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[0:00] Justin Guarini: Welcome to another episode of Audition Secrets. I'm Justin Guarini, and you are listening to the Behind the Scenes podcast for nailing more auditions, booking more jobs, and the podcast that gives you outstanding conversations with some of the movers and shakers in our business. And this week we have a very talented mover and shaker in the form of Sierra Boggess. If you don't know who she is, she's an American theater actress and singer best known for originating the role of Ariel in The Little Mermaid on Broadway, and for her multiple, multiple, multiple appearances as Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera. Ladies and gentlemen, Sierra is no joke. Anybody who can take on Christine Daaé for many, many years is no joke in my book, and when you hear this interview, you will understand why she is who she is, why she has gotten where she has gotten, and why she has been one of my most favorite interviews to date.

Real quick, before we get to the interview, if you have not gone to broadwaypodcastnetwork.com to check out all the wonderful theater podcasts, this one included, in their network, make sure that you go there. I struggled for so long to try and find theater podcasts that I loved, and they're out there, but they were all over the place, but Broadway Podcast Network has brought them together in one place, and not only can you hear things like Little Known Facts Podcast, or Broad Wasted, or The Ensemblist, but you can hear this podcast and so many other wonderful theater-related podcasts. So make sure you go to Broadway Podcast Network and check it out. Alright, let's get to my interview with the one, the only, Sierra Boggess.

[1:49] Justin Guarini: Every time I see your name, I think of the time I saw you in some, I don't know, huge concert somewhere in Europe, where the announcer said, and now, Sierra Boggess, and it was just so crisp, and it tickles me every single time I hear it in my head. Welcome to the show, Sierra.

[2:04] Sierra Boggess: Thank you so much. I'm thrilled to be here.

[2:08] Justin Guarini: Oh, well, I'm so thrilled to have you here. Okay, look, everybody knows about your phenomenal career, and if you don't, give Sierra a gook if you haven't. But I'm going to ask you a question, and if you don't, give Sierra a gook if you haven't. But I want to dive straight into something that I absolutely love, that is a passion project for you, and that's Light Lessons.

[2:26] Sierra Boggess: Yeah.

[2:27] Justin Guarini: What motivated you to create that?

[2:30] Sierra Boggess: So, when I was, in 2009, I was working in London, and I came upon this thing in some, one of these, like, bookshops that have, like, crystals and all this stuff, of course, like, in London, and they had these, like, words on them, and I started using that, where I would pull a word before a show to focus myself and my energy, and then I started doing that, giving that opportunity to other people when they would come to my dressing rooms, do you want to pull a word or something? And then, from there, it started to be like, wait a second, this is actually a really good idea just in life, and so I created Light Lessons, which are 20 words or phrases that really work for me, like, kindness, or empower, or be brave, or be curious, or you are enough, things that sort of, I always work for me, or that I'm known for, and I wanted to create my own so that people could pick a word and focus their day, their hour, their minute sometimes, their month, if you're a performer and it's your audition, or you're about to go on stage, or you want to focus your energy towards something other than all the external stuff, it's just something that's always worked for me, and I wanted to share that with everyone.

I called them Light Lessons because I was in New York, and I was contemplating, I was at the river, and I was contemplating these fireflies that were just flying around, and I'm from Denver, Colorado, so it's dry climate, we didn't have fireflies growing up, but, so whenever I see them, I'm just so fascinated, and I thought, like, whoever's created this universe has created a bug that's, like, a weird-looking, normal bug during the day, and then at night, its whole butt lights up, and I'm like, who thought of this? And I'm like, wait a second, this, to me, because I think that everything is a metaphor for us in nature, in this life, and whoever thought of that, to me, the metaphor is that the light is within all of us when darkness feels like it's all around, and I thought Light Lessons.

[4:44] Sierra Boggess: Yeah.

[4:45] Justin Guarini: Yeah, that's it, and it's beautiful, and I just want to read something from your website where you can find out more about these. You say, Hello, fellow lightworkers. I believe that whenever we feel stuck, anxious, worried, overwhelmed, it is an opportunity for us to reconnect with nature, quiet the mind, and realign with our unique purpose, and so these cards were created with just that in mind, the Light Lessons that honor the fireflies, who I believe are magical reminders that even when darkness is all around, we have light within us, and there's a little bit more that goes on there, but what I really love, especially in this, is, and it's at the bottom of your emails, you put it all over social media, and it is such a gorgeous phrase that I have to call it out, and the phrase is, quote, You are enough.

