Daniel Everidge

Currently: Making his Broadway debut as Roger, a goofy yet lovable member of Danny Zuko's gang the T-Birds in Grease.

Hometown: San Antonio, Texas

Curtain Up: A middle school production of The Three Musketeers gave Everidge the urge to act. "In sixth grade, I was cast as one of the guys on a dock," he recalls, "and I played it like a pirate and thought it was the coolest thing in the world." His creativity didn't go unnoticed, and when one of the show's leading players had to be replaced, Everidge was front and center—and hooked forever. "I went from no stage experience to playing the lead villain, Rochefort, and at that moment, my life was set," he says with a grin. "I got the cape, the eye patch, the sword—for a boy with a big imagination, that was just about as cool as it got."

Sing Out, Daniel! Ready to dive into his craft, Everidge attended performing arts high school, then landed at Ohio's Otterbein College, earning a BFA in musical theater. It was there he honed his impressive singing chops with classical voice training, on full display in Grease as he stops the show nightly with "Mooning," an ode to the joys of bottom-baring. "It's like when dancers study ballet—if you become skilled at that, it'll help you through all the other kinds of dance," he explains. "That's how I felt about classical voice training. I'm screaming double Cs and high Gs in the show, all rock-and-roll eight shows a week, and I haven't had any problems."

Grease Is the Word: Everidge arrived in New York a year ago without a job, a place to live…or his luggage. "I landed on a Wednesday, staying with friends, and the airline lost my bags," he recalls. "They found the bags Thursday night, and I went into my Grease audition Friday!" Though a previous internship at a theatrical casting agency helped him get a foot in the door, he wasn't expecting an easy ride. "I wasn't sure if I was the 'type' for this show," he admits. "I figured they were looking for cookie-cutter musical theater 'built' kinda guys, so when I got that first callback, I was so happy, like 'This is all I need!'" Numerous callbacks later, he was cast, prior to the launch of Grease: You're The One That I Want on TV. Yet he still had nowhere to live: "I ended up moving home to San Antonio from January to June, while they did the reality show. I'd landed this dream job, but I was still broke and unemployed," he says with a wry chuckle.

We Go Together: With backstage Playstation competitions and informal jam sessions, the Grease company has established a warm camaraderie. "Everybody I've met in the show is like the coolest person I've ever known," Everidge says with a grin. The team spirit extends to leads Max Crumm and Laura Osnes, whom the cast embraced with only minor trepidation. "I'm sure in the back of everyone's mind, there was some kind of wariness," their young co-star says now, "but once we met them and heard what they went through, performing week after week [on TV] and living together, we had tons of respect for them. They're marathon athletes. And their personalities lended themselves perfectly to our dynamic."

The Ones That They Want: The critics may have given Grease a mixed reception, but Everidge focuses on the enthusiasm of the audiences. "I can read pages and pages of people writing blood in their magazines about the show," he says, "and it doesn't matter, 'cause as soon as the curtain goes up, people go crazy." Of course, some audience members are more effusive than others. "One night, during the song 'Those Magic Changes,' we sang to this lady in the front row and she wasn't happy at all; she was really embarrassed," he recalls. "Then in act two, a little girl was in that seat. We all joked, 'The show helped that lady find her inner child!'" The lucky young front-row dweller quickly got into the spirit of Grease, Everidge adds: "She was screaming and grabbing her chair and having an unearthly amount of fun. It's hard to dwell on the negativity when you get hit with that wave of positivity every night."

Broadway Baby: Having settled into his recently furnished apartment in Astoria, Queens, Everidge is finally getting into the swing of living his Broadway dream. Occasionally, everything still seems overwhelming. "There are moments onstage where I'll slightly drift out, and think, 'HEY—you're on Broadway right now, performing for thousands of people—don't miss your line!' Moment like that keep me grounded. To be here, doing what I always wanted to do as a kid, it's almost too much. You've gotta laugh and take it in one day at a time!"