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[0:00] Sir Michael Allan Galvez: Good evening, everyone. Welcome to The Fabulous 54 Below. Before we get started this evening, just a polite reminder, please take this moment to silence your cell phones, and also there is no flash photography, please.

[0:16] Sir Michael Allan Galvez: Welcome to The 54 Below Podcast. This is Sir Michael Allan Galvez, Senior Creative Marketing Manager at The Club. And this is Macon Prickett, 54 Below's Assistant Director of Programming. Joining us today is retired Disney princess Senzel Ahmady. After touring the country for two years as Princess Jasmine in Disney's Aladdin, Senzel is making a triumphant return to the 54 Below stage. On November 11th, Senzel will bring her passion for music back to where it all began for a beautiful reflection of her journey and life of a dropout princess. Senzel, we are so thrilled to have you with us today.

[0:48] Senzel Ahmady: Thank you for having me, guys.

[0:53] Sir Michael Allan Galvez: Of course. So how are you feeling about making your 54 Below solo debut? I know we've had you here many a time. What motivated you to put together this specific show?

[1:04] Senzel Ahmady: Yeah, I mean, I'm so excited. It was such a big deal for me to make my 54 Below debut in general. I think now like three years ago, it was a crazy night. It was in 54 Sings 2012 pop hits. So fun. Um, but after that, I got I had the pleasure of coming back for about like six or seven shows after that. And I came back after two years of being on the road. And my friend Zachary Hausman, who's producing this show kind of sat me down and was like, Hey, like, you know, I produced like your first one and a couple of other group ones after that. But I think it's time that you did your own. And it was definitely kind of scary because I feel like a lot of people that do these have done like 15 different Broadway shows.

And it's like a sing through my entire career with me. And I was like, I'll sing through my, my one, my one, my one show with me. But I think after being just gone for so long, it was a thing where I wanted to come and kind of reintroduce myself to the city and to everyone. And I thought, I mean, what better way to do it than at 54 Below, a place I've been a place I'm so comfortable singing at, but do a solo debut. And I'm definitely nervous to do a show of my own of my own. And I have a few fun guests who are going to come and join me as well. But it's definitely a little scary, but something I've been wanting to do for a really long time. And so I'm really excited.

[2:34] Macon Prickett: Any guests that we know?

[2:34] Senzel Ahmady: You may see a couple of faces from Aladdin and some dear friends of mine from college. So definitely people that 54 Below has seen before. I will be releasing the names very soon. But I'm, I'm very, very excited to have my friends and be on that stage.

[2:50] Sir Michael Allan Galvez: Just to kind of take you back to your roots for a second. I am a Filipino myself. And, you know, I actually remember back in 2023, I was browsing through the Philippine Daily Inquirer because I follow them.

[3:12] Senzel Ahmady: Yeah, exactly.

[3:12] Sir Michael Allan Galvez: Which, you know, you and I know is a major newspaper in the Philippines. And that's actually how I found out about you because I didn't get the pleasure to see your shows here the year before. So I saw an article they wrote about you there, but, you know, being cast in the U.S. tour for Aladdin. And it was, I know it was big news because I know you were the only the third Filipina to play Jasmine after Ariel Jacobs and Lisa de Guzman. So how did that feel? Can you tell us about that entire experience and everything?

[3:51] Senzel Ahmady: Yeah. Oh, that makes me so happy that you saw that. It was, I mean, it was obviously very, very special, especially because our Filipina queen, Lea Salonga, was the original singing voice of Jasmine in the animated film. And so it only felt right, almost. Exactly. But yeah, so I am half Filipina and I'm also half Afghan. And so I was also the first Middle Eastern Jasmine, which was really, really fun. But it's kind of crazy. I feel like Jasmine was like the perfect princess for me because she's Middle Eastern, but she was sung by Filipinos. I was like, great, this is like both, both, both, like both of me and like one princess, which honestly meant a lot because while I love being mixed, sometimes it's kind of hard to find your place in theater and shows because people, I don't know, I feel like some people, I mean, people will always find something to say about somebody else, but sometimes it's like, well, she's half, you know, she's not fully Middle Eastern.

I don't know if she should be Princess Jasmine or I'm sure maybe one day I'll get to play someone who's Filipina. It's like, she's half Filipina. I don't know if she can really play her. And so sometimes it's really hard going and fitting into like some of these rooms. And yeah, Jasmine just felt really special to me. And I'm really, really happy that I got to represent my Filipina side in this because it's always just exciting to see POC people and shows. And also specifically with this Aladdin tour, when we first launched our tour, I think about like 95% of our cast was POC, which is really, really cool. And it was just cool to have that for a touring cast because we had so many people come to us at the stage door that said, wow, like it was really, really special to see so many different cultures on a stage because Aladdin is just like a huge, the story itself is a huge mixing pot of so many different cultures. And so it was really, really exciting to get to tour the country and get to kind of represent what this country looks like, honestly, on like a stage.

