Local women's musical careers flourish in N.Y.

Although Broadway often is 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.

Margaret Anne Florence is set to open Monday in the leading role of Luisa in "The Fantasticks," while Amanda Rose is the understudy for six roles in the Broadway musical "Wicked."

"The Fantasticks," the longest-running musical in the world, is at the Jerry Orbach Theatre in the Snapple Center, off-Broadway. The show, 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 and graduated from Ashley Hall School. While a college student, she performed in a number of local theater productions, including the highly successful Stephen Sondheim musical "Company" at the Footlight

Players. She also earned a master's degree in music theater performance from New York University.

"It is such a thrill to be performing on stage in New York," Florence says on her cell phone while on a train from her home in Hoboken, N.J., to an assignment to pose for a print advertisement. "Although I very much enjoy working in film and television (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."

But, as she points out, it wasn't a piece of cake landing the role.

"Back in the winter, I had auditioned for a production of "The Fantasticks" that was being staged this past March at the Casa Manana Theatre in Fort Worth, Texas," Florence explains. "Tom Jones was directing the production, and I attended an Equity Principal Audition in N.Y., where he was casting.

"I wasn't cast," she says. "Then, three weeks ago, my agent submitted me to audition for the New York production; I was called back and got the part!"

Later, in an e-mail following a rehearsal of "The Fantasticks," Florence wrote to The Post and Courier: "My role of Luisa is of a young girl who is becoming a woman, discovering love and eventually learning of the bitter-sweetness of life and love. As an actor, it is fun to capture the youth, optimism and romance of Luisa but also to go on her journey through self-discovery and heartbreak."

Florence's favorite songs to perform are the famous "Soon It's Gonna Rain," "They Were You" and "This Plum is Too Ripe."

The actress adds, "The rehearsal experience has been fast and furious, and I am lucky to be working with Broadway veterans Dennis Parlato and Steve Routman, to name a couple. Also, it is such an honor to work with the man who created the lyrics, Tom Jones, and to be a part of theater history. But I know I would never be here without all the wonderful teachers and mentors I had in Charleston."

Florence's Web site is www.margaretanneflorence.com. For tickets to "The Fantasticks," call Ticketmaster at 212-307-7171 or purchase online at Ticketmaster.com.

Rose, who studied dance in Columbia, is a 2002 graduate with a degree in theater performance from the College of Charleston. She also danced with the Robert Ivey Ballet for four years and played the leading role of Laurie in the National Touring Company's "Oklahoma!" Later, she toured with choreographer and director Tommy Tune in "Two by Two."

Back in New York this spring, Rose was working as a substitute usher waiting for her summer job in a musical version of "Little House on the Prairie" to start in Minneapolis. That was when she found out it pays to take classes designed to enhance your career.

"I was taking a musical theater audition class in which different casting directors from around town provide feedback as to how to make your auditions more productive, when I got a call from a friend of one of those casting directors who said I would be good as an understudy in 'Wicked,' " says Rose, who, on her day off, is on a train coming back into the city after visiting a friend. "I auditioned for the understudy role, and the next day they called and asked if I could start rehearsing in two hours! And a week later, I opened on Broadway!"

Rose is a "swing" replacement, which means she not only is the understudy for Nessarose, one of the principals in the long-running, award-winning "Wicked," but she also must learn the roles of the Midwife and of all of the female singers in the show, a total of six different roles.

"I've been in 'Wicked' for two months and have been on stage in every part except that of Nessarose," she says.

When an illness swept through the cast, Rose had to play three different roles in one show, and on July 13, she replaced the Midwife, which involved delivering a green silicone baby while wearing a prosthetic goat head and hooves.

"It was very stressful and a little scary because I was afraid I would drop the 'baby' and ruin the rest of the show!" she says with a laugh. "But I had a great time, and after the show, there were fans waiting outside the stage door who wanted my autograph. They knew my name and even knew it was the first time I had performed the role. It was crazy and a little creepy, but I enjoyed it and laughed about it all night."

For tickets to "Wicked" at the Gershwin Theatre, call Ticketmaster at 800-755-4000 or online at http://WickedtheMusical.com.

Reach Dottie Ashley at 937-5704 or dashley@postandcourier.com.