The 2025-26 Dazzle Awards presented by Pat and John Chapman are underway with fantastic performances, dedicated rehearsals and learning at triple threat classes and audition workshops. Even after the final curtain of the Dazzle Awards, alumni of the program continue to pursue careers in the performing arts.
We caught up with three of our Dazzle Awards alumni – Anthony Ghali, Karsen Guldan and Margo Tipping – who are pursuing their performance careers on the high seas. Anthony and Karsen are performing with Disney Cruise Line, while Margo is performing aboard the Regent Seven Seas Splendor!
PSQ: Can you share a bit about your experience in the Dazzle Awards program at Playhouse Square?
Karsen: I participated in the Dazzle Awards in 2019. It was the first time my school had ever been a part of the program, and I didn’t really know what to expect. I went to the auditions and was honestly incredibly overwhelmed. When I got nominated for Best Actor, I remember being so excited. It’s cool to be recognized for your work. The actual week of the Dazzle Awards was such a blast. I remember walking into the first day of rehearsals and just being amazed by the level of talent that was there. Getting to know the people from different schools and having the opportunity to perform at the Connor Palace had such an impact on me as a young performer. Belting out a song center stage while an entire theater filled with my peers cheered was such a special memory.
Anthony: I went to Lutheran West High School, and in 2018, we participated in the Dazzle Awards for the first time. I was one of the few eligible to go to the Dazzle Awards workshops. We were doing Fiddler on the Roof, and I was Tevye, so I prepared a song from the show/role and one other song of my choosing for the workshops to receive feedback. I wasn’t sure about my passion for theater at that point, but it was the one thing that seemed to feel right compared to sports/other extracurriculars/and even aspects of my social life. I can confidently say that attending those workshops ignited my love for theater. Seeing people like me across the state share their love, passion and art unashamedly inspired me beyond words can describe. It made me want to work harder and harder toward my own craft. We continued to participate in the Dazzle Awards, and in my senior year, I was nominated for the Best Actor Award as Gomez in our production of The Addams Family. This was a highlight of my life to this day. I remember the feeling of seeing my name come across the screen as I sat with my castmates in our drama director’s classroom waiting to find out the nominations. I can still feel the tears immediately rush to my eyes. This acknowledgment showed me and my family that theater was something I could, and SHOULD, pursue.
Margo: My school, Walsh Jesuit High School, joined the Dazzle Awards program my junior year (2019) when I was playing Irene Malloy in Hello, Dolly! The entire theater department was excited to be involved in the program, considering we all grew up watching performances at Playhouse Square. The thought of having a chance to perform and be a part of something there was so beyond cool.
I was lucky enough to be nominated for and to win the Best Actress Dazzle Award. The week leading up to the ceremony was spent rehearsing and putting together the show with all of my fellow nominees. Getting to meet people our age across Northeast Ohio that are passionate about the same things, and that we probably wouldn’t have gotten a chance to meet otherwise, was so special. I have made lifelong friends who I keep in touch with today.
PSQ: Where has your career path led you since your time in the program?
Anthony: After high school, I went on to get my BFA in Musial Theatre from Kent State University. In my time there, I participated in the University’s Mainstage Productions of Cabaret, Head Over Heels, Rent, The Wiz, among others. In my time off from school, I also made my professional debut in a number of regional theaters. I worked at Porthouse Theatre, NCC Summer Theatre and Rubber City Theatre. These experiences gave me even more fuel to continue to work harder and excel in my craft, along with the support from my teachers and mentors. I am now, post graduating, working my first contract on Disney Cruise Line (DCL) aboard the Disney Treasure. I joined the 3rd cast of The Tale of Moana as Matai Vasa/understudy Tui and as Cogsworth/understudy Maurice in Beauty and the Beast.
Margo: I graduated with my BFA in Musical Theatre from Kent State University in May 2024. I had an amazing experience there, learning so much both on and off stage. While still in school, I performed at different regional theater companies including Porthouse Theatre, the Beck Center for the Arts and New Paradigm Theater in Fairfield, CT. Immediately following graduation, I worked at the repertoire theater company Bigfork Summer Playhouse in Bigfork, MT.
My passion for performing started with singing pop music. So, part of my journey after graduation was to audition and submit myself for pop/rock vocalist jobs, in addition to musical theater; and I am very grateful I did! Cruise ship performing is mainly pop/rock so I was constantly auditioning for every cruise line for over a year before receiving my first contract. During that year, I toured with Neil Zaza in his Halloween rock show “One Dark Night.” I moved to the Florida Keys and worked at a resort as a vocalist by night, and mermaid by day. Then I received my job as a vocalist on the Regent Seven Seas Splendor, and I have been here since! All of this being said, persistence and trusting your passion is key. Every “no” is just one step closer to hearing your “yes!”
Karsen: I majored in Musical Theatre at Kent State University and received my BFA in 2023. In my senior year, I was a part of the LINK program, which was a college theater intensive that brought together some of the best emerging young theater artists in the country. This program is now the Norwalk Conservatory in Norwalk, CT. Through this intensive, I was able to get signed to a talent agency, and I have been with them since. After graduating from Kent State, I did Memphis at the Lexington Theatre Company in Lexington, KY. I was cast as Huey Calhoun, and it was my first professional contract. This was a dream show of mine, and the Lex is an amazing environment. After I finished that contract, I immediately hit the road with PAW Patrol Live! The Great Pirate Adventure. I spent the next ten months touring the country playing Ryder, the highly energetic leader of the PAW Patrol. I was able to perform in some of the most iconic venues in the country, including the Theater at Madison Square Garden, The Fox in Detroit and our very own KeyBank State Theatre here at Playhouse Square. Once that tour concluded, I made the big move to NYC and was there for about ten months. After many auditions, and rejections, I got an audition for Disney Cruise Line, and here we are!
