Fresh Foursome! Meet The Fantastic Young Stars of Follies

In a cast filled with bona fide Broadway stars, Follies cast members Lora Lee Gayer, Kirsten Scott, Christian Delcroix and Nick Verina have their work cut out for them. Cast as the younger counterparts of Bernadette Peters (Sally), Jan Maxwell (Phyllis), Danny Burstein (Buddy) and Ron Raines (Ben), these up-and-coming Broadway babies realize that they’ve been given both an incredible opportunity and an incredible challenge. Broadway.com recently sat down for a getting-to-know-you chat with four stars on the rise.

Christian Delcroix
Age & Hometown: 30, Pittsburgh, PA
Current Role: Happy-go-lucky Young Buddy Plummer
Before he set his sights on Broadway, Delcroix dreamed of careers in golf and baseball. Perhaps it was a stint as “Gus the Theater Cat” in a local production of Cats that swayed him, but by the time he hit 10th grade, Delcroix was hooked. When he heard Danny Burstein was playing Buddy Plummer in the Kennedy Center production of Follies, he started gunning for the role of Young Buddy. After all, the Florida State grad had already made his Broadway debut in South Pacific with Burstein, and the two hit it off: “We’ve always had a great rapport," the easygoing actor says, adding with a laugh, “We have the exact same stupid sense of humor.” (Example: “Do you know how many jobs she’s turned down at the Walnut Street Theatre?!” he says of co-star Scott’s nut allergy). If you think this fall is a busy one for Delcroix, just wait until November, when he and his girlfriend are expecting their first child, a girl. The nursery furniture is ready, but as for names, “We have a short list!” Delcroix says. Broadway fans will just have to wait for the final decision.

Lora Lee Gayer
Age & Hometown: 23; New York, NY
Current Role: A Broadway debut as lovestruck Young Sally
As the youngest person in a cast of 41, Gayer deals with more than her fair share of hazing. “This is nothing!” she says, of her co-stars' mid-interview ribbing. “You add in Ron, Danny and Jan, and it’s amazing I don’t cry at work every day.” Gayer is no newcomer to the musical scene, however: A New York native, she saw her first Broadway show at three and considered a career in opera before switching to musical theater while attending the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy. Singling out memorable roles proves tricky. “I swear to God I don’t remember the '90s,” she jokes. “It’s like I was in a drug haze.” Luckily, her current role is crystal clear. Immediately after graduating from Carnegie Mellon (“Go Tah-tans!”), she began auditioning to play the younger counterpart of Bernadette Peters in Follies. Beyond being a gracious co-star who “knows the name of everyone backstage,” Peters has taught Gayer another valuable lesson. “On our first day of rehearsal, you couldn’t see white space on Bernadette’s script, there were so many notes,” she says. “I thought, ‘Wow, you still do your homework!’”

Kirsten Scott
Age & Hometown: 26, Pittsburgh, PA
Current Role: Hopeful showgirl Young Phyllis
To hear Scott tell it, her career didn’t get off to an auspicious start. “My first show was The Wizard of Oz when I was 13, and I played a man. Then I did Peter Pan. And I played a man,” she cracks. But it was onward and upward for the actress, a Carnegie Mellon grad like co-star Gayer. After making her Broadway debut in Hairspray, she heard that Phyllis in Follies might be played by Kim Cattrall and considered submitting an audition tape. Upon learning it was Jan Maxwell she needed no convincing. “On the first day of rehearsal I was a total nerd and said, ‘I’m a big fan, I’m so happy to be working with you,’ and she’s so funny, she doesn’t take any of that. She says ‘Ok, thanks,’ and then starts making fun of you!” Though Maxwell’s Phyllis has been through a lifetime of disappointment, the bubbly Scott, a “typical Type A” personality, happily married to actor and fellow CMU alum Matthew Scott, seems a natural for the character’s wide-eyed younger self. “I love the purity and the hope of Young Phyllis. It’s refreshing."

Nick Verina
Age & Hometown: “15…going on 28”, Niles, OH
Current Role: A Broadway debut as ambitious Young Ben Stone
Verina has always known what he wanted: “My mom showed me a note I wrote when I was in second grade that said, ‘I’m going to be an actor,’” he remembers, and that's exactly what he did. (His claim of an earlier desire to become a heart surgeon raised his co-stars’ skeptical eyebrows!) A childhood in community theater preceded a degree from Wright State University, and a job in the national tour of Grease helped pave the way to Follies—and, as fate would have it, introduced him to his future wife: While making his Broadway debut, Verina is helping plan a wedding to Grease co-star Erin Henry in November. Luckily, the atmosphere at Follies is anything but stressful. “It’s really such a laid-back vibe,” he says of the star-studded cast. “It’s amazing to be with these people and watch them work. You learn something every day.”

Kirsten Scott, Nick Verina, Lora Lee Gayer and Christian Delcroix in Follies