Julia Morgan Releases 'Performing' Music Video With Broadway Community

Julia Morgan, who was an understudy for Little Anastasia on Broadway in Anastasia at eight years old, has released 'Performing,' a single and music video about the pressure to put on a show for others. The indie-pop singer-songwriter, actress, and comedian made the project with members of the Broadway and dance communities who shaped her as a young performer.

'I essentially achieved my dream at the age of eight,' Morgan says. 'Then I was on Broadway, but when I went to the dance classes with other Broadway kids, I had far less training and it seemed like they picked up on the moves much faster. I became so insecure that I stopped going to those classes and quit dancing altogether.'

Morgan wrote the song with her producer and co-writer, Stella Smyth. It began as a sad piano ballad and became an upbeat dance track. The song uses the image of a ballerina to explore people-pleasing and losing 'the real me' while playing a part.

The video started as a storyboard Morgan sketched in a notebook. Her manager and creative consultant, Laura Pietropinto, shaped the storyline. Pietropinto was an assistant director on Broadway's Next to Normal. Morgan's former dance instructor, Janine Molinari, is founder and Artistic Director of DanceMolinari and part of the producing community for Broadway's Godspell. Molinari connected the project with director Crystal Arnette of Adventure We Can. The two had worked together on We're Gonna Come Back!, the multi-award-winning music video Molinari directed with Broadway stars. Choreographer Lindsay Alexandra Carter, whose credits include Off-Broadway work, created original ballet choreography and collaborated with Morgan on a dance-party sequence. The team filmed over two days at Morgan's high school with a cast of her friends.

'It was surprising. Making a music video about how scared I was of dancing became the thing that made me fall back in love with it,' Morgan says.

The week after filming wrapped, she signed up for dance at school. Last winter she played Val in A Chorus Line. 'It felt like a full-circle moment to be back on stage in a dance-intensive show with so many of my friends,' she says.

'Performing' is the final preview of The Architect, out October 28. Morgan co-wrote and executive produced all nine songs with Smyth, the Billboard-charting songwriter and producer who has mentored her since she was 11. The album is named for her namesake, the pioneering architect who became California's first licensed female architect and designed Hearst Castle.

'Performing' is out October 23, 2026. The Architect arrives October 28, 2026.

About Julia Morgan

Julia Morgan is a New York City-based indie-pop singer-songwriter, actress, and comedian. She appeared on Broadway as the Little Anastasia understudy in Anastasia and has performed in New York productions of Matilda and Peter Pan. Her screen and audio credits include HBO's Divorce, opposite Sarah Jessica Parker, and Audible's Trust Fall, featuring Colin Jost, Wanda Sykes, Neil Patrick Harris, and Rachel Dratch. She has also appeared in The Best Man's Ghost Writer with Glen Powell and creates comedy videos that have garnered more than a million views. Alongside her music and acting work, Morgan performs stand-up comedy and hosts an annual fundraiser at Comic Strip Live supporting New York City food charities, including Grassroots Grocery. Her debut album, The Architect, was co-written and executive produced with Stella Smyth.