Josefina Scaglione

Age: 21

Hometown: “I was born in the Patagonia region of Argentina, but I’ve spent the last several years in Buenos Aires.”

Currently: Stirring hearts opposite Matt Cavenaugh’s Tony in her Broadway debut as Maria in West Side Story.

Prologue: The daughter of a surgeon and a dentist, Scaglione and her two older brothers were raised just outside Buenos Aires. “It is a beautiful country,” she says in sweetly accented English. “And I love Buenos Aires. It has a lot of neighborhoods, just like New York, and is about artists in the streets. Everything is so old—the pavement, homes—it’s all wonderful.” Young Josefina inherited a passion for music from her grandmother, a violinist, and took to the stage for the first time at 10. “A school I was studying musicals at picked me to play [the title role in] Annie my first year. From then on it was tap, jazz, classical ballet, everything.” Scaglione continued studying throughout high school, appearing in shows like Cinderella and Fame before taking a big step toward a career in theater.

At age 17, the young actress relocated—alone—to Buenos Aires to pursue musical theater professionally. “I love big cities and being by myself,” she explains. “Where I grew up, there are limits—if you want to be an artist in Argentina you have to move to Buenos Aires, like how you move to New York to be an actor in the States.” With the support of her parents, Scaglione threw herself into intense singing lessons and auditioning, going on to perform the works of Puccini and Mozart in local opera galas before landing the role of Amber Von Tussle in the Argentinean debut of Hairspray. While the musical was still running, she was tapped to play Christine in The Phantom of the Opera, a “dream role” she would have to pass up due to one amazing e-mail from New York City.

What’s New, Buenos Aires?

Best Week Ever: During her studies, Scaglione’s teachers filmed a video of her singing the wordless melody to Piazzolla’s “Libertango,” posting it on YouTube for casting directors to see. The clip eventually made its way to director Arthur Laurents, then looking for a Spanish-speaking Latina to play Maria his Broadway revival of West Side Story. It was only the second YouTube post he ever saw; the first was of Patti LuPone, pre-Gypsy. “Arthur wrote me an e-mail asking to audition. I was shocked!” The tryout, which brought the actress and her mother to New York the same week as her 21st birthday and the offer from Phantom, was a whirlwind. “I [auditioned] and thought they’d maybe call me, but Arthur told me in the room, ‘You got the part.’ I just put my head in the script and started crying!” It was an emotional moment for everyone. “When my mother saw me, she started crying, and then Arthur was kind of crying too! They had been looking for Maria for a long time, so we were all very excited.”

Coming to America: There was little time to celebrate. Scaglione hopped on a plane back to Argentina, moving to New York for WSS rehearsals less than a month later. “Everything happened so fast I couldn’t think about all the emotions,” she says now. Rehearsals, and the show’s Washington D.C. pre-Broadway run, were a challenging but “wonderful” learning experience. “It is a famous part! But Arthur allows you to create your own role—he’s very open and gives you the freedom to explore.” Scaglione also had co-star and leading man Matt Cavenaugh to lean on. “We have great chemistry, and that’s important when you have so many scenes together. He is an amazing artist and a joy to share the stage with.” The actress is also quick to credit her castmates with making the process painless. “They helped me feel like this is my home now,” she says. “Backstage we have lots of fun. We have to; otherwise we’d always be crying because the show is so sad!”

West Side Glory: The newly revamped West Side Story scored rave reviews for the ingenue—and opening week showed her both sides of New York stardom. “It was exciting,” she says, “but I was so tired! Yesterday, my day off, I just slept. I didn’t even leave my apartment!” Regardless, the actress is honored to be working in the first Broadway production to incorporate her native language. “It makes the show more realistic," she says. "But that’s also a challenge for me: to be able to transmit to those who don’t know any Spanish what I’m saying. And I like that challenge.”

New York, New York: While Scaglione is committed to continuing her hard work now that the show is rolling, she has a few personal items she’d like to attend to. “I haven’t had time to explore! I want to go to museums, listen to music, go to Central Park,” she says. “I love just walking down Ninth Avenue. I need more sunny days so I can enjoy it.” She admits it can be difficult living on her own so far from home, but Scaglione says the move may stick beyond the run of the show. “I’m interested in doing movies, so maybe Hollywood is next? We’ll see. I choose this life and to be here. I love it.”