Exclusive: Utah’s Preston Taylor Reflects on Taking Chances and Being in THE GREAT GATSBY on Broadway

You may have seen Preston Taylor in BYU’s Young Ambassadors or INTO THE WOODS (Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf), Hale Center Theater Orem’s THE DROWSY CHAPERONE (Robert Martin), Sundance’s JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT (Joseph), Tuacahn’s FROZEN (Hans), or Hale Centre Theatre’s NEWSIES (Jack Kelly) or LES MISERABLES (Javert). Or you may have seen him the ensembles of the MOULIN ROUGE touring company (understudy for Christian and the Duke) or THE GREAT GATSBY on Broadway (understudy for Tom and Wolfsheim), where he has been dazzling audiences for the last year. Also a model and influencer, he is featured in the recently unveiled marketing campaign for this year’s Broadway Bares charity event.

Taylor spoke openly and genuinely with BroadwayWorld about making the leap from Utah to Broadway and working hard so you’re ready for the unexpected. 

How did your time in Utah prepare you for what you're doing now on Broadway?

My road to Broadway was very different than a lot of people's. A lot of people come to New York when they're very young—you know, 18, 19, 20—and they just kind of hit the pavement before they even join the union. They are showing up and waiting in line for eight hours for every single audition and just for years and years and years, auditioning like crazy and traveling all over the country doing whatever regional production they can get because of life circumstances. When I decided to go to BYU it was because I had decided I was not going to pursue musical theatre as a career. After a year at BYU and doing Young Ambassadors for that first year, I decided that my life without musical theatre was not my life. It's such a part of who I am. And so I decided, What am I doing? This is what I'm supposed to be doing with my life. These are the gifts that I feel I've been given, and it would be foolish of me to not cultivate those gifts. Studying at BYU, I got really amazing training there and met some incredible people. And fortunately, Hale Centre Theatre at that time of my life gave me some really amazing opportunities. The first show that I did at the Hale was NEWSIES, when I played Jack Kelly. I had never worked at Hale Centre Theatre, and for them to cast such a taxing, demanding role with someone who they had not worked with yet, they took a huge chance on me. I would say I knew, and I think they knew, that I was very ready for that chance and very ripe for it, but they didn't know me, you know. So that was kind of my first experience of being cast somewhere where they didn't know me, but I felt how good it feels to have that vote of confidence put on you. Of showing up, being prepared, being ready for the moment, and people giving you that chance.

And you know, every single job that I had leading up to my Broadway debut with THE GREAT GATSBY absolutely prepared me for this opportunity, just in terms of keeping my work ethic up and keeping up my talents. But the thing that prepared me most for Broadway was doing the MOULIN ROUGE tour and getting my first taste of what it feels like to do an eight show a week schedule. There's no other way to prepare yourself for the rigor of doing eight shows a week than just doing eight shows a week. You can talk about it, you can think about it, but doing it in practice really takes so much, and there's no way to figure out how to do it beyond just actually doing it. But my time in Utah as an actor was absolutely essential for preparing me to be on Broadway, and it was working as an actor in Utah that I started to catch the vision that there really was a path for me. I always knew from a young age that I was going to be on Broadway. I just felt it, and life circumstances took me in a lot of different directions for many years, and I started to believe that that was not going to be possible for me, because, again, I wasn't following that kind of cookie cutter path to Broadway that you typically hear about. But I think this is true for everyone, the circumstances of your life are exactly what they're supposed to be. Just keep following your intuition and your heart, and you're gonna end up where you're supposed to be, and you'll be ready for it.

Tell me about booking MOULIN ROUGE. How did that come about?

Libby Lloyd was playing Nini on the Moulin Rouge tour, and I was like, Oh my gosh, it's so cool that this girl I went to BYU with, my friend, is playing a principal role in the first national tour of MOULIN ROUGE. It just was so cool to me. And so it's late 2022, there was overlap between LUCKY STIFF at Hale Centre Theatre and THE LITTLE MERMAID at Hale Centre Theatre. They were in different theatres, but I was doing both, which was crazy. And at that time, both directors of the shows, Jim Christian and Ryan Simmons, as I was working with them, would just look at me and say, independent of each other, What are you still doing here, man? You gotta get out of Utah, you need to go to New York, you need to be auditioning. I knew at that time in my life that I needed to get out of Utah, but I was terrified to leave, and so they were both kind of nudging me. I started looking at all the auditions that were being posted on Playbill.com. Just every single day, I would refresh the page, and I would see what auditions there were.

