CLEVELAND - It's one of the most well known and successful musicals of all time. Phantom of the Opera is back in Cleveland and back with it is a Baldwin Wallace grad that's been proving time and again, BW knows how to prepare students for Broadway.
“I actually saw Phantom of the Opera in 1992 when the national tour came through Playhouse Square. I was hooked. My parents, god bless them, bought me the double cassette tape. They got me a souvenir program and I use to study that souvenir program for hours,” says Trista Moldovan.
Phantom of the Opera went from a childhood experience to a youth obsession to a career for Moldovan, who is returning to Cleveland with the show. She played Christine Daae for 3 years but now comes to Playhouse Square as Carlotta Giudicelli.
Moldovan says, “There’s something about Carlotta. She’s funny, she’s sassy, she’s Italian, she’s a diva. Very unlike me, so I get to let that out every night, that side of me.”
She climbed the musical theatre ladder with the help of Baldwin Wallace.
“It is renown as one of the top musical theatre programs in the country but also what I love about Baldwin Wallace, Vicky Bussert teaches you the business side of show business,” says Moldovan.
Bussert is the director of the musical theatre program at BW and says Trista has always had a strong drive to succeed. She remembers seeing her play Christine the last time she was in town with the show and knew it wouldn’t be long before she was back.
“The whole reason I do this is I want to give students the tools to be successful at doing this. So many people train in musical theatre and then never work at all. Trista has been working basically nonstop,” says Bussert.
“Everybody is talented in New York City but I feel like what puts you over the edge is knowing how to market yourself and knowing how to conduct yourself when you walk into a room. Vicky gave us the gift of giving us that knowledge,” Moldovan added.
It’s only about 15 miles from Baldwin Wallace to Playhouse Square, but Moldovan it was a long 15 miles filled with detours along the way. She did her fair share of bartending, waiting tables, regional and local theatre before getting her big break. It means a lot for her to be back in her hometown on the big stage, but having some of her old friends, family and classmates see her living out her dream means even more.
“I have a ton of friends that I’m so excited to see while I’m here. I can’t wait to see everyone,” says Moldovan.
Phantom of the Opera is Playhouse Square through April 20th. For ticket information, click here.