You are so enough. It is unbelievable how enough you are, end quote, and that, to me, encapsulates so much of just who you are and what it is that you do, but a lot of the things that I do with Audition Secrets, I am constantly trying to tell my students, my clients, the people that I run into that, look, you are enough. You have put in the work. I can't even begin to tell you, and you know this, that there's so many people that we work with all the time. I'll never forget working with Keith Carradine at Encores. Now, Encores, for people who don't know, is a wonderful program where City Center takes older musicals that haven't been done in a while, and they redo them again, but they take all these wonderful Broadway performers and oftentimes A-list performers, both in Broadway and in just general entertainment, and they make us basically learn the show in 10 days and then put it up.

It's like summer stock for the pros, and Keith Carradine was so nervous, and if you don't know who Keith Carradine is, look him up. He's part of a very famous acting family. He's won a Tony. He's won an Oscar, and I was so shocked at how nervous he was and how he was like, I had to take this script and I had to get it a month in advance and learn it because this is such an intense process, and it just goes to show you that we put in all this work. Keith has every award that you could possibly want in this business, right, and yet he still suffers from the self-doubt. He still asks himself in some way or another, am I good enough? Am I worthy enough to do this? I love the fact that you're just like, you are so worthy. You have no idea how worthy you are, and that's something that I wish more people knew in our business.

[7:22] Sierra Boggess: Absolutely, and I think about this all the time, and also, don't we preach what we need the most? I have to remind myself all the time that it's like, or I have other friends that are like, wait, go back to your quotes here. People who really know me, they're like, oh yeah, that's right. You are enough. That applies to me too as opposed to, oh no, everybody else, but I think that also when you get to a position in your career where there's more expectation because you are known for these things and people do expect that, oh, he's probably fine or because he has all these things, but that's when you have to be re-reminded of it even more. I think that saying you are enough, you're so enough, it's unbelievable how enough you are means something to you one day, and then the next decade, it's going to mean something else to you because we're always growing and changing.

We're constantly forgetting, especially in this world now that we live in where everything is at our fingertips and we can have tons and tons and tons of whatever we want and it's all instant. We forget to just go back to the simplicity of who we are, how we came onto this planet is enough. If anybody ever wants to challenge you on that idea, I find that to ask them, would you ever tell a baby, a newborn baby, you're not enough? Would you ever see a tiny kitten or something that just came onto this planet or this tree or this acorn or this blade of grass? You would never look at it and be like, well, that's not enough. You just wouldn't. So why do we do to ourselves and why should it not apply to you, but it applies to everyone else?

[9:04] Justin Guarini: Yes. Go on, preach, Sierra. Yes. Thank you. Well, you know what? I'm going to leave that right there. So where can people find out more about Light Lessons?

[9:19] Sierra Boggess: So go to my website, SierraBoggess.com, and you can order them directly from there. And I also work with Fit for Broadway, this amazing other website, Jane Jordan, who runs it. And her sister is the one who actually hand drew everything that's on these cards. They really are beautiful.

[9:38] Justin Guarini: That's great. Yeah, they are. And I'm really proud of them. And I sell them also at all my concerts. So anything that whenever I'm singing or something, then they're always available.

[9:48] Justin Guarini: Alright. Excellent. Alright. Well, go on, get them, people. And in the meantime, let's get to one of my favorite subjects and the subject of this podcast and much of what I'm doing outside of my own performance career, and that's auditions. If there was one word you could use to describe auditions, what would it be?

[10:05] Sierra Boggess: Terrifying.

[10:11] Justin Guarini: Why do you say that, Sierra?

[10:17] Sierra Boggess: I think, and I talk about this all the time when I teach, what we are expected to do in an audition situation is so unnatural. I've always said, too, I don't understand why performers end up taking, well, now even as I'm saying this, I'm changing. But when people are addicted to drugs or up or down or something, I'm like, you actually don't really need it because what we do, if you want to feel like your highest high, go to an audition. If you want to feel your lowest low, go to an audition. It's like we go through it within five minutes sometimes. We're as high as we can get and as low as we can get. It's unnatural. I have an amazing therapist and he says that in our business, we're regularly scheduled for heartbreak. Isn't that amazing? And I'm like, yes. That's a t-shirt. That's a t-shirt.

