Page 8 - Pink Power Newsletter

F E A T U R E D T A L E N T
Vanessa Sears
Vanessa Sears, originally from Deep River, Ontario, made her
Broadway debut as the Francine Evans Standby in Kander and
Ebb’s smash hit musical, New York, New York. She is a multi-
award-winning artist known to audiences for her roles in the
world premiere of Queen Goneril, Alice in Wonderland, King Lear
(Soulpepper), Is God Is (Canadian Stage), Caroline, or Change
(Musical Stage Company), Passing Strange (Obsidian Theatre),
Mary Poppins (Young People's Theatre), and Kinky Boots
(Mirvish Productions - Canadian Premiere). At the world-
renowned Stratford Festival, Vanessa had featured roles in
Troilus and Cressida, Little Shop of Horrors, Billy Elliot, Why We
Tell the Story and Up Close and Musical. At the illustrious Shaw
Festival she starred in An Octoroon, Grand Hotel, The Magician’s
Nephew, and Holiday Inn. Vanessa is also an emerging director,
a member of the ThisGen Fellowship directing cohort and the
incoming resident director at the National Theatre School. An
educator and activist, Vanessa holds a Bachelor’s Degree in
Music Theatre Performance from Sheridan College.
Jason Wooten
“Jason Wooten possesses one of the most alluring voices on Broadway.”
~ Backstage.
Jason made his Broadway debut in Footloose in 1999, where he took on
the role of Ren McCormick. From there he immediately appeared as
Simon Zealotes in the Broadway revival of
Jesus Christ Superstar and Riff Raff in the revival of The Rocky Horror
Show. He played opposite Mandy Gonzalez and Michael Crawford in
Dance of the Vampires and then worked in Las Vegas, with rock royalty
Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen as the star of their
show We Will Rock You.
He returned to Broadway to appear as the lead in Twyla Tharp and Bob
Dylan’s The Times They Are A Changin’ as well as Woof in Hair and Simon
Stride in Jekyll & Hyde. He even dusted off his dancin’ shoes to appear in
the revival of Grease. He’s helped create shows with Broadway legends
such as Charles Strouse, Kander & Ebb, Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt,
Stephen Schwartz, He has toured the world performing with The Trans-
Siberian Orchestra, Broadway Rox, and The Music of Queen with
symphony orchestras.
Jason now lives in St. Petersburg, FL where he is the owner and artistic
director of Broadway Arts & Dance Academy where he guides the artistic
careers of over 400 students. He is also the composer, lyricist and
librettist of the musicals Goodbye Dalí, Imposter, That Kid Dylan!, Obby
and as well as co-author of the rock musical The Existents.
October 12, 2023