Meet On the Town’s Miss Turnstiles: Ballet-Dancing Math Whiz Megan Fairchild

Age: 30

Hometown: Sandy, UT

Current Role: Dancing beauty queen Ivy Smith, whose subway poster inspires the amorous escapades of three sailors with 24 hours of New York City freedom in the spirited revival of On the Town.

Stage & Screen Cred: Principal dancer with the New York City Ballet since 2005. She played the Sugar Plum Fairy in PBS’ 2011 Live From Lincoln Center telecast of The Nutcracker, which also screened in movie theaters worldwide.

“I was the odd person out in Utah. As soon as I moved to New York [to attend the School of American Ballet], everybody was doing ballet, and we all understood each other so well. It was the cool thing to care about ballet instead of having to miss out on the high school dance.”

“My brother Robert [Fairchild, star of in An American in Paris] did whatever I did, so that’s how he ended up dancing. We'd put on shows for my parents in our living room, and I'd be very technical and he'd be more improv. They'd always watch him because he was so much more entertaining. I’d be like, ‘But I’m doing the right steps!’”

“I’m currently a senior at Fordham, math and economics. The way I like it is what I like about ballet: you can learn how to perfect the trick of something. Through discipline and practice it becomes something that you get right.”

“Until now, I’ve never spoken on stage before. I’m having the best time with the acting parts. In my head, I’m totally embarrassing myself and doing things out of my comfort zone, but nobody seems to be saying it’s wrong!”

“If you don’t have a job by 18 in the ballet world, then it’s over. It’s very different from Broadway. But I was making a wonderful paycheck starting at 17, so I don’t regret that at all.”

“Since I moved to New York 15 years ago, I’ve stayed in the same world. I’ve made, like, 30 new friends in the last month that I’m having so much fun with. I’m excited every day—I can’t wait to get back into the theater and do another show.”