If you’re chronically online like me, you may or may not be familiar with Trisha Paytas’ latest venture. The 36-year-old Los Angeles resident who always seems like she’s up to something has returned when we needed her most, performing in a one-night-only musical theatre extravaganza!
Paytas is joined by a talented cast featuring Tony Award winners Sutton Foster (Anything Goes, Thoroughly Modern Millie) and Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen), Golden Globe Award winner Rachel Zegler (West Side Story, Romeo + Juliet), and Broadway breakout star Joy Woods (The Notebook).
Directed by Skylar Fox and choreographed by Sarah Meahl, all proceeds from the night go to the Entertainment Community Fund in their efforts to aid displaced members of the entertainment industry following the California wildfires. Suffice it to say, dreams became reality on Feb. 3 at the St. James Theatre in NYC.
Most people likely know Trisha from her influential YouTube presence, dating all the way back to 2007. While it’s difficult to describe the span of her YouTube career, she is most known for her podcasts, mukbangs, singing, and, of course, trolling. Trisha has been known to hop from controversy to controversy, notably self-identifying as a chicken nugget, claiming to have Dissociative Identity Disorder, and formerly maintaining a long-time friendship with Shane Dawson.
Beyond YouTube, she was seemingly everywhere else, making appearances on Modern Family, America’s Got Talent, Ellen, and even Nathan For You. Despite all that, in recent years, she has gotten help for her mental health, taken accountability for many missteps, and has had two children with her husband, Moses Hacmon.
If you’ve followed Trisha, you know that a large part of her brand is centered around her love of musical theatre, so the fact that her longtime dream of being on Broadway came to fruition is astounding. Editor-in-chief of Theatrely and co-producer of the show, Kobi Kassal, reportedly began brainstorming Paytas’ debut at the Great White Way after an April Fool’s Day joke about Trisha signing on to play Roxie Hart in Chicago went viral.Â
Trisha told Paper Magazine, “It’s definitely a mix of classic Broadway, a little bit of the podcast, because there are little interview segments, and it’s very niche…Think of it like a biopic. It’s like Trisha Paytas meets A Christmas Carol…It should win a Tony Award. It’s, like, groundbreaking, in my opinion.”
As such, she had Sutton Foster, Ben Platt, and Rachel Zegler playing the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future, respectively. A highlight of the show was Zegler and Paytas’ rendition of “Take Me or Leave Me” from Rent, though the entire cast maintained a great energy and presence throughout. The mostly Gen Z audience seemed to agree.
Grant Gibbs, FSU alumni and one-half of TikTok duo A Twink and a Redhead, told The Cut, “I’m here to support Mother Trisha.” Despite Trisha struggling through some vocal parts, as we’ve seen on her YouTube channel, the crowd cheered her on through the entire revue. All in all, this sold-out night was a success!
Trisha has remained busy in the days following, having uploaded a podcast and being spotted on the streets of New York singing “Part of Your World.” It’s hard to go up from Broadway, but I think everyone can say they’re excited to see what side-quest she completes next. Unfortunately, the online tickets to livestream the event are now sold out, but you may be able to find some slime tutorials on it *wink, wink, nudge, nudge.*
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