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When Blaise Rossmann was a student in the Syracuse University department of drama, he attended shows like “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” at the Landmark Theatre. He hoped that one day, he could be on a national tour like the ones that performed in Syracuse. Now, he is performing at the Landmark in the “Pretty Woman” national tour.

“It just worked out that it was going through Syracuse for a week,” Rossmann said. “I was like, ‘Wait, this is a funny full circle.’”

Rossmann is in the ensemble of the national tour of “Pretty Woman: The Musical.” Playing a cowboy, they’re dressed in a fringe jacket, cowboy boots and hat as he travels to cities across North America, from Los Angeles, California, to Montreal, Canada. This week, the tour is in Syracuse and will have nightly shows until Saturday.

Last fall, the SU alumnus graduated early to join the musical tour. Like many second-semester seniors in the SU drama department, Rossmann was planning to go to New York City for a Tepper Semester to get real-life experience in the entertainment industry. Although Rossmann was missing out on a tradition with their friends, he was able to get a similar experience – and get paid.

“(Rossmann) was to the end of his training anyway,” said David Lowenstein, one of Rossmann’s musical theater professors. “So it seemed like a really good opportunity for him to go and launch into the profession.”

When choosing whether to take part in the national tour, Rossmann consulted professors like Lowenstein, searching for confirmation that he was making the right decision.

It’s important to figure out what performers enjoy in the industry, one of his dance professors, Andrea Leigh-Smith, said. From her own career, Leigh-Smith learned she didn’t like touring, but these opportunities are how performers get to put their education into practice and experience that joy.

Rossmann decided to go on tour while still being able to take time off and walk across the stage this May with his peers. He had enough credits to graduate, so they decided it was an opportunity he had to take.

“Both of (the professors) were like, ‘Well, do you have the credit to graduate?’ They were like, ‘Please, you realize this is a good thing.,” Rossmann said. “It’s scary and it’s fast. But you’re gonna leave with a degree that you paid for. You’re gonna get your first real big credit.”

Since most of his friends are in the city, Rossmann sometimes misses them and questions his decision. Seeing them on social media exploring their first experiences in the acting industry makes him sad. However, his mom and friends remind them that he is on the right path.

“In the beginning, I remember feeling like ‘Oh God, I wish I was in the city with my friends,” Rossmann said. “Then everyone was like, ‘Blaise you went to school to do this. You’re doing the thing. You’re exactly where you should be.’”

Being on tour reminds Rossmann of a line from the song “N.Y.C.” in “Annie: The Musical.” One character, Star-To-Be, sings “Three bucks, two bags, one me.” Rossmann gets one tech bag for all his show materials, a carry-on bag and one extra — a backpack.

While studying abroad, Rossmann learned how to put his whole life in a few bags. They believe traveling to different countries each weekend prepared him the most for going on the “Pretty Woman” national tour, which is one of the hardest things he’s ever done.

The tour has already led him to places he wouldn’t have otherwise gone, like Montreal, performing to bilingual audiences. Rossmann is also a part of major theater milestones – the “Pretty Woman” national tour’s performance was the first time the show was done in Boston, MA.

While at SU, Rossmann refined his performance skills. Leigh-Smith recalls being at his audition where he said he had only been dancing for less than two months. They already had a lot of experience in singing and acting, but at SU, they had to work on dance.

Leigh-Smith taught Rossmann in beginner jazz classes, where he was eager to hone that part of his theater performance. Rossmann learned how to combine acting, singing and dancing, Lowenstein said.

“We’re not in the 1950s. The singer, the dancer and the actor who was hired today in the industry is somebody who can hopefully do it all,” Leigh-Smith said. “They may have some strengths in one area, but it also makes any well-rounded performer who is appreciative of the skill set in all the other areas, not just one dimensional.”

Rossmann was in several Syracuse Stage performances. They learned how to swing, or fill in for an ensemble member, in “Matilda,” how to be a dance captain in “As You Like It” and how to be in an ensemble in “Guys and Dolls,” playing a drag queen. Joining the “Pretty Woman” tour, he never felt like he didn’t know what to do or what was expected of him because of the resilience he learned at SU.

In the opening number, “Welcome to Hollywood,” Rossmann spends three minutes running around the stage and “doing the most,” they said. “Pretty Woman” is more fun than a lot of current musicals, which are heart-wrenching, and Syracuse prepared him to be a part of a show like this.

“I’m always bringing joy to whatever city and I don’t think a lot of people get to say that like, ‘Oh my job for these like five, six months has been like, I get to see 10,000 people a week and tell them a very story that ends on a happy note,’” Rossmann said.

This week of performances is what Rossmann is considering his “home show.” His parents, teachers and roommates who are studying at Tepper are coming to Syracuse to see the show.

Some department of drama students have had a similar trajectory to Rossmann. However, very few have graduated early to go on a national tour, Lowenstein said.

“I’m seeing where life is taking me,” Rossmann said. “We will see if I will be a ‘Pretty Woman’ next year too. Or I’ll be a ‘Pretty Woman’ somewhere else.”

Published on March 21, 2024 at 12:36 am

Contact Rosina: rlboehm@syr.edu