your concerts. What’s the biggest piece of advice you offer to young performers?

I always tell them that there’s not one road to success. As a person who didn’t go to school for this and decided to leave a job in finance at 30 years old, [I know] there’s no clean-cut path to where you want to go. I just hit my 10-year mark on Broadway, and I worked hard to get here. That’s the first piece of advice. Subsequently, I say it’s about kindness and being open when you walk into a casting call. Nine times out of 10, somebody can act or sing better than you, but if you’re nicer, the creative team may say, “You know what? I want to work with that person.” So, it’s about your heart. What we do as actors is wildly vulnerable. We have to make people feel things, and vulnerability is our superpower.

Actors often pivot into business careers, but you did the opposite, moving from a job in investor relations to performing. What gave you the courage to take that leap?

I was very good at my job, but for every rung I climbed on the corporate ladder, I would get more anxious and stressed out. My sleep schedule was messed up from travel and from working with clients in different time zones; it was not conducive to the life I wanted to live. My passion was singing, but I wasn’t seeing shows or listening to music or going to concerts—I shut that part of my life off, to the detriment of my body. At that moment, I said, “Okay, I will regret it forever if I don’t take a leap of faith.” Everyone thought I was nuts. Everyone! But less than a year after I left that job, I got a call to join the cast of a concert of an ABBA show called Kristina at Carnegie Hall because someone had heard me at an open mic night. I’ve packed a lot into these 10 years: I’m on my fifth Broadway show, and I’m getting to sing my butt off and make this part my own. What a dream!