[5:55] Sir Michael Allan Galvez: That's incredible. I'm interested if you could tell us a little bit about the audition process for Aladdin.

[6:00] Senzel Ahmady: Oh my gosh, yeah. My story is really funny, actually. I was, so I was going to NYU at the time and I was just starting out my sophomore year. And I posted a singing video on Instagram with a pianist named Tyler Kappa. He's a very famous pianist and I had watched his videos growing up. And since I was, you know, living in New York at the time, I was, I thought, you know, like, what would happen if I sent him an email and I asked if I could sing with him? And I did. And he reached out like, hey, you know what? I would love to. I do like singing sessions with singers. If you want to just rent out, you know, a studio at Open Jar and we can just sing together. And I was like, OK, this is great. I was kind of starstruck, honestly.

And so I go and we had a really, really good time. And he posted a video on his Instagram of me singing No One Else. Also, if you're listening to this, Tyler, thank you so much. I haven't talked to him since this all happened. But he's big reason as to why I got to do Aladdin. But yeah, so he posted a video of me singing and a casting agent at Tara Rubin saw that video and asked me to come in for, originally for Dear Evan Hansen. And I was so excited. I was like, wow, like this is my first big Broadway audition. This is so great. And so I went in for that and it didn't work out. But a month later, Tara Rubin is casting the Aladdin tour. And I think they must have remembered me from Dear Evan Hansen.

And I thought, oh, hey, you know what? Like I think this Senzel girl would be great for the Aladdin tour. And so they emailed me asking if I wanted to audition for Jasmine. And I said, of course. But I thought, you know what? Like I'm way too young, but I'm just going to go in and I'll get to see my face and maybe they'll like me and they'll call me in later on, like after I'm done with college, because I had no agent at the time. I honestly did not know how auditions work, but I was like, you know what? I'm going to go in. This is going to be great. And so I went in for my first audition in February of my sophomore year, and it went great. I went in about like five other times after that for callbacks.

It was a really long, strenuous audition process, honestly. And now after that, now thinking about like the auditions I'm doing now, like I don't think I've ever had one that long. And it lasted over about like a month and a half until I finally got to the final callbacks. But every single time they call me back, you know, I called my mom and I was like, yeah, I think they really like me. I was like, I still feel like I'm really on the younger side for this, but like they keep calling me back. So I was like, I don't know. I'm just, I'm just going to keep going. And so I got to the final callbacks and it just so happened that they had a boy there who was also the same age as me and also had just gone to NYU.

We were the same year and everything. And I was like, oh, you know what? Okay. So they have like other younger people here too. So maybe they want to go really young for this Aladdin and Jasmine because before this, I think like the average age for Jasmine and Aladdin was like between like 25 to like 35. And I was 19 at the time. So I was like, I don't know. But we got to the final callbacks and there were two of us there who were 19. I was like, maybe this could happen. And so I think they really liked him for Aladdin. And so I was like, you know what? Then they need like a really young Jasmine. And so they kept him at the end of final callbacks and there were, it was me and two other girls.

And I left just feeling really, really good about it. And I ended up getting it and it was, it was, it was really, really crazy. I will never forget that moment when I found out. But yeah, it was, it was a funny audition process, but I'm so, so thankful for it now.

[9:50] Sir Michael Allan Galvez: Wow. Well, what year in school were you when you actually booked the gig?

[9:56] Senzel Ahmady: I was still in my sophomore year. So I auditioned my, my audition in February, found out at the end of March. But rehearsals didn't start until August. And so I was able to finish out my sophomore year and I had this whole summer before we started rehearsals. And I was in, I was on leave of absence from NYU for about a year and a half until I think they were like, okay, you need to come back. I need to drop out. And I was like, okay, well I'm still on the road. So I think I'm going to have to drop out. Hence my show, Life of a Dropout Princess.

[10:29] Sir Michael Allan Galvez: Wow. That is amazing.

[10:29] Senzel Ahmady: Yeah. So I did, I did have to leave NYU, which honestly was really sad because I loved my time there so much and it was my dream school and it was the best, but I wouldn't be here today if I didn't go to NYU and was living in the city, you know, studying music. And so very, very thankful for them and for my time there. But yeah.

[10:49] Sir Michael Allan Galvez: Well, you can always go back if you want to, you know, school is always there.

[10:56] Senzel Ahmady: It's always there, but you're busy. So let's keep that going.

