Every day, thousands of excited travelers venture to the bright and bustling New York City. Most have an eye on fame, fortune and fun, while others are there to simply experience the magic of the Big Apple.

With so much to do in the big city, it’s hard to narrows one’s choices down to manageable options. Broadway shows are often a draw for tourists looking for top-of-the-line entertainment for not so modest prices. Nancy Carrie Logan, an HHS graduate, has her sights set on becoming a Broadway performer.

Logan has always been one for the dramatics, idolizing the young New Yorker, Eloise from ‘Eloise at the Plaza’. She has dreamed of being a big name in New York City ever since she could remember.

“I’ll see my name up in lights,” Logan said.

Dressing up in various costumes from Broadway musicals and plays for fun as a young girl, Logan knew that she had a knack for the theatre.  Whatever she had to do, she would be on a Broadway stage someday, touching the hearts of many an audience member with her talent. American Musical and Dramatic Academy is the perfect stepping stone to get to where she ultimately wants to be. When she received her acceptance letter, a flash of bright lights spelling her name filled her hopeful eyes. This was now a reality, Logan will finally get to experience the Eloise lifestyle.

AMDA is a specific academy designed for young actors and actresses with an indescribable love for Broadway. The teachers are hard-core Broadway veterans who know exactly what casting directors are looking for.

“Every class is an audition,” Logan said.

You’re late for class by merely a minute and half? Forget about it. You’ll get kicked out of that room faster than you can say “Wait!”.

“You have to be able to think on your feet. You have to show that you can take the heat. No one wants to work with someone who is late for things, or can’t take the pressure of an auditioning atmosphere,” Logan said.

Logan has wanted her name up in lights ever since she could remember, but being from the small town of Harrisonburg, Virginia, she was weary of living on her own in the big city.

“Regardless of how inexperienced you are with a bustling city, you can’t let fear hold you back. If i don’t do this now, i’ll never do it. I’d hate to look back on my life and wish that I had done what i’m in the process of doing now,” Logan said

She lives in the Stratford Arms dorm on 70th street, just nine short blocks away from the main rehearsal building on 61st street. Logan walks to her classes, seeing as taking the Subway can cause extra stress, something that students at AMDA do not need more of.

The pressure is always on you to sell yourself, the product, to the directors.

“You have to play to your strengths. I’m the only blonde in the class. You know, you have to play with that! Also, don’t make the directors try to imagine you with a certain hairstyle, or certain outfit. Wear a wig and buy a new outfit! It’ll make you look prepared as well as more like the part you are going for. Every little bit helps. If the visual isn’t there, then tough luck,” Logan said.

Some may be skeptical about whether going to a two-year school which doesn’t give a degree of any kind id really worth it. Logan explains her thinking like this:

“It’s $36,000 a semester, or a year. Each semester is like the equivalent to a whole year of school. I got the ‘Presidential Scholarship’ which let me go for $25,000 instead. That’s still a lot that I will have to eventually pay off, but if I get a substantial part in a show, that’s an average of $11,000 a week. Just a couple weeks of that and I would be completely paid off. My mom told me that she wouldn’t have paid for AMDA if she didn’t know that I can make it. I am in the second semester, so Sophomore year. Fourth semester is when everything gets real. You have classes at night, allowing you to audition for shows all day everyday. You can have ‘Wicked’ Monday, ‘Lion King’ Tuesday, ‘Rock of Ages’ Wednesday, you know? The only way you can drop out before the end of fourth semester is if you book a part that pays more than $10,000 a week. That’s a couple speaking parts, a couple singing parts. It’s do-able. AMDA is definitely worth it. I am learning more than I ever imagined was possible. I consciously making artistic decisions that I never thought about in high school,” Logan said.

By spending some time at AMDA, one can get a feel for exactly who will make it in the broad world of theatre and who won’t. At AMDA, students immediately audition a second time on the first day of classes. You are specifically chosen by a vocal coach, a musical theatre director and a dance choreographer.

“I was chosen by the vocal mentor of the guy who plays Spiderman on Broadway,” Logan said.

“I’ve had them come up to me after a day of rehearsals and say, ‘You really sucked today’. You have to grow a thick skin. Back in Harrisonburg, no one ever tells you you sound bad! It would be impolite back home, but here they are all just looking out for you. They want you to make it, and being brutally honest with you will help you in the long run, even if it stings at the time,” said Logan. There is a system of talent ranking at AMDA. From A- F, students are put in certain groups based on their first audition at the school. Logan gained a spot in the A group, the top of the heap. She bashfully admits to this when asked, not so sure how to relay the fact without sounding full of herself. Although, if you have the talent, why not flaunt it?

Logan is determined to make her mark on New York City.

“I love waking up in the city that never sleeps,” Logan said. When asked about a backup plan, she looked puzzled.

“If you have a backup plan, you can’t be very confident in your first choice. I suppose if I go years without gaining a role, I may teach theatre or work in community theatre, but I haven’t thought about that as an option yet.”