A graduate of Widdifield Secondary School has had quite the career arc lately.

Samantha Mbolekwa has been cast as Joanne Jefferson in the Rent 20th anniversary tour.

She says she decided to move to Harlem and she wanted the experience of going through the audition process and the last one was for Rent and she got the job.

“For me I have to trust that every time I go in to the audition room those at the table want me to do my best and whether or not I get the gig I’m getting my name and face out there,” she says.

She says in high school she had a lot of stage fright and she credits a couple of former instructors who worked with her sister in TOROS.

“She worked with Mrs. Bell-Summersby and Mrs. McDermott a lot in those shows. When I got to high school I took dance with those two teachers. Without those two women I don’t think I would be in the arts right now,” Mbolekwa says.

Tickets go on sale tomorrow and the show has a few Canadian stops including one in Ottawa next month from October 22nd-27th.

(photo of Samantha from Broadway Across Canada)

Filed under: Rent, Samantha Mbolekwa