Caissie Levy
Age: “I’m 27 and very proud of it!”
Hometown: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Currently: Belting the sound of the ‘60s as Sheila, the tribe’s biggest advocate for change, in the Broadway revival of Hair.
Early Days: Levy says she grew up going to the theater with her family, which includes two older brothers who work in film. After making her stage debut at the age of eight in Free to Be You and Me, the actress spent her childhood balancing performing with her love of sports. “I had to eventually stop playing basketball, which was hard for me,” she remembers. “I always knew [acting] was what I was going to do.”
NYC, Here I Come: When she was 14, Levy visited New York City for the first time. “I took a couple classes at Broadway Dance Center and I saw, like, five shows in three days,” she reports about her initial visit. A highlight of the trip was seeing Sarah Jessica Parker at the stage door of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, where Levy boldly declared she wanted to be just like the star. “I was obsessed with her after that,” she exclaims. “She was so kind. That left a huge impression on me.” When it came time for college, Levy expected to stay in Canada to study Shakespeare, but when a choir teacher suggested she audition for the American Musical and Dramatic Academy AMDA in New York, her plans suddenly changed. “I thought, ’What the hell!’” Levy laughs. “When I got in, I said ‘Well, I have to go to New York!”
Rent is Due: Levy spent the next two years studying at AMDA and attending cattle call auditions. At the age of 21, she was cast as Maureen in the national tour of Rent. Even though she was auditioning in the hopes of landing a professional gig, the swiftness of the process surprised her. “I didn’t think it would happen so soon,” she admits. “I feel like I really learned how to act when I was doing Maureen.” Despite grueling eight-hour bus rides and heavy workload, Levy found she loved touring. “When you’re that young and it’s your first job, you’re like. ‘This is awesome!’ I had a phone bill and my suitcases, and I could buy a shirt I liked or a pair of jeans. Life was very simple,” she recalls fondly. “It was a very magical time.”
No One Mourns the Wicked: After getting her Equity card in a regional production of Smokey Joe’s Café, Levy landed a role the national tour of Hairspray. Two years of touring in the show led to her Broadway debut as a replacement Penny Pingleton in the Tony-winning musical. “It was a little bittersweet [to leave the tour], but I was pumped to come to Broadway." When her Hairspray run ended, Levy headed to the Broadway cast of Wicked. She won a part in the ensemble and understudied the lead role of Elphaba, though she had auditioned for Glinda years before. Before long, she was offered the opportunity to play Elphaba fulltime in the Los Angeles production. With the encouragement of her boyfriend, actor David Reiser, Levy uprooted her New York life to head out to California. “It was pretty wild,” she says of starring in the musical phenomenon. “That cast welcomed me with open arms. We had a ball.”
Easy to Be a Hippie: Levy says she’s a perfect match for the peace-loving musical Hair. “I’m a bit of a hippie myself,” she declares. Though she is one of a handful of new cast members in Hair’s transfer to Broadway, it’s far from her first experience with the musical. “I actually did a production in summer camp. I played Sheila when I was 15 and sang ‘Easy to Be Hard’ in Hebrew. I can’t remember any of the lyrics.” When it came time to decide if she would get naked in the show, Levy didn’t hesitate. “I’m very cool with it, surprisingly,” she says. “It’s very appropriate for the show. It’s a powerful moment.”
Let the Sun Shine: “It’s so trippy,” says Levy of her experience in Hair thus far. Having missed both productions in Central Park, she is happy to be entering the Broadway run completely fresh, even though it was a little daunting at first. “[New cast members] Gavin Creel, Sasha Allen and I had our first day of rehearsal just learning music together and at the end of the day we were like ‘Are you nervous? Are they going to like us?’ It was totally like the first day of school.” She quickly found Hair can't help but create a community, and a loving one at that. “One of the beautiful things about Hair, especially coming off of playing Elphaba, is to be part of a show that’s really an ensemble piece. It values every single person. Everyone has their moment to shine and that’s a beautiful thing.”
