Tessa Belongia
  • musical theatre
  • Class of 2020
  • Charlotte, NC

Tessa Belongia performs in 'Bullets Over Broadway' at CCU

2018 Feb 9

Tessa Belongia, a musical theatre major from Charlotte, NC, was one of 36 theater students at Coastal Carolina University who landed a role in the musical "Bullets Over Broadway," which ran from Feb. 8 through 17.

Nominated for six Tony Awards, "Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical" is set amid tap-dancing gangsters and high-stepping chorines in the 1920s, featuring a pretentious playwright, an aging leading lady, a ditsy leading man, a desperate producer, a dimwitted chorus girl and her gangster sugar daddy. This musical is a love letter to the Golden Age of Broadway, loaded with laughs, colorful characters and songs that made the '20s roar, including "Let's Misbehave," "'Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness If I Do" and "There's a New Day Comin'!"

Adam Pelty, CCU assistant professor of theatre, directs and choreographs the production.

"This musical is an adaptation of the early '90s Oscar-winning film brought to life by one of Broadway's powerhouse women, Susan Stroman, who is a big reason why we selected this production," said Adam Pelty, assistant professor of theatre who directs and choreographs the production. "It's a very prop-heavy show, and we rented the props package from the original Broadway production, including a 1920s car on the stage, so there's a real sense of authenticity."

The cast includes Benjamin Southerland, Sophis Kider, Bryce Ridley-Williams, Austin Dare, T.J. Little, Erin Paxton, Hannah Garmon, Noah Pelty, McKenna O'Grodnik, John Dudley, Terrell Jones, Kaleb Jenkins, Ethan Babson, Jason Skibinski, Emma VanDeVelde, Emilee Hassanzadeh, Peyton Smith, Grainger Russell, Bailey Foard, Tessa Belongia, Hannah Wilson, Chloe Campbell, Will Shafer, Christian Ruiz, Jared Sayers, Carson Matte, Briar Presley White, Collin David Beach, Hank Santos, Isabel Dorst, Nikko Smith, April Pollock, Drake King, Guy Bannister and Amelia Dobbs.