[10:56] Sir Michael Allan Galvez: You know, that's amazing. Well, how do you feel? I know we touched on this a little bit before, but how do you feel that your background informs your personal artistry? You know, not necessarily in a, when playing roles like Jasmine, but also, you know, preparing to do this cabaret, which is a very personal and intimate kind of performance.

[11:15] Senzel Ahmady: Oh, that's a good question. Coming from my Filipina side, I feel like it's not like a shocking thing that I sing because a lot of Filipinos do. And it's such a, it's such a big thing in our culture. Obviously everyone loves karaoke. And so like, I feel like going, like singing was not like a huge thing on my Filipina side, but being.

[11:38] Senzel Ahmady: On my Afghan side was definitely a big thing because music is not a very popular thing. And it's also not a very popular thing to at least pursue professionally. And so I feel like bringing that side of me into a performance space is really, really big. And I don't know if I'll say it's influenced me a lot personally, but I feel like it almost made me work harder because I had to make the rooms for me to fit in somehow. But I feel like I was always fighting to do music just because while my parents were the ones that put me into voice lessons and music lessons growing up, I don't know if they really knew I was going to pursue it professionally because nobody on either side of my family has ever done music professionally.

And so when I decided I wanted to do it, it was kind of like a, "Whoa, like, are you sure?" kind of thing, especially even majoring in it in college. When I was applying to colleges, I think I applied to maybe about 15. And out of the 15, there was only one school that I applied to for musical theater, and it was NYU. And the rest of the schools I applied to were for pre-med because that's what I thought I was going to do. My dad is a doctor and a lot of my other aunts and uncles are also in the medical field. So that's what I thought I was going to do. But I told my parents, I was like, "You know what? I love doing theater and I love, I would love to go to NYU. It's my dream school." And so I kind of made this pact with them and I was like, "Hey, if I get into NYU for musical theater, I have to go."

And so I got in and I was like, "Well, I have to go now." And so, yeah, it was a big deal for me to kind of decide to do this. And they sat me down and was like, "Hey, like, if you really want to do this, you know, we're with you, but it's going to be hard. And we don't know much about this world and we know that you don't either. And so it's going to kind of be a learning process." And it even is still a really big learning process now because I got Jasmine so quickly and I feel like I came back and I thought that every audition was going to be that easy. And it's not, it definitely is not. And so I guess I'm still learning about the on and offs of being an actor and how you can be just like fully in something for so long.

And then when you're not doing it anymore, it's like, it's static and it's so quiet and you're kind of back in the audition rooms. And I'm definitely still learning about what that means to be so on and off. And I know it's hard to kind of navigate that world with my parents too because like, they don't know what that means yet. But yeah, I feel like coming from that background, it's just made me work a little bit harder for everything because I definitely want to make my parents proud and thank God for the Aladdin tour, because I feel like I got to introduce myself to like both sides of my culture. I got to, you know, being the Filipino daily and that was like so crazy. And I got to become really close with a lot of creatives on the Afghan side.

I became really close friends with some creatives from the Kite Runner on Broadway, which was the first show about Afghanistan on Broadway. And I got to see it right before I left for the Aladdin tour and I became friends with a lot of them. And so I've become really close friends with a lot of Afghan creatives. And so doing Aladdin, I was able to, you know, meet really important people on both sides. And now it's really exciting to kind of come back into the New York scene with like both of those sides with me. But yeah, yeah, that was really long. Sorry.

[15:19] Macon Prickett: No, that was amazing.

[15:22] Macon Prickett: I love that your parents, even though they're not familiar with this world, were also supportive. I think that's, that's so important, you know, and it's important. I know our listeners will love hearing about that because it's, you know, having that support system, having that kind of structure can really do wonders for a person, you know, especially in this industry.

[15:42] Senzel Ahmady: And it's such a familiar conversation too, especially, you know, on the Filipino side of things because doctors, lawyers, you know, I was in free law. So I totally understand. I feel like a lot of our listeners who, you know, are in that person of color background can probably relate to that.

[16:04] Senzel Ahmady: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's funny because they all appreciate the singing and they love the artistry. But when you bring up the aspect of doing it professionally, it's a little bit of like a whoa, whoa, whoa type of thing. But it feels really, really good to, you know, have talked about doing music for so long. And then I got to do it professionally and it meant a lot to have so much of my family come and watch the show in San Francisco because I'm from the Bay Area. And so they all got to come and see me in San Francisco. And it was a crazy moment of just having all my aunts and uncles be like, "Hey, like you kind of made it and you did it like, good job, kiddo." It was kind of like a, "Oh wow. Like I really got to do this for myself, but also for them."

