Motown’s Brandon Victor Dixon Remembers Break-Ups and Boyz II Men in High School

As kids all over America head back to school, Broadway.com decided to ask our favorite Broadway starts to look back at their own years in the classroom—and share a school picture! In our final entry, Motown The Musical star Brandon Victor Dixon recalls his most inspiring teacher and looks back on an impromptu graduation performance when he and his friends grew from boys II men.

Who was your favorite teacher and why?
Frankie Tacker was my favorite teacher in high school because she saw me. She saw who I was and who I wanted to be, and worked hard to provide me the opportunities and guidance to do so. I love her to this day.

What advice would you give to your school-age self?
Do more sooner. Don't quit the piano. Take at least SOME tap. Create more with others and in front of others. Don't break up with that girl.

In school you would have been named “most likely to…”
...in 20 years' time, be starring in the off-Broadway production of The Life & Times of Billy Dee Williams. That was what they actually put in the yearbook.

What song sums up your school experience and why?
"It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" by Boyz II Men. Not for its content, really, but because a couple of friends and I sang it impromptu at our high school graduation. That performance kind of capped the experience for me.

What’s your favorite back-to-school item?
Books. :)

What class did you dread and why?
Calculus. Because I was tired and it still wasn't going to be right.

What is your most embarrassing school moment?
Being on the JV squad as a junior.

In which extracurricular activities did you participate?
I played soccer, wrestled, and did shows at my school and schools in the surrounding area.

Describe your school-age self in three words.
Saint Albans man.