From Wake Forest to ‘West Side Story,’ Ariana DeBose builds on legacy of helping others

Ariana DeBose has known since she was 6 years old that she would be a performer. There never was any doubt, never even the slightest waver.

“I loved to dance, and I just knew I wanted to be on stage,” she says.

The 30-year-old Broadway and film star, who grew up in Raleigh and Wake Forest, already has played “The Bullet” in the original Broadway cast of “Hamilton,” the biggest theater event of more than a decade. She was nominated for a Tony for her performance as Disco Donna in “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.” And she plays Anita, the role that won Rita Moreno an Oscar, in the new, Steven Spielberg-directed version of “West Side Story,” to be released in December.

And to list those highlights is to leave out so many others: a finalist on the Fox television competition series “So You Think You Can Dance” at the age of 18; performances in “A Bronx Tale,” “Pippin,” “Motown” and “Bring It On: The Musical” on Broadway; and working alongside Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Kerry Washington in the 2020 Netflix movie, “The Prom.”

DeBose just finished filming a movie — a rare non-musical role — about the International Space Station, called “ISS,” and she’ll appear in the upcoming Apple TV+ series “Schmigadoon,” with a cast that includes Keegan-Michael Key, Cecily Strong, Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth and Jane Krakowski.

Now a bona fide dancing-singing-acting triple threat, DeBose also uses her talents to advocate for diversity and inclusion issues. For her efforts, she was named The News & Observer’s March 2021 Tar Heel of the Month, which honors people who have made significant contributions to North Carolina and the region.

Early talent and ambition

It all started with dance.

“When I first started out, I wanted to be Madonna’s backup dancer,” DeBose told The News & Observer in a recent phone interview from Wilmington where she was filming “ISS.”

“Broadway found me. And I’m very grateful to have been found,” she said.

DeBose was born in Wilmington and raised by a single mother, who always was supportive of her daughter’s talents and dreams.

“I always like to say, she came out dancing,” mother Gina DeBose said. “She just likes to move.”

Recognizing her daughter’s talent and determination, Gina, now a teacher at Wakefield Middle School in Raleigh, moved to Wake Forest when Ariana was entering sixth grade, to give Ariana more options in Raleigh’s thriving arts scene.

“She really did take dance very seriously and had wonderful opportunities with that,” Gina said.

For Ariana, growing up in the Raleigh and Wake Forest areaI, it was a good fit for her, on both personal and artistic levels.

“It was a wonderful place to spend that time,” Ariana DeBose said. “It was an incredibly inclusive experience, and the community was incredibly supportive of the arts.”

One of her most recent recognized roles is from “The Prom,” in which she plays Alyssa Greene, a popular cheerleader who wants to come out so she can attend the school dance with her secret girlfriend, played by Jo Ellen Pellman. But the school and the town try to block gay students from attending the prom, and Alyssa’s own mother — in the dark about her daughter’s sexuality — is leading the effort to keep the prom “straight.”

DeBose identifies as queer and has spoken openly about her sexuality, but as an Afro-Latina Wake Forest-Rolesville High School teenager, she was not yet out, and she struggled with her identity.

DeBose told Oprah Magazine in December that she felt “ashamed” when she danced with a girl at her high school prom, and that her role in the Netflix movie was cathartic for that reason.

But “The Prom” doesn’t mirror DeBose’s personal experience in one very important way.

“I was very, very blessed to have a real-life experience where my relationship with my family was a positive one,” DeBose told The N&O. But she said she did feel alone at times.

“I didn’t feel like the community was prejudiced against LGBTQ youth by any stretch of the mind,” DeBose said. “It was an inclusive community for the most part.

“I think there were instances where you could feel strange because you’re going through your own process of discovering who you are. So in that way, there were times when I couldn’t quite put a label on what I was feeling, so I felt alone in that way.”

The message from “The Prom,” which ends on an uplifting note, gives many young people hope. DeBose finds that incredibly gratifying.

“You know, the journey of coming out, the journey of identity is ongoing and to stand in your authentic truth for all the world to see is a very scary and vulnerable thing to do,” DeBose said. “It’s very rewarding, but it’s not always cupcakes and sprinkles, right?

