Trisha Paytas on How High School Musical Inspired Her Broadway Dreams

On her first night on Broadway, Trisha Paytas broke a chair. The onstage mishap occurred during the Act I finale of Beetlejuice, right after she’d made her big entrance as Maxine Dean to the roar of the crowd, who brought the show to an ecstatic standstill with their rapturous applause.

“I fell over!” Paytas tells Ticketmaster of the onstage gaffe with an unselfconscious laugh. “People thought it was part of the gag!… every single night, there’s something different that goes on with me, so it’s really fun.”

Paytas’ unforgettable turn in Beetlejuice coincides with the spooky-ooky musical’s third go-around on Broadway, where it’s playing at the newly-renovated Palace Theatre through January 3, 2026 to cap off its first national tour.

 

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For the YouTube star, social media personality and avid mukbang connoisseur, her time in the New York spotlight is the achievement of a dream that’s been decades in the making, pre-dating even her career as one of the internet’s most viral and provocative celebrities.

“I loved the happy endings. I loved the glamour and the glitz, the sequins — I just wanted to be a part of it so bad,” she says of her earliest experiences seeing musicals like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and The Producers.

On her popular YouTube channel and social platforms, which boast more than 20 million subscribers and followers combined as of press time, Paytas has made her love of performing a central tenet of her online brand, whether she’s self-funding music videos for her original music, dressing up as Disney princesses in her car or cosplaying as Troy Bolton in a shot-for-shot remake of “Bet On It” from High School Musical 2.

She’s parlayed her popularity on the internet into sold-out performances in real life, too. In January, she hosted Trisha Paytas’ Big Broadway Dream, a livestreamed, one-night-only event at the St. James Theatre featuring special guests like Ben Platt and Sutton Foster. She’s spent much of the year since on The Eras of Trish Tour, which gave her the perfect opportunity to perform favorites like “What Dreams Are Made Of” from The Lizzie McGuire Movie, “Popular” from Wicked, and High School Musical’s “What I’ve Been Looking For” to giddy audiences of rabid fans.

Beetlejuice holds a particularly special place in Paytas’ heart. The star describes it unabashedly as her favorite Broadway show, which makes her three-week stint as part of the cast all the more special.

“Every day is just like going to Disneyland,” she says. “It’s just like Groundhog Day in the best way. It’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, I get to go be in Beetlejuice again!’”

Below, Paytas spilled all the tea with Ticketmaster on making a splash as Maxine Dean in Beetlejuice, her enduring love of High School Musical and her plans to manifest her way into the Met Gala by cosplaying as none other than Anna Wintour.

Congratulations on making your debut in Beetlejuice! I saw a bunch of videos from your opening night, from your big entrance and first bows to all the fans at the stage door. How does it feel to be achieving your Broadway dream?

Thank you! I’ve had so much fun. It literally feels like — I know it’s an actual dream, but it feels like every day is just like going to Disneyland. It’s just like Groundhog Day in the best way. It’s like, “Oh my gosh, I get to go be in Beetlejuice again!” And just be immersed in that experience. It’s so surreal. It’s my favorite show ever. And I get to be on stage with all the characters every single night, it’s so cool.

When did you first know that you wanted to be on Broadway?

Oh my gosh, from such a young age. I mean, my first show I saw was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond. I was, like, six and I was like, “I want to be the children in that show.” I didn’t even know what the show was about. Like, I couldn’t grasp it but I wanted to be a part of it. And then I remember coming to New York, I saw The Producers and I wanted to be Ulla. I loved, like, a strong female character, I loved the happy endings. I loved the glamour and the glitz, the sequins — I just wanted to be a part of it so bad.

You’ve spoken publicly about finding Beetlejuice at a particularly challenging point in your life.

Yeah! In 2019, it was definitely my lowest year, like a rock bottom for me. I dealt with a lot of mental health issues and breakups, and just not feeling great about my body and myself and everything. It was just a really, really rough year in every aspect… I remember not having any sort of feeling that whole year of 2019.

And I saw Beetlejuice and I remember just, like, feeling something. Like, I felt happy. I was laughing, I was crying. So I had emotion for the first time in, like, the whole year. And it just kind of gave me — not to be dramatic — but it was almost like this will to live… it just gave me this joy that I never thought I could feel again.

