Laura Shoop

Currently: Appearing as Hodel, the second daughter, in Fiddler on the Roof at the Minskoff Theatre. Shoop has been playing the role since mid-summer when she stepped in for another Laura, original cast member and current Mary Poppins star Laura Michelle Kelly.

Hometown: Wilmette, Illinois. "I used to say I was from Chicago and my parents were like: ‘No you are not. Stop putting that on your bio!'"

Out of My Dreams: Shoop was trained as a dancer, not a singer despite a stint as a back-up vocalist in a rock band or actress, and saw herself dancing professionally. Her path veered when she landed an ensemble part in Carousel at Paper Mill Playhouse understudying the lead character Julie Jordan and then a job in the Broadway company of Oklahoma! understudying both Laurie and Ado Annie. "In both shows, I was understudying singers," Shoop explains. "So I thought: ‘Maybe there is something to this singing thing.' I went from being a ballerina bunhead to this. It's been a long journey."

Miracle of Miracles: Shoop had done a summer stock mounting of Fiddler on the Roof, so she was familiar with the material when she entered the May auditions for the Broadway mounting. Going into her second callback, she knew it was between her and one other actress. "I walked away from it and I just had this gut feeling," she states. "I just thought this role is a role that was crafted for someone like me. It was the right voice part and it was the right nature for me. I felt very attuned with the people behind the table. And it turned out in my favor. Thank god."

Getting to Know Hodel: Shoop landed the gig nine days before she had to begin performances, a challenge that would leave anyone thinking "oy!" But she quickly focused—watching the show everyday, asking questions and reading the Sholom Aleichem stories on which Fiddler on the Roof is based. "I was really afraid going in, because the company had already bonded so much—giving each other backrubs and learning Jewish dances," Shoop says. "I thought: ‘They are going to hate me.' They loved Laura so much. But they embraced me with such open arms. My personality is very different from Laura's, but, they were like: ‘Alright. Bring it! We'll see what you got…'"

A Little Change: Fiddler on the Roof and Shoop recently welcomed new leads Harvey Fierstein and Andrea Martin. She raves about them, saying Fierstein is "fun and free" and Martin who she previously worked with in Oklahoma! is "packed with energy and verve." Though there has been one problem since the cast change. "[Original Golde] Randy [Graff] and I looked like each other—she is so tall I thought, ‘I could fit into this family.' With Andrea, she comes up to about my shoulder, so now you just have to image the tall gene is in there somewhere!"

Now I Have Everything: Shoop didn't think she was going to read her Fiddler on the Roof reviews, believing that if they were bad it would crush her spirits. Then she got a special wakeup call. "It was 7:30AM the day after opening and my boyfriend's mother calls. ‘Laura is in The Times! Laura is in The Times!' I said: ‘Well we can read that one!' Then every review I had my boyfriend read and tell me if it was okay before I read it. That Times one, I hate to say that it made me feel very good, but it did. To have my first review in The Times be something like that was really awesome."