Above: Actors Tom Hewitt and Sierra Boggess engage in compelling conversation in the new musical “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” at Chicago’s Goodman Theater. Photo by Liz Lauren
By Elvin Walker
Within the walls of any skating rink across the globe, chances are that music from the Broadway musical “Phantom of the Opera” can be heard over the speakers at some point in the day.
Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score has inspired many skaters to craft programs that captivate audiences with dramatic storytelling of the Phantom obsessed with a young opera singer named Christine Daaé. One of the most recognizable actresses who has had the honor of playing the role of Daaé is Broadway star and figure skater Sierra Boggess.
Photo by Liz Lauren
Born and raised in Denver, Boggess began skating at the tender age of 4 when she and her sister took a group class at a local rink. From that moment, the two were hooked and thus began the daily commutes to the rink with her mother as chauffeur.
“Every day before school, my mom would drive us and wait for us at the rink while she drank a big thermos of coffee,” Boggess said. “We did an hour of patch and an hour of freestyle. I remember I never really liked patch because it was so boring, and I really didn’t understand it. I was the kid on the ice that people always told to stop being so wild. I just loved the freedom and performance aspect of it, but I didn’t like the discipline of it. I was always talking too much.”
Over the next eight years, Boggess treasured the moments when she heard her name, often mispronounced, over the loudspeaker as she took to the ice to compete. At the age of 12 while she was working on her double Salchow, Boggess and her sister had to step away from the sport due to the expense.
“It broke my heart to have to stop skating, but we couldn’t afford it,” she said. “My parents bought me a pair of skates for high school graduation, I think, and by then my feet had stopped growing so I took them with me to college so that I could skate occasionally.”
When she left skating behind, Boggess began to channel her energy into performing on stage which led her to Decatur, Illinois, where she earned a bachelor of fine arts degree at Milliken University. After graduation, she was cast in the national tour of Les Misérables before starring as Daaé in a Las Vegas production of “Phantom.” It was during the run of that production when Boggess was first introduced to Lloyd Webber.
“I was 23 when I met him,” she said. “He has always been so nice to me throughout my career.”
Almost immediately following her run in Las Vegas, Boggess snagged the coveted role of Ariel in Disney’s Broadway production of “The Little Mermaid.” Interestingly, it was her background in skating that gave her an edge in the audition process.
“The show used Heelys, the shoes with wheels in them, to simulate swimming,” she said. “When I got a call back, I went out and bought a pair and started practicing. At the call back, most people were in them for the first time and were falling, while I managed them as gracefully as I could and did not fall. The choreographer came over to me and asked me about my special skills on my resume that included ice skating. They kept me there for like five hours, and my skating was something that helped me to get that role and make my Broadway debut.”
Boggess returned to skating when theaters were shut down during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her friend, fellow Broadway actress and former skater, Emily Cramer, texted her one day to share that she found a rink in Queens, New York, that charged $10 for a 90-minute session.
“We took the train over to Queens and skated with like five other people,” Boggess said. “I started skating every day except for weekends and then I got a coach.”
Photo by Sean Work for 828 Studios
Though she never intended to enter the competitive landscape again, Boggess soon realized that she was not content with doing something casually, so she started setting markers for herself. Before she knew it, she was skating at the Washington Invitational and on the path to compete at the 2024 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships in Lakewood, Ohio.
“It had been 30 years since I competed and, of course, since I am a big Barbra Streisand fan, I had to skate to something of hers,” she said. “I ended up using “As If We Never Said Goodbye” from Sunset Boulevard, which tells the story of how Norma Desmond comes back to experience this life that she had before. It was something that I could definitely relate to.”
Boggess earned a bronze medal in the adult silver women II division, wearing a Brad Griffies costume inspired by one of the dresses that her mother made when she was a young skater.
“I wish that I could have fit into one of the costumes that she made so that I could honor her,” she said. “She’s the one who took me to the rink every day. She made it all happen.”
Though she has yet to hear her own music used in competition, Boggess admitted that it would be a great honor for that to happen.
“That would be amazing,” she said. “I have an album of duets that would be great for pairs and the 25th anniversary recording could be an option for skaters.”
Boggess is currently starring in the world premiere of the new musical “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” at Chicago’s Goodman Theater. She plays the role of Emma Dawes, alongside Tony winner J. Harrison Ghee.
“I say that I am slipping into my villain era with this character,” she said with a laugh. “She is a high society blue blood character — she is very judgmental with a lot of opinions.”
“Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” is playing through Aug, 11 with an eye on a possible Broadway transfer in the future.
