From the Little Apple to the Big Apple: Shawn Fisher’s journey from K-State to the Broadway stage
By Ashley Pauls
K-State Alumni Association
For singers, dancers and actors who dream of performing on Broadway, the path is often
not an easy one.
It takes years of training and dedication, honing your craft and sacrificing time
and other opportunities. It requires countless hours of rehearsal and physically demanding
choreography that leaves you sore and exhausted. You’ll work evenings and weekends,
and every audience expects you to give 100%, no matter how many times you’ve performed
the same show.
Yet despite these challenges, when the lights go off and a hush falls over the darkened
theater, genuine magic sparkles in the air. There’s no feeling like the camaraderie
and passion it takes to bring a Broadway show to life.
Even after years as a performer, Shawn Fisher ’06 still feels that magic, and says
she never takes for granted that every day, she is living her dream.
“When we’re about to go on stage, it might be the eighth show of the week and everything
hurts,” Fisher said. “We’re exhausted. But when the first note strikes and you hear
the audience — that gasp, that held breath — you remember they deserve our full commitment
every single time.”
She has persevered through numerous obstacles — from disappointments to injuries to
a deeply personal tragedy — to reach this place, dancing in one of Broadway’s biggest
shows: Disney’s The Lion King.
“It’s been a long journey to get here,” Fisher said. “Being entrusted with this story
on this stage is something I don’t take lightly.”
When she was younger, Fisher dreamed not of becoming a dancer, but of studying to
be a doctor. Her freshman year at K-State, she applied to a summer program for young
students interested in the medical field, hosted by the University of Kansas’ medical
school. She carefully completed the paperwork and confirmed that her high school would
send over her academic transcript. Weeks later, she received a rejection letter after
her transcript was never received, leaving her application marked as incomplete.
Although Fisher was disappointed, the setback did not derail her plans. She continued
pursuing the pre-med track, enrolling in rigorous science courses and preparing for
medical school. Thanks to K-State, she also began exploring other interests on campus.
She joined the cheerleading team and at the encouragement of her older sister — Dr.
Morgan Fisher ’04, who was also a K-State student — enrolled in a modern dance class
with Mary A. Chase.
“That class — and that professor — changed my trajectory,” she said. “I had always
loved movement. I grew up doing musical theater and competitive gymnastics, but started
formal dance training relatively late at the age of 13. By the time I got to college,
I’d only been dancing a few years. But it was there where I started to understand
movement not just as technique, but as a language, something that could inspire, challenge
and connect people in a profound way.”
At this point, she still planned to pursue a career in medicine, but she knew she
wanted to minor in dance, and she performed whenever she could.
Then, during her sophomore year, a sudden tragedy brought her life to a halt. One
of her best friends was walking down a street, and was hit and killed by a drunk driver.
Fisher was at a dance conference when she received the news, waking up to find her
phone filled with missed call notifications and text messages.
“I’ll never forget that day,” Fisher said. “How my fellow dancers just held me in
that moment. When we got back to Manhattan, I fell into a deep depression and decided
to withdraw from my pre-med coursework for the semester — the classes were intense,
and I wasn’t able to show up fully. But dancing was different. That was the one thing
I could commit to. It was hard to exert myself physically, but it also felt calming,
restorative and healing.”
Fisher ended up staying on campus an extra semester to finish her degree in life sciences.
Although it was hard to work through the pain, K-State provided a supportive space
for her to find herself again.
“It’s hard to put into words how my time at K-State shaped me,” she said. “I thought
I’d just get my degree and move on, but the obstacles I faced there — and how I grew
through them — have been critical to where I am now. It’s beautiful how the experience
tugged at my heart and filled in gaps I didn’t even realize were there. When I first
arrived, I felt like I was just following my sister, but over time, K-State became
mine.”
Fisher began pondering a career in dance before starting medical school, and a friend
encouraged her to look into an audition opportunity hosted by the renowned Alvin Ailey
dance company.
“I walked into that audition and was immediately intimidated,” she said. “It was a
room full of dancers who had trained their entire lives and all wanted a place in
the program. The Ailey School — and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater — was a company
I grew up admiring. It’s legendary, the pinnacle of Black dance.”
As the audition went on, more and more dancers were cut, and Fisher continued to wait
to see who would be invited to New York for their summer program. When Fisher’s name
was finally called, it took her a moment to realize what was happening. New York was
going to be her new home!
Fisher had never visited New York before, and the experience was both exciting and
overwhelming. Her days were filled with dancing, while she also worked to support
herself and adjust to life in a new city.
