By Michael Gioia
12 Aug 2012

	Jason Gotay

"I always felt ready for Broadway," said 23-year-old leading man Jason Gotay, who grew up across the bridge in Brooklyn. "Now that I'm here, I have to admit that it was a little scary." Gotay, who plays Jackson High's brainy heartthrob Randall, felt the nerves as Broadway turned reality. "Because I cared so much about delivering the best performance possible," he said, "I often second-guessed every instinct I had about the character… Once I learned to trust myself and the creative geniuses around me, I finally started to relax and enjoy the ride!"

His first performance on Broadway, however, he thought he might "explode!" Gotay added, "There was an amazing energy radiating from the audience that night; you could feel everyone's excitement buzzing all around you. Underneath all of that energy, though, was a calm, overwhelming feeling of gratitude. I was almost in disbelief that I had made it to my first Broadway performance. Now, as I'm writing these words on the day of our opening night on Broadway, I can't wait to experience those feelings again in a few hours! Although this time, I might actually explode."

	Elle McLemore

Elle McLemore was "never a cheerleader in school," she said. It wasn't until she landed the lead role in a 2010 cheerleading independent film entitled "At the Top of the Pyramid" that she began to learn extensions, preps and the "scorpion" cheerleading position (knocking out two of her front teeth in the process).

Now, in Bring It On, the 20 year old from Las Vegas, NV, takes the "Top of the Pyramid" nightly at Broadway's St. James, where she stars as manipulative Truman High newcomer Eva. "It wasn't until high school when my dad was the pyrotechnician for Phantom in Vegas [that] I became interested in musical theatre," said McLemore. "Broadway became the ultimate dream after I saw that show. And, to think… Now we're at the St. James — across from Phantom on Broadway!"

 Continued...