PSQ: What has been the most exciting part about performing on a cruise ship or what are you looking forward to the most about performing on a cruise ship? Are there differences or special preparations you have to make for performing on the high seas?
Anthony: The most exciting part about working on a cruise ship are the countless lives from across the world that you have the opportunity to impact each week. We welcome 3500+ new guests each week, children to seniors, and seeing the joy on their faces during/after performances has given me a sense of fulfillment I didn’t know was possible. Another exciting thing is the sheer Broadway level caliber of the shows that have been produced by these ships. The amount of technology as well as blood, sweat and tears that go into each second of the show truly makes for an outstanding product. I have made relationships to last a lifetime with the cast and backstage team and none of it would be possible without every single one of them.
In preparing for this contract, I had no clue what to expect. I came on as a replacement, so I didn’t get to rehearse with the rest of the cast. I had about a quarter of the time they had to rehearse, so a lot of my prep was focusing on getting everything locked into muscle memory with the music and staging. I also had to learn puppetry for Cogsworth, which was a first for me. But in working with the incredible DCL team in Toronto and practicing on my own, I got to a point where I felt fully prepared and ready to embark on this journey. When I came onto the ship, I had a couple of put-in rehearsals for each show with the rest of the cast. They were incredibly supportive and helpful in plugging me into the show and getting me accustomed to the stage/tech elements that I didn’t experience in rehearsal.
It took a while for me to adjust to ship life. It’s a complete change of routine, environment and atmosphere from anything on land. You HAVE to take consistent care of your body, voice and most importantly mind. It is long hours, surrounded by thousands of people at all times, but nonetheless, it is truly magical.
Karsen: There are a lot of exciting parts to performing on a cruise ship. It’s definitely very different from anything I’ve ever done before. It’s always exciting to travel and see places you’ve never been to. I’m also very grateful to be able to make my living doing what I love to do. The biggest adjustment for me was never really having a day off. Once I got on the ship, I worked seven days a week for seven months. As you can imagine, that can be pretty exhausting. When you work on a cruise ship, you typically learn multiple shows. For Disney, I learned three mainstage shows, or shows that are performed in the 1,000-seat theater on board. I was cast as Lefou in Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan in Disney’s Believe and Ensemble in The Golden Mickeys. I performed in Disney’s Victrophonics, a cabaret-style show featuring myself and another vocalist with a live band singing jazz and pop arrangements of Disney songs. I also learned several deck shows that were performed in between or after shows. In total, I learned six shows in rehearsals.
Another big adjustment was performing on a stage that occasionally moved. Cruise ships move - that’s the nature of the game. There are some times when you’ll be walking one way, and the ship is going the other way, and physics takes over. This can be a bit scary, especially when I’m flying twenty feet in the air as Peter Pan. The best way to prepare for performing on a cruise ship is to be flexible and have the ability to roll with the punches…because they will be coming at you from seven different directions.
Margo: I think the most exciting part about performing on a cruise ship is being able to see the world while doing what I love! Knowing I am traveling on a moving ship to a different country that I was in the day before, all while belting Celine Dion, just feels like such a dream come true. Also, making friends with people from different countries is so special to me because no matter where we are from, we are all connected by the love of music and performing. The biggest challenge that goes into performing at sea is getting your “sea legs.” The weather is pretty unpredictable at sea and can change within minutes, sometimes with huge waves and high winds. Learning how to perform and stage grounded while on a moving ship was and still is tricky. I learn more every time, but it’s definitely something I didn’t realize would be so challenging!
PSQ: Why is a program like the Dazzle Awards so important for students?
Margo: What makes the Dazzle Awards so important isn’t that it is a “competition,” it’s that the program is a way to recognize and celebrate students who are passionate about theater. And not just performers - the technical, stage, and costume departments all get their flowers. Often, as high school students the “theater kids” do not get the recognition they deserve at their own school. Sometimes you put on the musicals and your families are there, but not necessarily students or peers that also love the arts in the same way we do. But the Dazzle Awards allows us to meet others who are passionate about the same things. The Dazzle Awards opens our eyes to the fact that there is a whole world out there who loves theater and the arts with the same passion that we do. It makes us feel seen, and it makes us feel loved by our community. And now as a working professional in the field, I see that the Dazzle Awards gave me a taste of what the reality of the rest of my life would be, and I’m forever grateful.
Karsen: The Dazzle Awards are so important because they expose students to other performers their age. Everyone has the same passion for theater and to be able to share that with people you just met is so special. The performing arts are vital, and having a program that can nurture young artists is an amazing thing. The Dazzle Awards solidified my love for musical theater and gave me the boost of confidence I needed to pursue it as a career. I also need to shout out my high school theater director Bob Russell. Without him, I wouldn’t have had the chance to be a part of this program, and I probably wouldn’t have pursued theater.
Anthony: I believe a program like the Dazzle Awards is so important for students because of the community it builds. When pursuing something as stereotypically “unorthodox” as theater, it can feel isolating. But the entire premise of what we do is about working together and building harmony to create something beautiful. The Dazzle Awards highlights this by giving different groups a platform to share their love and togetherness, while also bringing together groups of people who otherwise would never have met. The passions of others lead people to discover their own, and getting to share a passion as impactful as theater is the experience of a lifetime.
For more information on the Dazzle Awards program, please visit playhousesquare.org/dazzle-awards.