“Acceptance is sometimes not an overnight reward, but it’s possible.”

After their work on “The Prom,” DeBose and Pellman co-founded The Unruly Hearts Initiative, a space for young people and parents to find resources to help them through the process of coming out.

“It’s been really, really rewarding and incredibly successful in the short time that it’s been in existence. I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to do,” DeBose said.

The site also provides people with a space to share their stories — sometimes anonymously and sometimes not — and she’s proud to help provide them a space for such a liberating expression.

“It doesn’t matter what phase of the journey you’re on, the fact is that you’re on it and we encourage people to be proud of that,” she said.

Finding a ‘family’ through the arts

When young people come to DeBose for advice, she uses her own life as an example.

She encourages them “to never stop believing in the possibility of their happy ending — to never stop looking for their chosen family. And to be frank, your chosen family always finds you.”

DeBose added her own “chosen family” to her biological family, and she found that through the arts.

“My arts education in Wake County helped me not only discover my strengths, but delve deeper into discovering who I really am and the person I want to be, and how I want to move through this world,” DeBose said.

DeBose said it took a village to make her the person she is today, “and without that village of humans, I wouldn’t have learned so many valuable lessons. That’s why I speak so fondly of ‘chosen family’: they show up, they find you, and they choose you and you choose them back.”

In addition to her mother and grandmother (who still lives in Wilmington), DeBose had a legion of teachers, mentors and supporters to guide her.

Her mother agrees that “a community of friends and family played an instrumental role in guiding her.”

Christy Curtis, the founder of CC & Co. Dance Complex in Raleigh, was DeBose’s teacher from an early age. She said DeBose was always incredibly talented.

“She knew at a very early age — and I knew — that she was going to be famous,” Curtis said. “She was very determined.She had a goal in mind and every decision she made led her to that goal.”

DeBose was part of a dance company at CC & Co., meaning long hours of practice and rehearsals, plus traveling for shows. Later, she even choreographed some routines.

As DeBose approached high school, her mom encouraged her branch out from dancing.

“As a teacher, I told her she needed to diversify and explore other options,” said Gina DeBose. “I encouraged her to try theater, thinking maybe she would be a background dancer. But no, she ended up with the lead! I was like, ‘Whoa! Where did that come from?’”

As a high school sophomore, DeBose auditioned for a small role in an all-county production of “Aida,” a collaboration between the Wake County School System and Broadway Series South.

Liz Grimes Droessler oversaw the arts program for Wake County Schools and ran casting for the shows.

“The musical director and I saw something in her,” Droessler said, and they cast her in the lead role. It was DeBose’s first experience doing a large production in a large venue (Raleigh Memorial Auditorium, part of the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts).

The next year, she was cast in a production of “Les Misérables,” and after that, the lead in “A Chorus Line.”

DeBose recalls her experience in “A Chorus Line” as a pivotal one, and says Droessler was “instrumental” in guiding her.

“She made it possible for me to go to New York and see the revival of ‘A Chorus Line’ and meet (Broadway actress) Charlotte d’Amboise, who became my mentor. And I knew then, that very weekend, that I was supposed to do that type of work. I knew I had found my people.”

D’Amboise, who was the lead for the “Chorus Line” revival on Broadway, directed the local production. D’Amboise and stage director Terrence Mann worked with DeBose to teach her the original choreography for the show.

“Charlotte and Terry encouraged her because they saw that talent and they saw the passion,” Droessler said. “And that’s really all she needed, was to have a few mentors who could take her to the next level.”

Her performance, Droessler says, was “phenomenal,” adding that DeBose showed a level of commitment and maturity rare for someone that age.

‘She was just a force’

Many of the same words come up again and again when talking to people about DeBose. Passion. Commitment. Maturity. Confidence. Determination.

Where did it come from? Even her mother isn’t completely sure.

Ariana has always been that way, ever since she was a child, Gina DeBose said. Some of it was instilled, sure, but some of that self-confidence seems to be innate.

“I always tried to teach her to be strong and independent minded, to use her voice,” Gina DeBose said. “As a single woman, I did not want her to be stepped on by the world. ... She was just a force, and everybody migrated to her.”

Without prompting, Droessler and Curtis both called DeBose a risk-taker.