[16:51] Macon Prickett: That's incredible. It's so special. We're going to get into all things life of a dropout princess solo cabaret debut after we take a very quick break and hear some messages.

[17:08] Sir Michael Allan Galvez: 54 Below is Broadway's nonprofit cabaret venue, and we need your help with programs like the Genesis Project, which supports new and emerging artists and the subsidized ticket initiative, which provides accessible tickets to a more diverse audience. 54 Below is committed to making Broadway's living room a space for all. Help us make a direct impact to the musical community. Go to 54below.org slash support and donate today.

[17:41] Sir Michael Allan Galvez: And we are back with the stunningly talented Senzel Ahmady talking all things life of a dropout princess, which will be here at 54 Below on November 11th. So let's talk a little bit about this solo cabaret debut. You know, it's different than being in a group show or being in, you know, we have readings of new musicals and all kinds of different performances on our stage, but this is all you. This is your solo cabaret debut at 54 Below. Can you kind of talk about putting the show together? Maybe give us a sneak peek about what we can expect, anything that we should be looking forward to and why people should hurry up and get those tickets while they still can.

[18:22] Senzel Ahmady: Yeah, I would like to think of this show as a really big mixing pot of different genres of music. I mean, there's definitely going to be musical theater in there, of course, but there's going to be a little bit of jazz in there, a lot of throwback songs in there, a lot of good duets with some really special guests in there. But yeah, it's going to take you guys through some of the first songs I ever sang all the way through now and future things that I'm going to be doing in a little bit. But it's going to be a really fun night with a lot of fun arrangements. You are going to get to hear a lot of songs that you're familiar with, but I am bringing to the table a lot of really fun arrangements that my music team and I are making.

But yeah, go and grab those tickets. It's going to be a really, really fun night and it's going to be a lot of personal stories in there and just songs that mean a lot to me, but also just a lot of songs that I really, really love to sing. So come for a fun night.

[19:25] Macon Prickett: Amazing. Can you talk a little bit about, you know, putting this set list together? Obviously, we don't want to give away spoilers, but where do you where did you begin when you when the show was booked and you started thinking about, "OK, you have 75 minutes on the stage," like where do you even begin putting together the set list?

[19:41] Senzel Ahmady: Yeah. So I sat down with my director Zoe Lillis and she had these giant post-it notes on her wall and we wrote down like a bunch of songs and we just X'd out songs and moved around songs and was like, "Well, it'd be a good opener. Well, it'd be a good closer." And we're definitely still doing that right now. But I feel like for me, since I knew I wanted to take everyone kind of through a timeline of when I first started singing all the way through doing college auditions and Aladdin and now it kind of helped kind of structure what I wanted it to be. But it was really, really hard. I didn't want the show to just be me standing there belting my face off and was like, "Here are a bunch of really hard songs to sing."

There are some of those in there still. Don't worry. But I did I really did want every song to have a meaning and a place in the show. Like you'll get to hear like my college audition song that I brought to me at NYU or you'll obviously get to hear a little bit of Aladdin or songs that I really used to sing as a little love to sing as a little girl. There might be a really fun Disney Princess medley in there somewhere. But there's it's going to be a lot of really, really fun stuff that mean a lot to me.

[21:00] Macon Prickett: Incredible. And I know you spoke about your music team. Can you share who's going to be joining you on the stage as well?

[21:08] Senzel Ahmady: I can share a couple of names. You will get to see my Aladdin on tour, Audie Roy, who will be joining us for a song. You also get to see Marcus and Martin, our genie, who is going to come and sing a duet with me, which is crazy because I've never sang a duet with Marcus because he was the genie and there's there's no Jasmine and genie duets in Aladdin. And so I'm really excited to have the both of them. You will also get to see my dear friend Nick Salem from college. We did a production of Amelie together right before I left for Aladdin. And so we will be singing a duet from that because we got to do that show together. But there are some other exciting names that are soon to be announced. But I really just want mine to kind of be a cozy, warm night at 54 Below in November.

And we can all just come and sit together and just enjoy a night of just music and storytelling and what it means to kind of just be a young actor in New York. You know, I'm still figuring it out for myself. And it will be a fun night of just coming along and kind of learning about what that journey is for me right now and everyone who kind of made me the person who I am today. Yeah.

[22:22] Macon Prickett: That's really nice. We are so excited to have that cozy night in at 54 Below with you on November 11th at 9:30 p.m. So if you're listening, make sure to get your tickets now. It's going to be amazing. So thank you to all our listeners. And we hope to see you in Broadway's living room soon. Thank you for listening to the 54 Below podcast.

[22:51] Sir Michael Allan Galvez: To buy tickets and for more information, go to 54below.org. We can't wait to welcome you to the club again soon.