The Elon University music theatre alum joins the casts of “Disney Dreams,” “Twice Charmed,” and the world premiere of “Tangled.”
Leah Greene ’15 is currently fulfilling her “Disney dreams” as she performs on the Disney Magic cruise ship.
Greene had just graduated from Elon when she drove 10 hours from Michigan to New York City for the Disney audition. After a weekend of auditions and callbacks, Greene was told that she would hear from the casting director within three weeks if she received a contract. It was the very last day of the three-week period, and Greene assumed that the opportunity had past, when she finally received an email offer.
Now, Greene is playing Anne Marie in “Disney Dreams,” Drizella in “Twice Charmed,” and in the ensemble of the world premiere of “Tangled.”
“It’s definitely an experience unlike anything else,” Greene said. “I can’t even compare it to any theatre I’ve done because the shows at Disney are truly their own genre. The main stage shows are original shows and are a bit shorter than most musicals you would see on Broadway. Since Disney owns all of these amazing stories and characters that everyone knows, it gives them the opportunity to create some incredible shows with incredible production quality. The most challenging part of this experience was the pace of learning these tracks; it felt like I didn’t have a whole lot of time to ‘play’ with my roles. So, I had to take more ownership with the parts I had, especially with Anne Marie. ‘Tangled’ was tricky as well because it was a completely new show to our creative team, so they were figuring it out as we were. It was so fun to be part of creating a whole new show with the elements changing every day.”
Greene also offers advice to current Elon students.
“There are two major things that I remind myself of daily,” she said. “The first is to know that your path is not going to be the same as everyone else’s. Find peace in that. We all go through highs and lows in this business, and you just have to remember not to compare yourself to others. We are all on a different journey and ultimately we’ll all end up where we need to be.
“The second piece of advice is simply to be yourself. This can be tricky and sometimes confusing in this business. We often get wrapped up in this need to be likable and castable. It’s the nature of our business. It took me a long time to come to the realization that you will never receive everyone’s approval, and that’s totally okay. It’s funny to think about how far I’ve come since my freshman year at Elon. More than anything, it’s my confidence where I’ve seen the most growth.
“In the past I used to think that it was a bad thing that I was ‘different;’ I would try to blend in, and it was really holding me back. The thing that makes Elon so special is that they promote the uniqueness within a performer and really nurture your individuality. While it’s important to know your ‘type’ and where you fit in, it’s extremely important to know what makes you different and special, because that’s what will get you the job. Once I embraced that part of myself that was different, auditions became a thousand times easier.”
Click this link to find out more information about how to see Leah and the rest of the performers on the Disney Magic: https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ships/magic/