Broadway in her Blood

This past summer, integrated marketing communications (IMC) major, Megan Yelaney, had the opportunity to experience the thrill of being in a big-budget Broadway-bound musical. She was part of the ensemble in the musical Memphis, which ran at the La Jolla Playhouse from August 19 through September 28, 2008.

In the summer of 2007, Yelaney worked as a marketing intern in New York City’s Times Square where she sold tickets to Broadway shows. She also played the part of Ophelia in a community theater summer production of Hamlet that toured across Long Island. But Memphis was a whole other world – this production was being directed and choreographed by Broadway veterans and the stakes were much higher.

Yelaney’s Memphis experience began on July 8 with a company breakfast that allowed the cast, crew and playhouse staff the opportunity to meet and get to know one another. Next, it was a series of grueling rehearsals that ran from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., six days a week. Those rehearsals became even more grueling spanning 10 – 12 hours per day two weeks prior to opening night.

Yelaney was hooked. “Those two weeks were some of the hardest of my life,” she said. “But it made me realize that, yes, I do want this to be my career.”

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Cast of MEMPHIS relax in the “green room”

She also is in the process of completing her college education and shortly after the show’s opening, she began her senior year at SDSU. While she had to juggle classes and performances for four weeks, she reports that it wasn’t nearly as difficult as she thought it would be.

While Yelaney plans to make theatre her life’s work, she’s glad she’s pursued her IMC degree. “There are times in class now that I really wish I could just perform,” she admits. “But I know that by getting my degree in business will only help my career that much more. Being a business-minded performer is imperative these days, and I want to be as prepared as possible.

Yelaney is a member of the Business Honors Program and is on track to graduate in May 2009.