Broadway Throwback: Krysta Rodriguez

Posted on September 24, 2015 in Broadway, Stage

Broadway Throwback: Krysta Rodriguez

Krysta Rodriguez moved to New York with a goal of ending up on Broadway. Not only has she conquered that goal but she’s even helped share Broadway with the world on NBC’s SMASH.

Photography by Matthew Murphy

When were you bit by the theatre bug initially?

It was a three-step process. When I was little, I was always singing. I would climb onto the piano and sing loudly. Then, my mom took me to Annie when I was six. I was obsessed with the idea of theatre but I didn’t know it was something that I could do. When I was 12, I started dancing. I was in a car with my mom leaving a recital and I told her I didn’t want to do anything else but this. She told me there are people who do this for their job. From then on, I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

What was your first paying gig?

Well to get technical, when I was three, I did a commercial for a Cataract Eye Center in Riverside, California. I sat on a woman’s lap and she read me a story. I made $200 and my mom made me a savings account. I didn’t work professionally again until I was 15 and I was in a production of Fiddler on the Roof. I made $250 and I thought I was rolling in it. So my money didn’t grow exponentially from when I was three to when I was 15.

SMASH brought Broadway into living rooms all over the world. What did being on that show teach you about yourself?

I really love television and I like the process of it. Also, I’m a little bit of a control freak and it was weird to watch the show and realize I did three pages of dialogue and they cut it down to two lines. Or they would take my reaction from one thing and use it somewhere else. It’s allowing someone else to create a performance for you, as opposed to being on stage where you have more control over what people are seeing. I learned I actually enjoyed that more than I thought I would.

Look out for Krysta in Spring Awakening this fall on Broadway!