“She’s a risk-taker,” said Droessler. “She’s willing to try anything. Even if it doesn’t go well, she’ll get back up and try it again. And that’s the thing about young people that I respect the most.”

Curtis ties DeBose’s fearlessness to her determination to achieve her goals.

“She has been very smart and very intelligent with her choices,” Curtis said. “She’s one of the smartest people in choosing how her path is going to go and making it happen. ... She’s a risk-taker in that she is not afraid to claim it and own it and do the work to get there. It was extraordinary to watch.”

And she does own it — the determination, the confidence, the hard work and the believing in herself.

“I’ve always been incredibly self-assured,” DeBose said.

“I’m not sure what that says about me. I’ve always had an undying belief in myself and my ability to achieve my dreams. I have a great sense of hope in my spirit that just does not quit. Even when I’m in the throes of a self-doubt fit, I still hold on to this undying hope and this undying belief.”

The big moments happen ‘over and over and over’

In career already full of milestones, DeBose says she can’t point to any one moment when she thought: this is it, I’ve really made it.

For her, those moments just keep happening over and over.

It started with her experience on “The Chorus Line,” when she felt a sense of energy around her and knew she was on her path.

And there was a specific moment last year during an audition for Spielberg for “West Side Story,” when she locked eyes with him “and knew that it was going to be life changing.” But then she felt the same way opening “Summer” on Broadway in 2018.

“I can’t pinpoint just one moment, because it happens over and over,” she said. “I’m blessed that it happens over and over and over again.”

Giving back and setting an example

DeBose says she looks at the performing arts as a way to be of service, and she puts that theory into practice whenever she can.

In addition to co-founding The Unruly Hearts Initiative, she has raised money to support The Covenant House, which helps kids who are experiencing homelessness, abuse and trafficking. She uses her social media platforms to advocate for marginalized people and issues like anti-Black racism.

DeBose’s home base is in New York City. But whenever she’s in Raleigh, she always makes time to return to CC & Co. to teach a class and spend time with the students there, giving them advice and a real life example of how they can also have a career in the arts.

“She has given back tenfold,” Curtis said. “All of our kids now see a path forward.”

DeBose talks to the young dancers about why she decided to go to New York, how she got certain auditions, how she decided to branch into theater versus sticking to dance. She answers any questions they have about the process.

“Having kids see that success and having her explain how it can happen, it gives kids a tangible look at how they could do that,” Curtis said. “It has inspired tons of our kids. I mean, tons of them.”

DeBose also wants her professional choices to reflect issues that society needs to reckon with.

“I hope that I can continue to shine a light on narratives that have not traditionally been brought forth, or narratives that just allow people to view humanity in a different way, perhaps,” DeBose said. “I feel very privileged to be able to do that and to have choice and opportunity.”

Gina DeBose said that perhaps because of her struggles growing up, her daughter has always been mindful of the plights of others.

Ariana DeBose said she stands “on all the shoulders of the women who came before me, and the many, many women who have held open the door for me and made space for me to blaze my own trail.

“And part of having a seat at the table is continuing to do that for everyone who will come behind me. I take that very, very seriouslyas well, in trying to make spaces for all the young men and women coming behind me, so that they can carry on this work.”

Tar Heel of the Month: Ariana DeBose

Age: 30

Hometown: Wake Forest

Accomplishments: Ariana DeBose played The Bullet in the original Broadway cast of “Hamilton” and was nominated for a Tony for her role of Disco Donna in “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.” She has also appeared in “A Bronx Tale,” “Pippin,” “Bring It On: The Musical” and “Motown” on Broadway. She appeared in the Netflix movie “The Prom.” Her upcoming roles include the Apple+ TV series “Schmigadoon”; the movie “ISS,” about the International Space Station; and playing Anita in a new film adaption of “West Side Story” directed by Steven Spielberg. It will be released later this year.

This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 7:30 AM with the headline "From Wake Forest to ‘West Side Story,’ Ariana DeBose builds on legacy of helping others."

Brooke Cain

The News & Observer

Brooke Cain is a North Carolina native who has worked at The News & Observer and McClatchy for more than 30 years as a researcher, reporter and media writer. She is the National Service Journalism Editor for McClatchy.