VCU news

By Sian Wilkerson

In sixth grade, Alysha Morgan sat in the audience for her first Broadway show, “Beauty and the Beast.” Onstage, there was Chip, a young boy who has been transformed into a teacup. Watching him, Morgan, then 11, was struck by a sudden thought. She turned to her mom beside her and said, “I can do that.”

Now, years later, that longtime dream is coming true.

In November, Morgan, who earned her bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2016, is making her Broadway debut in “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical,” which is making its own debut in New York City’s famous theater district.

“It’s been 20 years since I said those words, and here I am finally being able to make my own mark on a Broadway stage and originating my own role in an original Broadway show,” said Morgan, who is part of the show’s ensemble and serves as a co-dance captain. “It’s really cool.”

As with any artist, getting to this point has been a roller coaster. But Morgan, who began dancing as a toddler, said her passion has endured. She attended an art school from sixth through 12th grade, where it was always “dance, dance, dance, dance,” she said. “Out of all of the extracurriculars that I did, my choice was always dance. I’ve always known that I wanted to dance.”

Eventually Morgan came to VCU, which she ranks among the best chapters in her life.

“VCU is where I found my people,” she said. “And a lot of those people are still my very, very best friends.”

During her first year as a Ram, Morgan planned to major in dance and choreography, and she performed on the dance team. But during her sophomore year, a bout of tendonitis forced her to confront the prospect of a life without dance for the first time.

“It was really hard for me to be able to dance up to 10 or 12 hours a day, and I had to have a serious sit-down with myself,” Morgan said. “The hardest thing for me – and I think a lot of dancers and former dancers would say the same – was that the minute you think about not consuming your life with dance anymore, it feels like you’re not [the same] person. I thought, if I change my major, no one is going to think I’m a dancer. But I had to be practical.”

While she stayed on the dance team, Morgan decided to change her major to exercise science, with the idea of becoming a physical therapist for dancers once she retires from the stage herself. After graduating, she went first to Los Angeles, then around the world as a performer on a cruise ship, and finally to New York.

In 2021, she joined “A Wonderful World” as part of the ensemble and dance captain. The show has taken her around the country, from Miami and New Orleans to Chicago and now New York. And she’s not the only Ram in the show. Kim Exum, who graduated from VCU’s theatre program in 2010, plays Armstrong’s third wife, Alpha Smith, and 2013 alum Matt Armentrout is the show’s wig designer.

“I didn’t know either of them” at VCU, Morgan said. “But we got a chance to chat about it. Kim found out I went to VCU because she saw it in my bio, and then our costume designer told me about Matt. So of course I went squealing to the wig room like, ‘You went to VCU?’ It’s so cool.”

When she got the news that they would be headed to Broadway, it didn’t seem real, Morgan said, remembering how she opened her email and read it three times before it really sank in: “I was mind-blown.”

The show officially opens Nov. 11, and in the weeks leading up to the premiere, the impact still hasn’t hit her.

“Because it is my debut, I want to really experience it and not even complain about one thing,” Morgan said. “I’m just trying to take in every single moment, day to day, moment to moment. I’m honestly just happy. I’m not even at the point of tears yet, but I know when they come, they will be genuine.”