And one day I saw that there was an audition for MOULIN ROUGE, the tour, and I didn't even know if it was for a position that I would be right for. I believe the breakdown was very general, but I just kind of said, I think I'm gonna fly out to New York for this. I wasn't even a member of the union at the time, and so I reached out to my friend Libby on the tour, just to ask her advice. I think I literally just said, Hey, I saw that there's this audition. Do you think it's worth it for me to fly out to New York just for this audition and hope to be seen because I'm not a member of the union? And I think I also asked, You're in the show, any advice? And then she did what I never expected. She said, Actually, I know exactly what position is opening up, and I think you're perfect for it. Would you just send me your headshot and resume and vocal reel, and I'll send it along to the team. Which she did not have to do, she really did not have to do that. I wasn't expecting that, but she completely changed my life because that day, she sent my stuff along to the team, and they wanted me to send in some tapes.  And then within two hours of sending my tapes, they're like, Okay, yeah, come to New York, we want to do a session with you. And it was a complete whirlwind. I flew out to New York, I had my callback a couple days later, and within a couple days, they called and said, We don't know where you came from, but you just kind of landed in our laps, and you're perfect for this, and we'd love for you to come do the tour. And it blew my mind. I was like, None of these people know me. They don't know anything about me, and they're giving me this incredible opportunity, and it completely changed my life. And it literally was just because I was really stubborn and checking job listings every day. It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been doing that. The classic case of this was supposed to happen and it was gonna happen no matter what.

MOULIN ROUGE and THE GREAT GATSBY are two of the most lavish musicals on Broadway. What's that been like?

I love a party. Let's just say that if there's a musical about a big party, I'm going to be there. Literally, both musicals open with a number that's all about, We're here in this cool place having a cool party. I have to say, I feel so grateful because there's something about both of those musicals that really, really speaks to fans and creates a very loyal fan base. So both in the case of MOULIN ROUGE and THE GREAT GATSBY, I feel like I'm a part of something that is much bigger than me and that really genuinely speaks to people and has helped people in their lives. I love being a part of musicals that are both very commercially successful and these lavish, big Broadway shows, but also that that really make you think. That's why I'm an actor. I'm an actor because I want to make people think. I want to make people reflect on the human experience in a way that actually shifts things and actually makes this world a better place. So yeah, I feel very lucky to have been a part of both of those.

Tell me about making the leap to New York and Broadway with THE GREAT GATSBY.

I moved to New York January 13, 2025, and I didn't have an apartment. I didn't have a job lined up, like not even a side hustle or anything, which was terrifying. Pretty shortly after I got here, my agent emailed me that I had this audition for THE GREAT GATSBY, which was my fifth audition for THE GREAT GATSBY. At that point, I was like, okay, they keep bringing me back. There might be something here. So two and a half weeks after I moved to New York, I had my audition for THE GREAT GATSBY, and then a couple days later, I found out I got it. Which, again, I know it is not typical to move to New York and immediately book a show. When I moved to New York, I didn't have a job lined up, but I knew that I absolutely had what it took to book a Broadway show in my first year. I just knew I had enough confidence in myself and my abilities that I knew that I deserved and could book a Broadway show within my first year. I didn't feel like anyone owed me anything, and I didn't feel like I was just gonna waltz in and it was gonna be easy. I knew how hard it was gonna be, and I knew I was willing to work hard. But then, you know, GATSBY was always there waiting for me. I just had to get here. I know it’s such a blessing to be able to figure out how to live in New York as you're doing a Broadway show. It's been an adventure. I love every single day. Every single day is new and exciting.

What's that daily routine like?

For me, it's pretty rigorous, but it's how I prefer to live my life. I wake up, I drink 50 to 70 ounces of water to front load my hydration for the day, and then I work out. I have to go exercise every single day. The level of activity that I'm doing in the show just feels so much easier when I keep my physical and mental health sharp. So yeah, I wake up, I drink a ton of water, I work out, I go to PT, I have voice lessons. I sometimes have to carve out time for auditions, for TV and film things or other theatre things that might come up. And I either do one or two shows every single day, except for my day off, and we at THE GREAT GATSBY are a very social bunch, and we really genuinely enjoy each other, so we all hang out and do a lot together, as well. Which is funny because we see each other all the time, but it's hard to have a social life outside of your cast because they're the people you see all the time, and so, of course, you want to hang out with the people you see all the time. I think it's only natural. There's something about doing theatre with people that just bonds you very quickly with each other because you really have to lean on each other to tell that story. That's pretty much my life, day to day. I try and throw in things to keep me creatively fulfilled, like I'm currently working on writing a little one man show that I'm hoping to do either this year or next year. And I do photo shoots with photographers and kind of scratch that creative itch. And I try and watch a lot of current film, just to keep up with where we are as an industry and what I'd like to do as an actor. But yeah, that's my day to day.

