Michael Arden

So that was a big moment.

And I got the job and was in a dressing room with Oscar winner Troy Kotzer, who won an Oscar for Coda.

And I, for three months, was just immersed in only sign language in that dressing room.

And I learned just having to want to communicate.

That was a landmark collaboration between Deaf West Theatre and the Roundabout Theatre Company.

At that time, you decided to leave Juilliard.

And leaving a place people spend years trying to reach requires trusting something in yourself.

When Broadway opportunities began appearing, what calculation were you making in your life?

Well, there weren't any, you know, other opportunities at the time.

It was really just that one.

Well, I was planning on doing the show.

It happened to fall in the summer.

It was a limited run.

I was going to close the show and go back to my junior year, my third year.

Then we became a big hit and they extended.

I got a call like an hour after that press release went out from Juilliard saying, OK, so are you quitting the play or are you quitting school?

They were on to me.

They said, well, take the weekend and think about it.

But we need to know.

And I struggled with this.