Mick Unplugged
Salisha Thomas: Broadway's New Queen on Dreams, Determination, and Stage Success
Mon, 31 Mar 2025
Welcome to another electrifying episode of Mick Unplugged, where the dynamic host Mick Hunt takes a front-row seat to the vibrant world of Broadway with the incredible Salisha Thomas! Get ready to dive deep into Salisha's transformative journey from California to the Great White Way, embracing failures, seizing unbelievable opportunities, and blooming into the spectacular star she is today. With laughter, heartwarming revelations, and poignant wisdom, this episode is sure to captivate and inspire. Tune in as we uncover Salisha's personal tales of ambition, resilience, and the beautiful harmony of life and art, all wrapped in an irresistible package that's bound to go viral. Press play, and let the magic begin! Takeaways: Embracing Failure: Salisha's journey to Broadway was filled with trials, but her openness to failure fueled her success, highlighting the importance of embracing imperfections. Listening to the Heart: From spontaneous moves across the country to unexpected career twists, Salisha's story illustrates the power of following your intuition and seizing serendipity. The Value of Community and Support: Whether through the reassurance of a stranger or the camaraderie of fellow performers, Salisha underscores the impact of community in overcoming life's hurdles. Sound Bytes: "All it takes is one major opportunity to come your way, and bam, everything's different." "If you're going to show up, show all the way up." "Life is too short to not have fun. What's the point of manifesting all this stuff or praying for it if when it comes, I'm stressed out?" Quote by Mick (Host): “If you don't give yourself permission to fail, you're just settling for a life of regrets.” Connect & Discover with Salisha: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesalishashow/?hl=en Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@itsmesalish Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salishat/ Podcast: https://www.thesalishashow.com/podcast Book: Why Be a 9 When You Can Be a 10: A Cheat Code For Winning At Life FOLLOW MICK ON: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mick-unplugged/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickunplugged/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mickunplugged/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mickunplugged Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickhunt/ Website: https://www.mickhuntofficial.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chapter 1: What is Salisha Thomas's journey from California to Broadway?
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mic Unplugged. And I am here in New York Times Square. Couldn't do this show without having the talented, the best, the creme de la creme when we are talking about Broadway. We are talking about my good friend, the one and only, Bye, Salisha. Salisha Thomas. Salisha, how you doing, girl?
I'm so happy to be here. Thank you so much for having me. I am happy, too.
But why are you over there giggling, though?
What's so funny?
Because I don't ever hear anybody hype me up like that. That's my favorite thing to do about...
Well, I got to hype up the queen. Come on now. I can't have the queen in the building and just say, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the stage. The one and only Salisha Thompson. I couldn't do that.
Okay. All right. You know what? Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
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Chapter 2: How did a chance encounter influence Salisha's move to New York?
I did. I was in college at Cal State Fullerton, barely graduated, but I did it. Okay. And I did it early. Okay. I was working as a vocalist and a princess at Disneyland.
Hmm.
And I loved it. I got dropped down to one day a week. Okay. And I'm like, how are you supposed to live on one day a week, y'all?
Right.
And there were some other things going on. I got out of a bad relationship and... I came out to New York City to just visit for just 30 days. I didn't tell anybody except my one friend who lives here now. I gave all my shifts to her. And it was a secret. But when I got here, Mick, I just fell in love. I fell in love with it. I'm like, this doesn't make sense. I can't just like upend my life.
And I met this. This is going to sound so crazy. I met this homeless man while I was here in New York two weeks in and he sat down next to me waiting for the A train and he said, I don't know who you are, but you need to move here and you need to do it now. And I had goosebumps all over my body. His eyes were twinkling, like I'm not making this up.
And I get on the train, he didn't, the door shut and he mouths the words, good luck. Okay. I put my notice in that day to Disney. Within two weeks, I had gotten rid of everything in California and finished my last days at Disneyland and was back in New York. And the week I got here, I landed the first national tour of Beautiful, the Carole King musical.
Look at you. So we're going to back up. So you met this beautiful homeless man. Is this the love story? You cleaned them up? No. Shaved them? No. This is now hubby? No? No. Okay. All right, hubby. Sorry. I had to make sure. At least I had to ask. I had to do my due diligence.
Oh, my gosh. Can you imagine if I marry the homeless man?
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Chapter 3: What role did community and support play in Salisha’s career?
I was in my early 20s and just very, like, what's the word, like I didn't own any furniture, I got rid of everything. I just was living in my suitcases and kind of flying by the seat of my pants and prepared to fail. Okay if I failed, but giving myself the opportunity to fly just in case if it did want to work out. I never wanted to think, what if? Like, what if I listened to my heart?
What if I took the chance? I just, it's okay if you fail, just try.
Yeah. So we're going to back up again. Miss California. You just casually, you know, and I was doing this and then I won Miss California and then I was, let's back up. Cause I know how humble you are, but we're gonna back up and let's talk about Miss California for those that don't know.
It was the Miss World Organization, which in America, it's not that, well, at the time, it wasn't that big of a deal. It was new to us. In the world, it's recognized, but in the country, usually our country just sends a model. And that was one of the first two years that they held a pageant here in the States. And so the way they kind of did it was different than the systems usually run.
Chapter 4: How did Salisha Thomas become Miss California?
And I just went as a delegate, a national delegate. And out of all the girls there, I had the highest score overall. for the West Coast, for California. So I ended up with the title of Miss California. And they were okay with me being on tour. And each state that I went to, I was able to volunteer and wear my crown and meet with my sister crown title holders. And it was really fun.
