Trisha Paytas Knows Her Broadway Dreams Were 'Delusional.' She Made Them Come True Anyway (Exclusive)

• Trisha Paytas is coming to Broadway with a one-night stand
• The YouTuber and podcast host tells PEOPLE how the ups and downs of her online career, as well as her passion for theater, led her to this dream opportunity
• “This is going to be a production. We have ensembles, tricks and magic… It’s larger than life,” Paytas teases on the show

Three dollars, two bags, one Trisha Paytas!

Fresh appearance on Saturday night live and a successful string of holiday live performances, internet personality and Just Trish podcast host, 36, is coming to Broadway with a one-night run at St. James Theater in New York on Monday, February 3, announced as Trisha Paytas’ Big Broadway Dream.

“I’m as pumped as can be,” Paytas tells PEOPLE of the variety show, which she made official by performing in her show “Trishmas Live” at the Beacon Theater on Tuesday, Dec. 9.

Trisha Paytas.

Carianne Older @carianneolder

Produced by Kobi Kassal and George Strus, Trisha Paytas’ Big Broadway Dream it was originally conceived as an April Fool’s joke at the beginning of this year. In celebration of the holiday, Kassal’s Theaterly site jokingly reported that Paytas will play Roxie Hart in Chicago on Broadway — and fans were excited.

“Obviously I know it’s not real ’cause nobody’s been reaching out to me about it, but I was like, ‘What is this? This is so weird,'” recalled the longtime YouTuber, who later shared the fake post on her social media channel. “People were so happy for me, and I was like, ‘F—.’ ”

The producers, however, also saw the hype surrounding the prank announcement. “They got a lot of clicks,” Paytas says. “And they said, ‘I think we’re going to do it.’ And I said, ‘What?’ And then we got the date and the theater, and I was like, ‘Wait, this is happening!’ ”

The Broadway show is a major dream come true for Paytas, who has “wanted to be in that world” ever since he saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat starring Donny Osmond as a child. While growing up, she played ensemble in school productions Annie and A musical manbut he never got the lead role.

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Trisha Paytas’ Big Broadway Dream.

Courtesy of Trisha Paytas

Undeterred, she took matters into her own hands and created high-production recreations of favorite musical theater tunes, such as “Forget Me Not” from Break. She even ran the numbers Little shop of horrors and bug juice where, like Cher’s version A story from the west sideshe played all the roles.

With each video equally hilarious and poignant, Paytas “truly” believed her efforts would lead to a professional theater role. “I know it sounds, like, so deceiving,” she says, aware of her position as an untrained performer. “What I have is passion. Maybe not talent, but I have a lot of passion… I’m not, like, Sutton Foster.”

Of course, there was a point where she wasn’t sure if it was actually going to happen. “I kind of accepted it, but at the same time I was like, ‘No, I still feel like I’m meant to do something,'” she says. “I feel like I should entertain people, because that’s when I’m happiest.”

Fortunately, her persistence paid off and now she has dived full steam into serious preparations. “I’m going to take vocal lessons. I’m excited to try and see where I can go,” she says, teasing the show: “This is going to be a production. We have ensembles, tricks and magic … It’s larger than life.”

Now, not only can Paytas realize her Broadway ambitions, but she can see her and husband Moses Hacomon’s daughters, 2-year-old Malibu Barbie and Elvis, born in June, watching their mom shine on stage.

It will be perfect for Malibu, who already loves to sing. “Maybe one day she’ll think what I’m doing is cool, and if anything, I just want to show her — and anyone, like, anyone can do whatever they want, whether you have connections to talent or not,” Paytas says. “You can somehow make it happen.”

Watch Katy Perry Strut in Sexy Two-Part for ‘Woman’s World’ Music Video with Trisha Paytas

Trisha Paytas.

Carianne Older @carianneolder

Looking back on her Internet career, Paytas is aware that this opportunity probably wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago. For a long time, she was known for trolling the Internet, posting controversial content that went viral and often offended different communities.

Lately, however, she has rehabilitated her image by focusing on her mental health, no longer self-medicating with various substances and dealing with the dramas in her life. She explains that many of her past behaviors “came from a lot of hurt, a lot of untreated mental illness, a lot of self-harm.”

“I’m so happy to be in a place where I can regulate my emotions,” Paytas says. “I obviously owe a lot to my daughter [Malibu]. When she was born, I said, ‘I don’t want to be a bad person to her. I don’t want to embarrass her.'”

Eventually she realized, “I can’t change what happened before her, but I could change what happened after her.”

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“I just thought negative attention was the only way to get attention, money and ‘fame’. And I’ve never had more success [than] now — so I’m being myself, not trolling, not pissing people off, and just being who I am,” says Paytas, who earlier this year signed a deal with talent agency CAA that eventually led to the Broadway opportunity.

“It’s a much better feeling to bring happiness and joy to people,” she adds. – The feeling is like rebirth.

Trisha Paytas.

Carianne Older @carianneolder

Going forward, Paytas is taking her bucket list a little more seriously, knowing that her wildest dreams can actually come true.

“If this is my Broadway debut and closure, that’s fine. But I’d also like to do something on stage in New York, on Broadway or off-Broadway, and then I’d like to make a movie,” she says. “I love it [movie] musicals are coming back, and if they are coming back JosipI’d like to be somewhere there.”

And for all the haters who never thought Paytas could make it to Broadway, he offers a quote from the musical Sweet Charity: “If you could see me now…”

Tickets to see Trisha Paytas’ Big Broadway Dream in-person will go on sale December 13 via the show’s website, and fans can also purchase passes to watch the live stream of the performance online. All net proceeds will benefit Community Entertainment.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education