Spotlight on Vishal Vaidya
by Katy Pfaffl
Broadway performers dedicate their lives to training, pushing their bodies, minds, and hearts beyond their limits all while picking themselves up in the face of rejection time and time again. With grueling schedules of performing 8 shows in 6 days every week while also often still rehearsing and auditioning, they are the ultimate pro-athletes of the entertainment industry. As a retired Broadway performer and a private voice teacher who has had the privilege of working with this community for 20+ years bearing witness to the hard work, heartbreak, tears, injury, and beyond... it never ceases to amaze me how, as soon as I sit in the audience of a Broadway show, these same performers bravely and brilliantly command the stage with effortless grace.
Broadway is MAGIC.
When BAE began, we knew it would be deeply special to share the stage with members of the Broadway and performing arts community. What we were not prepared for was how much these artists would give back to us, and the youth we work with, simply by being the beautiful, inspiring humans they are in the world when they are not performing. This year we have 10 amazing performers who make up our core team of Broadway Ambassadors (BA’s). They work with our youth, perform and fundraise, and help us spread the word about BAE within the entertainment industry and on social media. In other words, they are rockstars.
The first of our BA’s I want to introduce you to is the incomparable Vishal Vaidya who has been working with BAE for 5 years as a BA and a voice teacher to our students in India. After the Broadway industry was shut down for almost 2 years due to the pandemic, we are thrilled that Vishal is currently working at the Berkley RepertoryTheater in the new musical Swept Away.
Here’s a short interview I had with Vishal:
KATY - What has it been like stepping back into doing a show after not being on stage for a while due to the pandemic?
VISHAL - Being back on stage feels like coming home. The first time I was back in a theater was for a solo concert I got to do in Connecticut. I didn’t realize how much I had missed being on stage until I finished the opening number, said hello to the audience, and immediately burst into tears. I’ve been performing professionally for half of my life now, and I cherish the opportunities I get more than ever. I feel very lucky.
KATY - What is one Live in the Orange moment you've experienced in this rehearsal/performance process?
VISHAL - I have two jobs in Swept Away. One is to be in the ensemble of the show and to perform that every night. The other job is to understudy the role of Mate, which is played beautifully by John Gallagher Jr. Understudying requires you to Live in the Orange. You have to be prepared to step into the role at a moment’s notice, should something happen. I haven’t performed the role for an audience yet but I was able to do a rehearsal with all of the costumes, props, set, and lights, and it was thrilling!
KATY - What would you like the BAE community to know most about you as the person/performer you are today?
The biggest change in my life as a person/performer these days is that I am saying “No” a lot. Show business is saturated and it can be so easy to be a people-pleasing “yes man”. I have been that person and it has kept me overworked and unfulfilled. So I am trying to say no to the things that I don’t want to do so that I can leave space for projects that really serve me as an artist. Saying no is a practice, but so far it has been working out, and I feel very lucky to be doing the work I’m doing as a teacher, performer, and BAE Ambassador.