Early on, unexpected housing challenges added to the strain of the transition. Fisher
describes the period as one of the most difficult moments of her career, but with
the support of friends, she was able to regain stability and complete her training
at The Ailey School. From there, she began the long and often unpredictable process
of auditioning for roles while juggling multiple jobs to sustain herself.
She booked a role on the cheerleading musical Bring It On, serving as a “swing” — which meant she had to be prepared to serve as a substitute
for any of the female ensemble roles, learning their dance choreography and vocal
tracks.
“That was my first professional musical theater contract in New York,” she said. “And
it was for the world premiere.”
She auditioned for another prestigious dance company, Pilobolus, but suffered a broken
foot during final callbacks which sidelined her dreams. She ended up returning home
to Kansas to heal in 2012, but soon after, Hurricane Sandy hit New York.
“I felt a strong pull to be back in New York,” she said. “It had become home in a
short amount of time, and I wanted to be there helping. My sister and I returned and
did service work on Thanksgiving.”
That winter, Fisher auditioned for the musical Fela!, which is based on the life of Nigerian composer and activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti.
The role provided an opportunity for Fisher to understudy Destiny’s Child member Michelle
Williams and travel all over the country and the world, from Australia to New Zealand
to Nigeria.
“When I received the email offering me the role, I was at work,” she said. “I fell
to my knees and said, ‘Thank you, Lord.’ It marked a turning point for me — proof
that I had to keep pushing past my fear and trust that I was ready.”
By 2020, she had built nearly a decade of steady professional work when the COVID-19
pandemic brought Broadway and the larger theater industry to an abrupt halt.
Although Fisher had a contract for another show lined up, continued delays forced
her to pivot to a different kind of work while Broadway remained closed. She spent
some time at an ad agency, and submitted video auditions for musical theater roles
when she could.
Yet even during this time of uncertainty, a long-held dream began to take shape.
Disney’s The Lion King is one of the most successful Broadway musicals of the modern era, blending song,
dance and puppetry to bring the classic animated film to life on stage. Fisher had
auditioned for the musical several times over the years, but her moment was finally
coming.
She’d accepted a role in the first national tour of The Prom musical, and then on opening night, she received a call from her agent that she had
an offer to join the female ensemble of The Lion King on Broadway.
“When I received the offer, I was stunned,” Fisher said. “But I also felt deeply honored.
To be entrusted with a show like this requires humility and a real sense of responsibility.
“When people come to see the show, it isn’t about me — the story is much bigger than
any one performer. On the rare occasions I watch from the audience, I feel the same
goosebumps everyone else does when ‘Circle of Life’ begins. It’s a profound privilege
to be part of something that moves people that way.”
The Lion King Broadway production requires more than 50 cast members, plus more than 100 people
working backstage. Every week, the show is performed eight times in six days; during
the holidays, that tally can climb to 12 shows.
Fisher plays a number of animals in the show, including a gazelle — which requires
her to balance a four-foot long puppet on her head and carry additional puppets in
her hands, while leaping in the air.
In a musical packed with impressive set pieces, Fisher said the Grasslands Chant sequence is her favorite. The grass rises from the ground, reminding the audience
that everyone comes from the earth and will one day return to the earth. The wildebeest
stampede is another favorite — and technically complex — sequence, simulating a herd
of animals galloping down a mountain.
While the impressive puppetry work and elaborate dance sequences in the musical capture
the audience's imagination, Fisher has also seen how the story appeals to people’s
hearts. The main character Simba goes on a journey of redemption and healing after
the loss of his father, and he overcomes his sense of failure and realizes he is worthy
to lead.
“I think the show’s story is timeless,” Fisher said. “Young kids are excited to see
the animals, but they’re also deeply engaged with the story. At the same time, many
adults have come up to us and shared that they’ve recently lost a father, a grandfather,
or someone else close to them. The show reminds them of the lasting connections we
have with people we’ve lost, and that we are more than how others perceive us.”
Fisher performs from her heart each time she takes the stage, and the show has given
back to her, as well.
“This role has stretched me more than I expected,” she said. “Working in such close
quarters with so many strong personalities forces you to confront yourself. It’s an
intense environment — emotionally, mentally and physically — and navigating that without
losing myself has been one of the greatest challenges of my career. Ultimately, it
has clarified who I am and how I want to move through the world.”
Photo credits:
- The Lion King stage photo by Matthew Murphy; courtesy of the production
- Other photos courtesy of Shawn Fisher