[11:06] Sierra Boggess: That's it. We are regularly scheduled for heartbreak. If you think about it, if you break down the audition, you're going into a room usually with really terrible lighting and people are behind a table. So it feels very corporate, very cold and not inviting. You are being asked to come in there and be completely open and vulnerable, but not expect them to be your therapist on the other side. So it's not going to be an exchange of energy. It's going to be, this is what I've, this is who I am. And so we have to be ruthlessly ourselves in an environment that is uninviting. And that's why the word I would use is terrifying.

[11:45] Sierra Boggess: And it's terrifying. It can be terrifying, amazing or terrifying, fearful, I guess. But I do think, and I say this as well, that we get these butterflies, right? And that the butterflies are either, oh my God, I have these butterflies because I'm so terrified, or I have these butterflies because I'm so excited. It's the same butterflies. You just have to change the thought around them. And that is helpful.

[12:09] Justin Guarini: Right. Changing the frame. And that leads me to another question I was going to ask you, you know, nerves are

[12:14] Sierra Boggess: Huge problem. Those butterfly feelings, the sweaty palms, the breath, the way it is, and everyone in some way, shape, or form has them. But how do you overcome, or like you say, reframe your nerves when you get that? Yeah, I always change the mindset. So I do not allow myself to say I have these nerves because I'm terrified. I say I have these nerves because I'm so excited, really excited to share what I've worked on. Now, if you are somebody who is terrified because you know that you haven't done enough work, you know that you don't know your lyrics, you know that you don't know your notes, you know that you haven't thought about who am I singing this to and why, you haven't filled yourself up with as much work as you can possibly do on your own, then you are going to be terrified.

So the only time that I allow myself to think that I'm really super scared is if I didn't prepare. But that will only happen once, really, in my life, and then I learn from it because it's just not worth it.

[13:18] Justin Guarini: Oh, no. Yeah, exactly. You know what I mean? Especially when you get to a stage, yes, ma'am. Yes, yes. In the beginning, I thought that I could skate by at times. Not totally, but at times, I thought I could skate by on my talent or my reputation. And it doesn't work that way. It doesn't matter where you are in the pecking order of talent or in the pecking order of people who just get cast all the time or don't get cast. It's like you have to do the work. And what I say in my book is that I give these techniques, but at the end of the day, they are worthless if you have not put in the work. Do not go into the room unprepared because then there's nothing that I can tell you. There's nothing that Sierra can tell you.

There's nothing that whomever can tell you that will help overcome that. And that's the basic foundation of just audition technique and just being prepared as an actor. It's like, man, we go to school for years and years and years. If we're lucky, we're able to go to school, right? And yet, we come out after working that hard. And so many people that I run into just think that they can get by on talent. But it's like, no, no, no, honey. Look, the lowest person on the ensemble rung probably has a better voice than you do on Broadway. You know what I mean? So you can't get away with just being talented. You have to put in the work.

[14:43] Sierra Boggess: 100%, yes. So now that it's terrible, it's torture, it's barbaric. Those are words I like to use as well. I have a few watershed auditions, audition moments. What is your most memorable audition and why?

[14:59] Sierra Boggess: Wow. I guess that I would have to talk about my audition for Little Mermaid because the first time that I auditioned, I thought that I had done enough work. It's a movie that I had known since I was a kid. I had been pretending I was Ariel since I was a kid.

[15:14] Justin Guarini: You kind of look like Ariel.

[15:20] Sierra Boggess: Yeah, I look like Ariel. So I thought, great. Yeah, I would love to do this. But bear in mind, this was 2006 when I was auditioning. And so even the internet wasn't even that big of a thing yet. So it's not like there was this huge hubbub about it. And I didn't know anything really about what was going on on Broadway. But I had just enough excitement that's like, oh, cool, this is going to be something. So I went and then I auditioned. And I never heard anything back. And then two months later, I got a call from my agent saying, would you, would Fiera come back in to audition to be in the ensemble and to cover Ariel? And at the time I was living in Vegas, I was playing Christine in Phantom. And I said no, out of, it just didn't feel right.

Something didn't resonate with me with that. I was like, oh, no, I think I'm good. I'd rather stay and play Christine. I was, I don't know, something even though I hadn't made my Broadway debut yet, but I just didn't feel like that was the way.

[16:31] Sierra Boggess: And then another two months later, I get a call saying, can she come in to come to New York in three days for a final callback for Ariel? And I was like, now hold on, because I hadn't heard anything. In fact, I was out of the running. I wasn't, I hadn't even had a callback. So something had occurred. And what had occurred, and so why I chose this story to tell, is what had occurred is the director called the music director of Phantom of the Opera, who happened to be one of her dear friends, and said, do you know anyone we cannot find in Ariel? And she said, Sierra Boggess. We'd never spoken about it. And she was, and Francesca, our director, said, I think we've seen her, and we passed. And she was like, you need to see her again.

