CHS alum Anastasia Talley lights up Broadway

By Sherry Lucas

Anastasia Talley’s recent career high — a Broadway debut, no less — was a heady experience, and she credits her Attaché roots from Clinton High for the work ethic that helped get her there.
As a swing understudy for Girl from the North Country, a musical with the legendary songs of Bob Dylan threaded throughout, Talley got the chance to step out on the stage of New York’s Belasco Theatre November 17. In doing so, she hit one of her big goals.

“Broadway was definitely the step that really felt like, whoa, OK, this thing that you really set out to do? it’s happened now,” Talley says, by phone from New York. “That’s just been a really beautiful experience.”
“It’s weird, because you obviously have to do your job,” she says with a chuckle, “But, it was really beautiful. I really tried to be present that day. The thing that I really remember is just being surrounded by love — former colleagues and friends, and my dad was there. It was just a really beautiful day.”

An Illinois native, Talley moved to Clinton as a sixth grader, grew up here and was part of the Attaché Show Choir at Clinton High 2006-2008.

“I always proudly say I’m from Mississippi.”

After high school, the singer received her bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Southern Mississippi, and then her master’s degree and performer diploma in vocal performance from Indiana University. She moved to New York City in late 2017 and lives in Manhattan.
In terms of tenacity, goal-setting, discipline, kindness to people, winning and running the risk of losing with grace, Attaché offered a real-life simulation of what show business is like at the core, Talley says.
“And, just being excellent,” she adds.

Anastasia Talley’s debut single “Hello”

“I think about that experience a lot.…When you work hard, you get very unique results, and they tend to be fruitful. So, it really was something that set the foundation.”
“I even remember going to college, and my professor asked, ‘Where did you study? You’re so prepared!’ and I was like, ‘Y’all don’t know David Fehr,’” Talley says of Attaché’s longtime director. “I’m not the only person who’s seen Broadway from Attaché.”

Her roles as a background vocalist for Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on TV and for a concert series by Hamilton star Renée Elise Goldsberry are additional performance highlights.
Talley counts her versatility as a top-line strength as a performer. That’s evident in vocal competition clips, in which she performs both “Crazy” by Willie Nelson, and “My Darling Jim” from the opera Glory Denied.

Also, “I work really hard” she says, “and I definitely try to work with an attention to detail, and with excellence.”

While her horizon may hold more of the Great White Way — “Yay, more Broadway, as much Broadway as I can have, that’s amazing,” she says — other creative pursuits are on her radar, too. She’s also exploring songwriting, and in September released the single “Hello,” available on streaming platforms.

“That’s one of the things about my career that’s been so beautiful, in terms of using all of the talents that you have. I definitely think more songwriting is on the horizon, more music, and more theater.”
When you’ve got a goal like Broadway, “Your life kind of becomes getting that thing, reaching the goal,” Talley says. “Then, there’s a whole other ste,p once you actually get the thing.”
Some might greet the moment with, “OK, well, what now?”

“But for me, it’s really exciting,” Talley says. “What is beyond this? I’m so excited to find out; I really am.”