Interviews

So You Think You Can Dance Champion Melanie Moore Claims Her Voice in Fiddler on the Roof

The seasoned dancer is moving beyond movement to tell stories, and is learning how to do it on a Broadway stage.

Dancer Melanie Moore steps into the featured role of Chava in the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof.
Dancer Melanie Moore steps into the featured role of Chava in the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof.
(© David Gordon)

In the world of classical dance, professional ascension is traditionally dictated by a clear hierarchy. You join a company's corps, work your way up the ranks as a soloist, and eventually, if all goes according to plan, land a top spot as a principal dancer. Good thing for 24-year-old Melanie Moore that Broadway enjoys breaking rank as much as it enjoys breaking legs. Best known as the season eight winner of the Fox competition show So You Think You Can Dance — a program that only occasionally confirms its contestants can speak, let alone sing or act — Moore is stepping beyond her comfort zone of silent expression to take on the role of Tevye's bookish daughter Chava in Tony winner Bartlett Sher's Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof.

With a nuanced emotional arc and a third of the iconic song "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" in her hands, Moore is bravely undertaking her first-ever featured character on a Broadway stage. Luckily, Broadway has become a familiar venue for Moore to tackle "firsts."

"That was the first time I had ever spoken onstage in my whole life," she says, looking back on her Broadway debut in Finding Neverland. She was singled out among the ensemble to play Peter Pan, an ethereal dancing figure who sporadically appears in J.M. Barrie's imagination, and takes center stage during a performance of Peter Pan that is woven into the show's eleven o'clock number. "It was a whole scene that was focused on me," she remembers, looking back on the dance lab where it was first crafted by director Diane Paulus and choreographer Mia Michaels. "It was a very interesting experience to have that be my first 'theater thing' — where I not only had a couple of dance solos and featured dancing moments, but I actually had lines. That's how I got into this side of things — and I love it."

Melanie Moore (center) as Peter Pan in Broadway's Finding Neverland.
Melanie Moore (center) as Peter Pan in Broadway's Finding Neverland.
(© Carol Rosegg)

Even with her appetite whetted for some dialogue, the siren call of Fiddler also came in the form of a dance call. "The audition came up for the dance lab and Hofesh Shechter, the choreographer for Fiddler on the Roof, is so unbelievable…so when that came out that he was going to be doing new choreography for Fiddler on the Roof and they asked if I wanted to go in for the dance call, I said, 'Absolutely.'"

Moore balanced the two-week dance lab with her run in Finding Neverland, spending her days learning the movement of Shechter and her nights performing at the Lunt-Fontanne. "They vocalized us while we were there," she remembers of the Fiddler lab. "They said, 'We just need to know who can sing because we really love you guys. This is for the Broadway cast, so just come in and show us what you can do. If you can't sing at all that's OK, just try.'"

Here, Moore was bound to stand out from the crowd of dancers. "My mom put me in voice lessons when I was twelve or thirteen — because she's the smartest lady in the whole world and I owe my whole career to her," Moore chuckles, radiating the vindicating gratitude that every mother dreams of. "I used to tell my mom I wanted to be on Broadway. She was like, 'OK, you think you want to do this in the future? We see those shows all the time. You're gonna have to know how to sing.' And so I started singing off and on around my dance schedule."

Her time studying at Fordham University and slaying the competition on So You Think You Can Dance at the age of only 19 put a four-year pause on her vocal training. But after spending some time forging a West Coast career, she decided to head back east to pursue a new set of goals.

"I wanted to be a performer — that was my dream," says Moore. "When I got to L.A., I was a dancer but it was a little different. I was doing background things, I was doing industrial work, I was doing lots of underappreciated jobs. I [thought], 'OK, maybe that's not exactly what I want. Maybe it is that I want to tell a real story — a real story with dance and words and singing.'"

After moving back to New York, Moore focused on conditioning her voice, taking lessons twice a week so that "when I walk into a room after hopefully making it through dance call, they'll be like, 'Oh, she's not just a dancer. She can actually sing.'" The plan quickly landed Moore Finding Neverland, and in the midst of Shechter's dance lab, put her within striking distance of her second Broadway show in a year.

"I [thought], 'Oh my gosh, that would be amazing! I've never done anything really acting-wise, so I would love to even try and cover one of the daughters.'"

It took another dose of maternal audacity to set Moore's sights higher than a swing. "I was getting a song ready, and my mom [said], 'Why would you cover? Why would you not play one?' I was like, 'Mom, because that's not how it usually happens. You usually work your way up. I would be lucky to even get to cover them.'"

Her mother's response? "OK, Melanie — but keep aiming high."

Cut to this evening's opening at the Broadway Theatre where Moore will officially become part of Fiddler on the Roof's iconic theatrical history and assert her standing on Broadway as a true triple threat.

"Aiming high," of course, has not come without its challenges. "I think the fact that I'm not used to always using my words gives me away a little bit," she admits. "I've had some really wonderful dance teachers who have taught me about acting without even teaching me the art of acting, because dance is acting." Laughingly recounting her hours in the rehearsal room, Moore explains, "I find myself constantly trying to release my jaw and let go of the tension so I can just speak like a person."

The learning curve, fortunately, has been a joyous one. "It's really been something remarkable to be a part of for my first acting experience. I've fallen in love with the ability to tell a story not just with your movement and your body but also to be able to suspend that reality when you're singing as well — and now using words."

But beyond her newfound stage craft, the greatest lesson Moore's learned from this experience is always listen to your mother.

Moore stars as Chava in Fiddler on the Roof at the Broadway Theatre.
Moore stars as Chava in Fiddler on the Roof at the Broadway Theatre.
(© Joan Marcus)

Featured In This Story