Ava Nicole Frances Shares the 'Greatest Experience' of Originating a Role in a Musical - Next on Stage

We're down to our top 5 contestants in our Next on Stage competition.

Contestant Ava Nicole Frances shares more about her charity, performing at 54 Below, and her dream school for musical theatre!

Check out all of Ava's performances HERE.

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Why did you apply for Next on Stage?

It seemed like an amazing competition with incredibly talented people and I wanted a chance to put myself out there!

What does musical theatre mean to you?

Musical Theatre has been my life since birth. I've never wanted to do anything but be on Broadway so I dedicated my life to the study of Musical Theatre. I go to a performing arts school and I am in the Musical Theatre department, and I hope to go to TISCH NYU for Musical Theatre as well.

What is a fond memory you have from a past production?

I originated the role of Ollie Sanders in Hell On Earth a Middle School Musical, and we took it to New York to perform at Feinstein's 54 Below, which was one of the greatest experiences of my life! The main cast of the show and I are basically all best friends and so it was a lot of fun to be able to share that experience with them!

What charity did you pick and why?

I chose the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society because I have worked with them for years, but especially because recently my grandfather was diagnosed with Lymphoma. It hit us all really hard and I want to help them help others so no one else has to go through that.

Share a memory from seeing a show!

There are plenty of amazing moments in Broadway shows but one of my absolute favorite moments I've ever seen was in Ben Platt's version of You Will Be Found in Dear Evan Hansen. There was the moment before the song where his character drops his flash cards while presenting and falls to the floor. The amount of emotion he put into that specific part had the entire audience stunned! You could literally hear the fans in the theatre. Absolutely breathtaking!

What have you been doing during quarantine?

I have luckily been working on quite a few things! I released two albums, one live from my cabaret show with Charlo Crossley at Feinstein's at Vitello's in Los Angeles, and one EP with an unreleased Donna Summer song and a Barry Manilow song. I participated in Michael Feinstein's Great American Songbook Competition (greatest thing I have ever done!!) and some auditions as well.

Give a shoutout!

I want to thank my parents, my close friends, and my boyfriend for being a constant source of love and support for me. I couldn't have gotten this far without any of you and I can't thank you enough!

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BroadwayWorld presents BROADWAY'S NEXT ON STAGE SEASON 2 - an online musical theatre singing competition for student performers sponsored by Broadway Records! We're back by popular demand after an incredible first season which included 2000 contestants, 400k votes, a panel of incredible Broadway star judges, and $2000 going to the winner's charities!

Check out all of the contestants HERE!