School of the Arts grads find Broadway success

Although Broadway is often referred to as "the boulevard of broken dreams," two graduates from the College of Charleston School of the Arts are happily seeing their musical careers flourish in the challenging arena of New York theater.

Charleston native Margaret Anne Florence will open Monday night in a leading role of Luisa in the longest-running musical in the world, "The Fantasticks" at the Jerry Orbach Theatre in the Snapple Center, Off-Broadway. And Columbia native Amanda Rose has served as the understudy for a lead and five other roles in the award-winning musical "Wicked" on Broadway.

"The Fantasticks," with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones, opened in 1960 and ran until 2002 at the Sullivan Street Playhouse. A revival opened in 2006 at the Jerry Orbach Theatre, named for the late actor who played the leading role of El Gallo in the original production.

A 2001 graduate of the college where she majored in music and classical voice, Florence is a Charleston native who graduated from Ashley Hall School. As a college student, she performed in a number of local theater productions including the highly successful Stephen Stondheim musical "Company" at the Footlight Players. She also earned a master's degree in music theatre performance from New York University.

Speaking from her cell phone while taking on a train from her home in Hoboken, N.J., to an assignment to pose for a print advertisement, Florence says, "It is such a thrill to be performing on stage in New York. Although I very much enjoy working in film and television, (her films include "My Super Ex-Girlfriend"), it is a dream come true to be Off-Broadway. And I hope a Broadway opportunity is just around the corner."

For more on this story, read the Arts and Travel section in Sunday's edition of The Post and Courier.