I've run in a lot of pageants and I've lost a lot of pageants. I've been Miss Continuality seven, eight times.
Wow.
And they're fun for me. I haven't done it in a very long time, but I made so many friends. I got scholarship money. When I was backstage, there was a lot of, your earring's broke? Take mine. There was a lot of that. Also, pageants, I know they get so much flack, but I didn't even know I could sing before I did my first pageant. I needed a talent.
And one of the directors for the first pageants that I ever ran for Miss Fresno, she became my mentor and now she's my best friend. But at the time, she was like, what's your talent? And I was like, I was just going to memorize a monologue. She goes, in pageant world, that's code for you don't have a talent. I'm like, she's like, can you sing? I'm like, I do at church.
And so I took voice lessons for the first time.
And I mean, literally now I'm on Broadway. So I'm so grateful for that opportunity.
Kind of like that realization that I didn't even know that was there.
Yeah. So now you're like Etta James, Lena Horne, Billie Holiday, dropping in all the jazz, right?
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Chapter 5: What challenges did Salisha face in her Broadway debut?
But no one, people don't see all the no's that I get. But when it came to Broadway, I toured for what? A year and nine months. And I loved it. I loved touring with the Carole King musical. And I put my notice in, not because I didn't like it anymore, but I've always just wanted to live in New York. I came to New York and I got a show on the road. And I wanted to give it a chance.
So I put my notice in not having anything lined up. Once again. And right after, I ended up getting a show called Trevor with the director who directed Beautiful. And while I was doing, I was playing Diana Ross. And, oh gosh, there's a great story there.
But while I was playing Diana Ross in Trevor in Chicago, I get a text from my agent saying, the role that you did on tour has opened up on Broadway. Do you want it? Hmm.
Are you kidding me? I've been waiting for this moment my whole life. I don't even have to audition for it.
I just have to say yes. And I said yes. And after I finished that run, they gave me two days. I moved to the city on a Monday. I rehearsed Tuesday, Wednesday, and I made my Broadway debut on a Thursday.
Holy. Ladies and gentlemen, that is not easy. Yeah. There's a lot of memorization that has to go on. There's a lot of marks that you have to hit. And oh, by the way, you're not just talking. You have to sing and you're with people that you probably haven't been around.
I met the lead while we were doing the show. Like I see her on all these billboards and trash cans all over Times Square. And in the first scene that I was in, she came up because in rehearsal, she wasn't there. It was her standing.
And so on stage, she comes up to me and I'm like, it's the girl from the billboards.
Salisha, you have to say your line.
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Chapter 6: What is the significance of embracing failure in Salisha’s story?
But the Broadway version, it was bigger, higher, more things moved. It was an operation.
Yeah.
Yeah. And so there were definitely a little bit of some learning curves. For the first national tour, I set that show. So I knew where I liked to stand and when I liked to stand. Broadway had been open for four years at that point. They had their own thing. choreography backstage. And so even though I'm used to being in the wings on this scene, they're like, no, no, no.
You need to go change downstairs at this time. So that was different. But it was all fine and good once I...
Found that rhythm. Wow.
Yeah.
Wow.
So for those that don't know, walk us through a Broadway audition. Right. Are you on one play like your entire life? Do you audition for like walk the casuals like me through being on Broadway and what that means from your perspective?
There are so many different ways to approach the Broadway world. I have friends who have been in Lion King for over a decade. They call that a government job. Okay. Okay. Where you get to go to work and you have a good feeling it's going to be there tomorrow.
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Chapter 7: How does Salisha manage high-pressure situations on stage?
So sometimes a swing can cover three roles or four roles. And a lot of times it's people in the ensemble. They had me covering 12 roles, pretty much the entire ensemble and six of the leads.
Hmm.
That's not normal.
Okay. Sounds tedious. It was. Sounds like your brain is on fire because it's like, wait, who am I today? Oh, no. That's, oh, damn, I messed up. Yes. Okay.
There was a lot of that.
Got it.
And I ended up going on before I was expected to go on. So almost every new role that I went on for, I had not been rehearsed for. That is crazy. It's Broadway. You got me on stage, feeling my way around.
Everyone's hoping that I say the right line at the right place and that I sing my heart. Come on y'all, that's a little crazy.
I went on for, they swung me on for a lot. So it was a short run. We were only open for three months. We had 123 performances. I was on for 68 of them. Again, not normal. I went on for one of the lead roles over 25 times. But the actual lead, it was basically Disney meets Britney Spears, all these Disney princesses with Britney Spears music.
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Chapter 8: What are Salisha’s thoughts on balancing personal and professional life?
Literally, that's what I was looking at. Stop. I was like, oh, those pants barely fit. Stop it.
Stop it. Congrats, though. Thank you. First? Yes. Even more congrats. Thank you. That little homeless man has come. You did good, bro. I'm joking, I'm joking, I'm joking.
That's so funny. But I brought it up because I'm supposed to be due. On October 8th, I'm singing the solo, October 3rd.
Not during the note.
That's close, right?
That's, yeah.
In my last checkup, it said October 6th. I said, hey, what's that? She said, oh, don't look at that date. I was like, it's there on the screen. Every date kind of matters in that week.
Yeah.
Anyway, so again, the high pressure situations, but trying to stay relaxed. And in that case, keeping a whole baby inside. You're going to do great.
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