And when I knew this, I was like, hold on a second. I am being given a second chance here. So what do I need to do? And I started doing work on a cartoon character like you cannot believe. I sat down with the VHS movie, and I started sketching out what it is about her in this film that makes her, that I can access as a human person instead of a cartoon director. How do I make this real? All the stuff, all the work that we were talking about.

[17:51] Sierra Boggess: I did so much work, I can't even tell you. I got a pair of Heelys, because at that point, I had heard that they were using Heelys for the auditions for Mermaid. And Heelys, for people who don't know, are the shoes that have a wheel on the heel. Well, I had never put a pair of those on. My dresser at Phantom happened to have the same size shoes. We rolled up the carpet in my dressing room, and I practiced. I fell on my butt a number of times, but I knew I need to fall on my butt before I get in the room. So I armed myself with everything possible that I could before I went in that room. So when I got in the room, it was like, okay, they changed the key to the song on my voice right then. The Broadway key is higher than the movie key because my voice sounded younger in a higher key.

So we changed it right there to see if I could. Alan Menken himself went to the piano, started playing, changed it. I was there for five hours. They kept having me sit outside, come back in, sit outside, come back in, read with flounders, read with Prince Eric, dance with Prince Eric, and then Heely. And it was me and four other girls. And I was the only one who had ever put on a pair of Heelys before. So everyone else is falling, trying to figure out how to do it. In the meanwhile, I'm just like skating around the room.

[19:15] Justin Guarini: Now, wait, can we stop really quickly here? Ladies and gentlemen, listening to this right now, you just heard a masterclass in what it takes to get a high-level show with a high-level group of people, Disney in this case. And I'm so proud of the work that you did. And it's obvious why you got it. I mean, obviously your talent, you're just a wonderful person, but the work that you put in to make this work, if you can bring that level of commitment and that level of just plain can-do, you are worthy enough to the craft, then you are going to open a lot of doors for yourself.

[20:01] Sierra Boggess: It's true. It's very true. And I also will say to that, the outcome for me was the outcome that we know, which is that I booked it. I have also done the same amount of work for something and have not booked it. And so I just want to say that too, for everybody listening, is that we don't always have the Disney ending, but what I always say is I would never do less work knowing that the outcome is not going to be in my favor. I'm always going to do that level of work because that's integrity. And if your priority, all our priorities shift, and there's nothing wrong with that. So that's also important that there isn't one way, which is what's so great about your podcast and what you do is there's so many different avenues to get to where we go.

And this is the world according to Sierra. This isn't the only way. And reputation is such a huge component of what we do. Your reputation is half of the battle, if not more, because everyone's talented, right? It's just the people on the other side of the table are also thinking, okay, who do I want to have to work with for the next, hopefully six months to two years?

[21:23] Justin Guarini: Yeah, absolutely. And that is part of why we're talking about, make sure that you do that work, that level of work in an audition, because it shows them that you're willing to do that, because I don't think anybody is confused about the amount of work that it takes to do this job. And we just need to show that we are willing to do it, but mean it too, instead of just look at me on the surface, how much work I'm willing to do, aren't I great? It's really is, no, I really want to do this for myself as well, because that's the only way I'm going to feel better going on to on stage. And that's going back to what we were talking about, just in the basic version of having nerves for an audition or having nerves of going out on the stage. If I have armed myself with as much prep work as possible, it's going to make it easier. It just is. And that's the mental game.

[22:16] Justin Guarini: It's going to make it easier in my mental game. If you are someone who auditions, you're someone who goes into the room or goes on stage and performs, then you need to get the book Audition Secrets Volume One. It is the behind the scenes guidebook for nailing more auditions and booking more jobs. And the best part about all of it is it's absolutely free to you if you go to auditionsecrets.com and hit the tab that says free book. It's a digital download. You can have instant access to it today. So after this interview, go to auditionsecrets.com and get your copy.

[23:01] Sierra Boggess: I never felt like I belonged. I struggled with that. When I started, I felt like people are going to find me out that I don't belong.

[23:05] Justin Guarini: What did you think they were going to find out?