How do you balance performing, modeling, social media, being a dad—everything you have on your plate?

I think, as cliche as it sounds, knowing what your main priorities are and keeping that in mind with everything you do is ultimately what helps me keep everything straight. I have certain obligations that won't change. I'm a father, that's never going to change, I never want that to change. I am employed by THE GREAT GATSBY, and so I show up eight times a week. There are certain things that are fixed and non-negotiable. And so then it just becomes the question of, okay, these are the things that have to happen in my life. I have to show up for my kids. I want to show up for my kids, but I also have to, and part of that is making money to support them. So making money to support them not only includes showing up to work to do the job I've been hired to do, but it includes all the things I have to do every single day to be able to do that job and do it well. But all that's not just to provide for the kids. It's also to be able to make a good name for myself. I never know who's in the audience. There could be someone who has come specifically to see me, to see if I'm right for some other project that they're working on, and if I am not doing everything that I do every single day to be able to show up at my very best, then I'm not doing myself or my kids any favors. So it's kind of a rigorous way to live. I am regimented, but it's important to me.

And when it comes to social media, social media has been a big door opener for me. I would say it is not the only thing that matters in this industry, but it does matter.  We're living in a time where people want to feel like they know the person they're watching, and so it's been important for me to share myself online. It can be tricky sometimes, because you don't want to give too much attention to it, and you don't want to give too much attention to all the things people say in comments or DMs or whatever. The internet is a very loud place, so I try and use it as a tool to further my career as an actor and as a model and to make connections with people. But I try not to get too bogged down in all the mess of it, because it could be very easy to get lost in social media. So yeah, I can't say I navigate it all perfectly, and this first year in New York has been like 10 times as much to navigate. But I think if you know what your priorities are, and you kind of just lead with love in all the connections you make, you can't really go wrong.

What do you have to say to people who aren't sure they should reach for their dreams?

I heard a quote yesterday, and it really encapsulated a lot of how I feel. It was basically to try and think of 85-year-old Preston or some older version of yourself, and try and imagine the things that you would regret doing and the things that you would not regret doing, and go from there. Because, if you really think about it, the people who are either on their death bed or towards the end of their life, and they have a chance to reflect, no one regrets chances that they took, even if it was a disaster. Nobody regrets taking a chance on themselves. No one regrets expressing to someone how they really feel. No one regrets investing in the things that you actually want. What people do say they regret is caring too much what people thought or spending too much time worried about what may or may not happen. I reached a point in my life where it was either life continues or it does not, and thankfully, I chose for life to continue. And once I chose to be alive, once I made that choice, I realized I didn't want to get to the end of my life and regret anything, and I know it's impossible to get to the end of your life and not have some things you regret. But as dumb and cliche as it may sound like, your life really can be exactly what you want it to be.

There are a lot of things you won't be able to control, especially in an industry like this. As an actor, I can't make people cast me. I can't force things to happen, but I can choose to show up. I can work really, really hard and make sure I'm ready in case there is an opportunity, and I'm going to show up time and time and time and time again to put myself up for opportunities and chase what I actually want, because I'm confident and I know that it's what I want. So first you gotta know yourself well enough to know what you actually want, and then just run. Like, don't look back. Just go and do it. If Broadway or acting, or anything, is something that you know you want to do but you're scared, the only way to get over that is to just do it. There's no amount of sitting around and waiting for life to come to you that is going to make life come to you. This is my Broadway debut, and I'm so grateful for it, and I'm staying with GATSBY right now. My plan is to stay, but I'm so excited to see where things go from here. I have a lot of dreams, and I have a lot of plans and things that I that I'm going to do within my own control to build a career, but I'm excited to see what unexpected things are next. I think that's what life is all about.

Is there anything else you wanted to mention?

One other thing I do want to say, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart. We were talking about Utah and how it prepared me for this. I get some of the sweetest messages from so many people in Utah who express, I have been following you ever since 2018 when you played Jack Kelly in NEWSIES, or I've been a fan of yours ever since I saw you as Javert in LES MIS, and I just want to let you know that I believe in you. There are so many people in Utah who just are so generous with their support and their love and who have built me up in the most beautiful ways and supported me so much as an artist. I'm so grateful to be from Utah and to have so many people in Utah who have really been cheering me on for years, and it helps a lot. I'm very grateful for it.

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