SU alumni return with Pretty Woman: The Musical
SU alumni return for ‘Pretty Woman: The Musical’
Nate Coffey and Blaise Rossmann offer a glimpse of what life is like on a national Broadway tour and how SU Drama helped them get there.
Pretty Woman: The Musical is coming to Central New York this week, and it’s bringing back two Syracuse University alumni with it. Nate Coffey ‘21 and Blaise Rossmann ‘23 will return in the classic rom-com turned musical currently taking over stages across the states.
Rossman and Coffey shared their experiences on tour and how SU helped them get there.
From SU to touring the U.S.: Nate Coffey’s journey with ‘Pretty Woman: The Musical’
Nate Coffey graduated from Syracuse University in 2021 with a bachelor of fine arts degree in stage management.
He chose to study his craft at SU for its unique partnership with Syracuse Stage. Many collegiate theatre programs prioritize graduate programs over undergraduate students when it comes to theater partnerships, Coffey says.
“I didn’t want to go somewhere where that would be a risk,” he said. “At Syracuse, it’s just the students they have in the undergrad program getting all of the experience from what Syracuse Stage has to offer.”
It was because of Syracuse Stage that Coffey felt equipped to step into his apprenticeship at the coveted Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, the oldest operating theatre in the U.S.
Growing up, Coffey hated the competitive culture of sports. Around age 13 he started doing theater and confirmed this calling when he saw a technical rehearsal of Aladdin in his home city.
“I remember going to see closing night and I was by the sound mixed position,” Coffey recalled. “I asked the guy, ‘So what happens now?’ He said we pack all of this up into trucks and do it all over again. I thought, ‘Man, that’s cool. I want to do that.’”
Always one to seek out opportunities, he saw his chance to break into the touring world after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I realized there was a massive touring brain drain,” Coffey said. “People who were touring went home for the first time in years and realized they liked having their own bed and not being on a bus, plane, train, car, all the time, and just didn’t come back.”
Now, he’s on his second national tour with his company, after completing Tootsie in June 2023. He recalled the opening night of the Tootsie tour as an all-encompassing moment.
“The first time you call a show like that, you don’t get a rehearsal. You sort of study on your own and then you just have to do it,” he said.
While Coffey describes amazing opportunities that come along with seeing every corner of the country, there’s also the commitment to frequent travel. Sometimes it’s a bus, a plane or a sleeper coach. Unload everything, do the show, pack it up and do it all again. He says it casually, but the schedule described is demanding. And to make it all go smoothly, Coffey’s role as stage manager is key.
Anyone who talks to the Pretty Woman stage manager can tell he loves what he does.
While on tour, he says communication and collaboration are key – skills he picked up during his time at Syracuse University. Still, there is no doubt in his mind he’ll be back on the road next year to do it all again.
Blaise Rossmann fast-tracks graduation to join ‘Pretty Woman: The Musical’ tour
Blaise Rossmann was originally expecting to spend more time in New York this spring – it was supposed to be his final semester at SU. But after an audition on a whim, and a surprise callback, the chance at touring a Broadway show with Pretty Woman: The Musical came calling.
“I saw an email from the casting team. I turned to my boss, Courtney Richardson in the box office, and I go ‘Oh my god, I booked my first national show.’”
Rossmann had enough credits to graduate early last fall, so he signed the contract and left during finals week for rehearsal in Washington, D.C.
The decision to finish school early and join the Pretty Woman tour was not an easy one, but has been rewarding for Rossmann as an artist in many ways. One challenge has been adjusting from doing one show for a week to doing Pretty Woman over a hundred times.
To fight burnout, Rossmann looks for ways he can keep the performance fresh, like giving his characters names. It’s an outlook he has carried throughout the tour that he says is essential – the production is bigger than the individual.
“It doesn’t matter if I didn’t sleep well, people are paying Broadway national tour prices to see this,” he said. “No matter what happens, I have to leave everything outside. I still have to smile and do the best show I can give that day.”
For Rossmann, the tour has pushed both personal and professional growth.
“I’ve been learning what I enjoy outside of theater, learning new ways to find joy and live a life essentially outside when your passion becomes your job,” Rossmann said.
The SU grad says he is ready to take a vacation after this tour. But first, he plans to come back to campus for graduation.
“I put three and a half years of my life into Central New York,” he said. “I want to be able to walk with my class. Getting a degree is something that’s important to me.”
Before crossing that stage, Rossmann (and Coffey) will be taking on another as they open Pretty Woman: The Musical at the Landmark Theatre on Tuesday, March 19 at 7:30. The show runs through Saturday, March 23.
is a digital producer for The NewsHouse. She also does freelance audio production and editing.