So that’s what Beetlejuice meant to me originally. And then, you know, every year I saw it in a different production — I saw it at the Marquis [Theatre] in a different space and then I saw it on tour with my husband, and now I get to see it here with my kids. And I’m in such a happy space now, it’s just kind of like a full journey, you know? Now I can experience it on a different level of, like, “Oh, now I have the happy ending in my real life that I got to experience when I saw Beetlejuice on Broadway.”

You play Maxine Dean, a character in the show that some fans may not be too familiar with. What can you tell people about her?

Yeah, I get this question all the time! A lot of people are like, “Who’s Maxine Dean? Who is she?” You have to come see the show! Because she’s onstage for a brief but impactful time. In the movie, she doesn’t get any sort of lines. I don’t know why — the misogyny, the patriarchy of it all, that she doesn’t get any lines. But she’s a dinner guest that comes to the Deetz’s house, and she’s there for a good time.

Like, there’s a whole range of emotions when you see Maxine Dean on stage. You know, she comes in, she’s coming to dinner, she’s with her rich husband, she’s making an impact and she’s just there for a good time. And that’s what I love about it, [because] that’s what I’m there for. She’s happy to be there, I’m happy to be here. Yeah, there’s just a lot of fun to her character.

You also get to perform “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song),” which is arguably the most iconic song from the original movie. Do you feel like you get to steal the show a little bit?

Oh my gosh, yes! This is the most iconic scene, and so it’s really fun to get to be in all of it. I get a little solo, which is, like, so crazy for me. And there’s a lot happening: There’s a pig that’s attacking, there’s a giant Beetlejuice coming to life.

There’s so much in the scene and it’s live theater, so you never know what you’re going to get. Opening night, I broke a chair in the scene. I fell over! People thought it was part of the gag! You see Lydia in the scene, like, gasp. She was like, “What the hell happened?”… every single night, there’s something different that goes on with me, so it’s really fun.

Now, some people online are calling this your Broadway debut, but they seem to be forgetting that you actually brought your one-woman show, Trisha Paytas’ Big Broadway Dream, to the St. James Theatre earlier this year.

Period.

What did you learn from that experience that helped you prepare for Beetlejuice?

That was such a crash course in Broadway. ‘Cause it’s like, you [do] tech and you open the same night, right? I did rehearsals in 24 hours, I’m singing with Ben Platt, Sutton Foster, Joy Woods, Rachel Zegler — I’m singing with, like, the biggest Broadway stars ever.

I got to interview each of them on stage [in between songs] and they all gave me a little bit of advice. Sutton Foster gave the best advice. I was like, “How do I become the next Sutton Foster?” She was like, “No, just become the next you!” And I think that held such weight for me, where it’s like, yes, I’ll never be Sutton Foster. I do not have the singing or dance ability she does. But I do bring my own Trisha Paytas to the show, which is passion, fandom and happiness. So I’ve taken all of those lessons and brought it to this Broadway show, and it’s been an absolute dream.

So much of your career, particularly on the internet, has really been sort of a one-woman production. What has it been like working as part of a bigger Broadway cast?

That part, to me, has been the most fulfilling, truly. Because there is so much support. When you’re online, you’re kind of by yourself navigating it. When you’re on stage — and I think my chair breaking on opening night was the perfect example of this — like, Isabella [Esler], in character as Lydia, looks over as Lydia would do. And there’s support there. Then the dancers go on, they’re very professional, we just had to keep the show moving. And then there’s Travis [Mitchell], who’s my scene partner, he plays Maxie Dean, and I just remember him being like, “It’s OK, you got this!” and literally helping me up, and kept me going to do the march towards the center of the stage.

Even afterwards, Justin [Collette] being like, “I broke a chair in School of Rock, it’s good luck.” And I’m like, “Is it?” He’s like, “I don’t know, but we’ll just say it is.” It just felt really, really not so serious and I also felt really supported. And that’s what’s the best part about this, just getting to talk to everyone and really like soaking it all in, it’s been amazing.

Me and Vanessa [Aurora Sierra], who plays Miss Argentina, we share a makeup station and she’s just, like, giving me a rundown on her lore, and just our passion and sharing it all together… there’s another person in the ensemble, his name’s Eric [Anthony Johnson], he’s been there since the beginning, since the D.C. previews, and we just sit and talk about how much we love Beetlejuice and how much it impacts our lives. It really feels like a sense of community, just being around people who have the same passions and like-mindedness that we all do together.