[23:13] Sierra Boggess: That I'm just like some kid who just loves this, you know, like, I don't know. It's that weird, like, irrational, like, that you're just like this kid who loves theater or something, you know.

[23:23] Justin Guarini: Did you go to school for theater?

[23:29] Sierra Boggess: Yeah, I did. That's what's crazy is that it's like, I both felt I belonged and felt I didn't belong. Like, I was always terrified of, like, high power people or the people that I deemed as like, oh, these are like the producers. Or it's just like, oh, that's like a scary, that's a scary version of things that I don't really know. I just, I'm going to do what I know how to do, which is what I train for singing, dancing and acting. If that makes any sense. And I think I definitely struggle now with expectation, people's expectations. And so I'm constantly trying to just manage that where it's like, this is, it's all irrational. All these fears, by the way, that we have are irrational in general, fear in general, with the exception of the fear of like, oh my goodness, there's a bear over there, I should run away.

But like the fears, most of the fears that we have are absolutely irrational. And what I love to tell people, and I know this is a lesson that you have learned throughout your career, but I felt the same exact way.

[24:28] Justin Guarini: Welcome back to Audition Secrets. Today, we have the incredible Sierra Boggess with us.

[24:58] Sierra Boggess: Thank you for having me, Justin!

[25:28] Justin Guarini: So, you’ve had such an amazing career, especially with your roles in "The Little Mermaid" and "The Phantom of the Opera." What has been the most rewarding part of your journey so far?

[25:58] Sierra Boggess: Honestly, I think the most rewarding part has been the connections I've made with people. Every time I perform, I get to share a piece of myself, and I love that.

[26:18] Justin Guarini: That’s beautiful. I know you’ve talked about the anxiety that comes with performing. How do you manage that?

[26:38] Sierra Boggess: Mindset work is really half the battle for me. I’ve learned that it’s okay to feel anxious, but I try to focus on the joy of performing rather than the fear of it.

[26:58] Justin Guarini: That’s such a great perspective. Can you share a specific technique you use to shift your mindset before an audition or performance?

[27:28] Sierra Boggess: Absolutely! I like to visualize the performance going well. I close my eyes and imagine every detail, from the audience's reactions to my own feelings of joy while performing.

[27:48] Justin Guarini: Visualization is powerful. Have you ever had a moment where you felt like you weren’t good enough or that you didn’t belong?

[28:08] Sierra Boggess: Oh, for sure. I think everyone has those moments. But I’ve realized that we’re all just human, and it’s important to remind ourselves that we’re not that special in the grand scheme of things.

[28:28] Justin Guarini: That’s such a refreshing take! It’s easy to get caught up in our own heads.

[28:48] Sierra Boggess: Exactly! And when you realize that everyone else is feeling the same way, it helps to take the pressure off.

[29:08] Justin Guarini: So true. Speaking of pressure, what was it like auditioning for Disney?

[29:28] Sierra Boggess: Auditioning for Disney was a dream come true, but it was also nerve-wracking. I remember feeling like I had to prove myself, but I just focused on being authentic.

[29:48] Justin Guarini: Authenticity really shines through. Do you have any advice for performers who are nervous about auditions?

[30:08] Sierra Boggess: Just remember that everyone in the room wants you to succeed. They’re rooting for you!

[30:28] Justin Guarini: That’s such a comforting thought.

[30:38] Sierra Boggess: It really is! And also, don’t forget to have fun.

[30:48] Justin Guarini: Fun is key! What’s next for you?

[31:08] Sierra Boggess: I’m working on some new projects and continuing to explore different roles. I’m excited about what’s to come!

[31:28] Justin Guarini: That’s fantastic! We can’t wait to see what you do next.

[31:56] Sierra Boggess: Thank you! I appreciate that.

[32:24] Justin Guarini: Before we wrap up, can you share where our listeners can connect with you online?

[32:52] Sierra Boggess: Sure! You can find me on Instagram at @officialsierraboggess and on Twitter at @sierraboggess.

[33:22] Justin Guarini: Perfect! Thank you so much for joining us today, Sierra.

[33:42] Sierra Boggess: Thank you for having me, Justin!

[34:02] Justin Guarini: And thank you to our listeners for tuning in to Audition Secrets.

[34:32] Sierra Boggess: Bye everyone!

[34:52] Justin Guarini: Until next time!

[35:20] Sierra Boggess: Bye!

[35:50] Justin Guarini: Take care!

[36:20] Sierra Boggess: You too!

[36:30] Justin Guarini: Bye!