WICHITA, Kansas -- It's an opportunity to catch a former Music Theatre of Wichita star in a Broadway show.
Over eight years ago Wes Hart came to the MTW stage for three summers.
Now back in town on the bigger stage, Wes shared with us how Wichita helped him pursue his dream.
"A guy they borrow money from over the course of their career and he's affiliated with some lude guys in New York."
Wes is a member of the cast of Jersey Boys playing here in Wichita at Century II through Sunday.
Wes and every member of the cast play numerous roles.
"In the beginning, I play Tommy's brother who's originally in the group, and I also play one of the new members in the second act."
A member of this tour for over a year now, it's rehearsal, repetition, a lot of water and a lot of sleep that Wes says keep him going.
"It becomes muscle memory a lot of times even vocally which, you don't want to rely on but it is crazy, we're up to almost 500 shows on this tour so you get to a point where you're kinda just doing it and you don't realize. It's working and I'll keep doing it," says Wes.
Being here in Wichita is special for the actor.
It's where you might say he got his start in theatre more than eight years ago as a cast member for Music Theatre of Wichita.
"He would learn a new show every nine days and we watched him move from the ensemble to being in featured roles and the more responsibility we threw at him the better and better he got," explains Wayne Bryan, the producing artistic director for Music Theatre of Wichita.
Wes spent three summers in Wichita learning about every aspect of theatre.
He says one of his favorite shows here was West Side Story.
"It does a lot to help you with staying grounded and being a part of all aspects of a show and not just walking in and being the guy in the spotlight. MTW gives you a chance to experience all that, makes you a well rounded performer," explains Wes.
It was after that he headed to New York and landed a role on Broadway in West Side Story as an understudy for Rif, Diesel and Action.
He was told to focus on Rif, as that was played by an actor who was frequently out.
It just so happened it was Action who injured himself during the opening number.
Action's understudy was on vacation, so Wes was thrown in the spotlight, playing the same role he'd played for Music Theatre of Wichita.
"He'd never rehearsed it with a Broadway company but he said, 'Thank goodness, that was the role I played in Wichita and all those lyrics to Officer Krupke just came back to me from muscle memory'," says Wayne.
And now Wes's career has brought him back to Wichita along with fellow Wichita Music Theatre alum Kaleigh Cronin.
"I always say all roads lead to Wichita. Its fun when our alums get to come back as well. And I hope everyone will see Jersey Boys because it's a great production," says Wayne.
The show Jersey Boys runs through Sunday with shows at 7 p.m. and 2 p.m.