Do you have a dressing room playlist? What songs are you bumping every night to get ready for the show?

If I’m being so real, it’s Beetlejuice. Like, I don’t go on until the end of Act I, and so I’m listening to “Fright of Their Lives,” “Ready Set, Not Yet.” I’m listening to every single Beetlejuice [song] and it gets me so pumped because I’m so immersed in the world. So I could turn the volume down but, like, why would I? I get to listen to these amazing Broadway voices every night. That’s what I listen to, that’s my pump-up. It’s like, once it starts with “Invisible,” it’s go time [giggles].

I know you’re a big High School Musical fan as well. Did that inspire your journey to Broadway at all?

High School Musical is my generation. Zac [Efron], Vanessa [Hudgens], they’re all my age. So I remember watching that and being like, “God, I wish I could be a part of it.” Obviously, Sharpay and stuff, like I loved. I don’t know, [HSM] just, like, revived the musical, right? It’s like our modern-day Grease and so it just gave me so much excitement to [perform].

And then obviously, when I got my own adult money and I got to remake “Bet On It,” I think that really, weirdly, catapulted me into this world of musicals, where people associate me with it for some reason. That was one of my first recreations that took off. Yeah, High School Musical has been such a weird, like, parallel to my life in so many ways. Wanting to be in it, and then doing the Troy Bolton of it all, and just living out the dream. I love it so much.

What was it like recreating the “Bet On It” video?

Oh my god, I mean, again, that’s 2019. So if you’re clocking all this, right, 2019 is, like, depressing. I’m trying to feel joy, I’m trying to feel something. And so that brought out something in me as well where it’s like, I’m gonna just spend all my money and just relive a childhood — not even childhood, I was like 19 or 20 — but living out my adult dreams. And I was like, “You know what? I wanna be Troy Bolton, let’s make it work.” I’ll take every penny I have and it gave me joy. For those two days we were up in St. George [in Utah], it sparked so much joy and it just kept me going. I needed to keep going somehow, and it kept me going.

Do you feel like you’re basically just Sharpay every night now on Broadway?

[Gasps] So that, oh my god. I wish there was another High School Musical and I could play Sharpay’s mom or something. ‘Cause I love her so much. Yes, my dressing room is all pink like hers. I’m definitely feeling the Sharpay energy. I wish Ashley Tisdale would come see the show, I love her on TikTok. I’m, like, obsessed with her.

You said on Watch What Happens Live last week that your next goal is to go to the Met Gala. How are we gonna make this happen?

I know! I have to really get into my fashion era. I don’t know if it’s becoming friends with the Kardashians, I was hoping Andy Cohen could get me in somehow. I also just think speaking it into existence… I’ve cosplayed Kim Kardashian at the Met Gala, I’ve done a lot of Met cosplays. I wore a beet that Mike Faist wore last year. I’ve definitely done my share of cosplay, and that’s my step one in manifestation. Step two was saying it out loud on TV, so if you have any connections, let me know! [Laughs]

Well, Anna Wintour is famously a huge Broadway lover.

Oh! I didn’t know that.

Yeah, she loves the theater. So you should send her some flowers and invite her to come see you in the show.

Oooh, OK, I’ll ask my agents. I’ll be like, “How do I get in touch with Anna Wintour?” That’s a good one. I feel like they need more plus-size representation, so maybe she’ll be, like, more apt to have me there or something. Maybe I’ll cosplay Anna! Maybe that’s a way to get her attention. Vogue did cover my Broadway show in January so fingers crossed it’s a stepping stone.

Besides manifesting an invite to the Met Gala, what’s next for you after this?

Being Mommy! But right away, November 30 is my first Trishmas show, so I’m doing a series of Christmas shows this year. We start in Long Beach and we end in Vancouver, Canada, and I’ll be coming to the East Coast in Newark and Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. So the Christmas show will be next and I’m really excited for that. And then who knows! I haven’t planned 2026 yet, but Met Gala and you know, what else?

Catch Trisha Paytas in Beetlejuice on Broadway through November 23, 2025.