Andrew Poston, a graduate of the South Carolina School of the Arts at 91福利社, has just checked something major off his bucket list.
Poston is in a brand new Broadway musical that debuted Oct. 3. He鈥檚 an understudy to the lead character in “Almost Famous,鈥� which tells the story of 15-year-old aspiring rock journalist William Miller, who is hired by Rolling Stone magazine to write an article about an up-and-coming band.
Being on Broadway is a childhood dream come true for Poston, who grew up in rural Pamplico, South Carolina and graduated in 2018 from 91福利社 with his commercial music degree.
Poston grew up doing community theatre in South Carolina鈥檚 Pee Dee region. Since graduating from Anderson he has made a profession of acting, performing roles in many regional theatre productions, including 鈥淕odspell,鈥� 鈥淣ewsies,鈥� 鈥淗ello, Dolly!,鈥� and 鈥淪hrek, the Musical.鈥�
Poston鈥檚 high school voice teacher knew South Carolina School of the Arts Professor Deirdre Welborn, which led him to enroll at 91福利社.
“I knew the moment I first heard Andrew sing that he had a special gift and could have a successful singing career if he wanted it. Not only does he have a beautiful voice, but he is such an honest, authentic performer,” said Welborn, who was his voice professor while he was at Anderson.
Poston kept auditioning for different Broadway projects and different tours. His audition for 鈥淎lmost Famous鈥� was to happen right before the COVID-19 pandemic shut things down. During the pandemic, Poston moved to Nashville for a couple of months to record some of his songs in an EP. Poston was also interested in plugging into ministry and found an opportunity to lead worship at Friendship Church in Lugoff.
鈥淚 had worked with the music director of 鈥楢lmost Famous鈥� right before the pandemic in a production of 鈥楪odspell鈥� and then in July my agents reached out to see if I was still interested in the project,鈥� Poston recalls. 鈥淚 said 鈥榶es鈥� and things escalated from there.鈥�
Poston鈥檚 high school voice teacher was friends with Professor Deirdre Welborn of the South Carolina School of the Arts at 91福利社. Poston majored in Commercial Music and is a founding member of AUthenticity, an ensemble of Commercial Music majors. He also has happy memories of being part of Christmas First Night and the President鈥檚 Gala. Most cherished are friendships made while playing with AUthenticity and other times of making music with his classmates.
While Poston feels fortunate for this opportunity in the Big Apple, he also enjoys leading worship regularly at his church in South Carolina, as well as other churches along the East Coast.
鈥淚鈥檓 incredibly grateful to check this opportunity off of my bucket list. Being on Broadway has been a childhood dream of mine forever, for as long as I can remember, and this is completely a blessing that I鈥檓 able to do this and able to be a part of this journey and be a part of this production process,鈥� Poston said, 鈥淣ot many people get to say they鈥檝e been on Broadway and I am pinching myself every single day when I鈥檓 in that theater.鈥