Mormon Wives Star Whitney Leavitt Isn’t Scared to Belt on Broadway

Before she dominated the leaderboard on Dancing With the Stars, before Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives made proud Luddites bite their nails wondering “Will #MomTok survive?,” even before the hit reality show’s stars formed the friend group that birthed their coveted hashtag, Whitney Leavitt was just making the most of her Covid lockdown. By 2022, she was going viral shaking her booty in PJs to the Pussycat Dolls’ “Buttons” to the order of 35 million views.

Her dancing ability was not a secret. But after her performances on season 34 of Dancing With the Stars proved her to be a cut above, the reaction from Leavitt’s followers, as she tells it, was, “Goddamn! I didn’t know that she could dance.” Only now is her corner of the internet learning about her dance degree from Brigham Young University and artistic aspirations that long pre-date her life of “content creation.”

Leavitt hadn’t even finished her time on the ballroom floor before Chicago tapped her to be Broadway’s next Roxie Hart, a leap her pro partner Mark Ballas encouraged her to take. Now in New York City, ready for her debut run from February 2 to March15, she’s closing the loop on her route to the life and career she’s always wanted.

We talked to Leavitt and found out what piece of vocal advice has unlocked her inner singer, which of Roxie’s numbers is sneakily exhausting, and why she’s the new president of the Kate Baldwin fan club.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Welcome to New York! How’s the city treating you so far? Do you feel like a native yet?
Oh my god I love it so much. I might just have to move here! I did find out that people call the subway the “train.” Somebody said, “Oh you take the train?” And I was like, “I didn’t know there was a train here.” [Laughs]

Most of your fans met you first as an influencer, either on #MomTok or The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. But after Dancing With the Stars and now your Broadway debut, there will be more people who meet you as an artist first. How do you feel about that shift?
I love that. I grew up dancing, I graduated [with a degree] in fine arts, and I’ve always had a passion for performing. So it was an unconventional route to get to where I am today. The reality show organically happened and I just kind of went for it. But this was always the goal for me.

You fittingly got the first call from Chicago about the possibility of a Broadway debut the week you performed your Hamilton routine on Dancing With the Stars. What was your reaction to that phone call?
A lot of things were going on in my mind. Because I was like, “Well, I love this. I’ve never done this. But I want to do this.” I just didn’t know how to go about it. Mark [Ballas] was such a great person to have in my corner. I was like, “How do I do that while also giving it my all on Dancing with the Stars?” He really helped me during that time.

When you came to New York and saw Chicago on Broadway for the first time, what was the portion of the show where you thought, “I get to do that?”
Kate [Baldwin] was who I saw. Love her. Iconic person, human being, performer. When she did her monologue [in “Roxie”], she does such a great job at gravitating the audience, making the audience feel like they’re a part of this journey that Roxie’s going on. I was like, “Oh yeah. I’m excited to do that.”

Which portion of the show made you think, “I have to do that?”
When she sings “Me and My Baby.” The singing and dancing for that specific piece—every time I rehearse that, I am drenched. She made it look so easy! I might not make it look easy.

You’ve said that singing will be the biggest learning curve for this experience. What’s the best piece of vocal advice you’ve gotten so far?
Going for it. I think that’s honestly with anything. Even with dance. If you go for it, generally, it can look better than if you’re holding back. So I’ve just been going for it. I’ve been belting those notes. I’m excited for people to hear it because nobody’s ever heard me sing … in the media.

Has it been fun cultivating this new skill?
Yes, 1,000 percent! And in a way it’s a bit of a dance. There’s technique to it. There’s choices that you make. I’ve enjoyed figuring out the dance in it. That’s the visual that my vocal coach gave me. He knew what to tell me.

Are you ready for Broadway’s eight-show week?
I’m really excited for it, honestly. And I think the more that I do it, it’s just going to become second nature. When I was trailing Kate last night, I’d be talking to her and then she’d be like [puts on seductive facial expression] and go out onstage. For me, I think I would need to really prep myself. But she has it in her so much where she can do that. I’m excited to get to that point.

You and Mark filmed your own post-season freestyle dance that ended with the title card, “Social media is bad for your mental health”—a response to your own experiences with online hate. What about your time on Broadway are you excited to keep just for yourself?
I don’t know, because sometimes I don’t know how to shut up. [Laughs] I think those moments before I go onstage for the first time. It was the same for Dancing With the Stars. It would just be me in my dressing room, and I’d just look in the mirror, and I have this little mantra that I say. That moment is just for me. Nobody else is there. Nobody knows what I say to myself. I guarantee I’ll be doing that for every single show.