BroadwayDebut!

THE WEEK LEADING UP TO A wedding is a hectic one. The task lists are enormous. There are last minute guests to add, plans to solidify, parties to attend. Paducah native, Miki Abraham, added an unusual task to her already long list—get ready for her first Broadway performance.

This past April, Shucked, a country musical, opened at Broadway’s Nederland Theater. The show is a comedy about a fictional town surrounded by a thick wall of corn. When corn suddenly begins to die, the main character sets out to find help.

Paducah native, Miki Abraham, is a cast member! Miki is a part of the show’s swing which means Miki is an off-stage performer responsible for covering any number of ensemble tracks, sometimes as many as 12 or more. Miki is tasked with knowing the parts to five different roles. Even though Miki knew the timing was not great, she did not realize how hectic it would truly be having Shucked open just days before her wedding. Being a swing on a show in its first week, Miki assumed it would not be too bad. She’d be available if needed but more likely than not she’d sit backstage. On opening night, she walked down the red carpet and watched the show with her parents, Cindy and Richard Abraham. Right after the performance, she got a call. They would need her the next night to fill in as an ensemble member. It was perfect timing. Her parents, who had flown from Paducah for her wedding, were able to watch her perform. Miki thought Thursday would be her last day working before the wedding. Then another call came. She would need to play a lead role in Shucked on Thursday.

Many of her close friends and family were already in New York getting ready for the wedding so they were able to attend Miki’s debut on Broadway. “I just remember thinking, this is the wildest thing. And then I walked out of the theater and directly to a bar for my bachelorette party,” she marvels. “Two days later I got married.”

Miki’s husband, Alex Joseph Grayson, has been busy on Broadway as well. Alex stars as Jim Conley in Broadway’s PARADE, which opened in March. Alex is not new to Broadway. He previously performed in Into the Woods, Girl from the North Country, Hair and A Bronx Tale. “I call him my Broadway baby,” she jokes.

“It’s hard being in a relationship with someone in the same industry, especially an industry that can be so competitive. You can’t help but compare yourself,” Miki reflects. “Alex had already been in three Broadway shows post-pandemic. And I was working in a restaurant.” When Miki had a call back for Shucked, she felt drained by the audition process. But the show felt meant to be. She had been singing country music all her life, and here was a country musical. “There was something so deep in my soul about it being a country musical,” she recalls. “When I went to the audition and saw it was mainly people of color, I thought, Okay, if this is a country musical with people of color, and if I’m not in this show, what am I doing?”

Miki has been performing since she was a child. In 1999 she played the title role in Annie at Market House Theater. “I’ve joked that I was probably the first Black Annie and there’s probably truth to that!” she comments. “Who else was doing that in 1999?” She attributes a lot of the early performing skills she attained to her time at Market House Theater. “Market House Theater is like heaven sent. I never realized how cool MHT was until I spoke to other people who had community theaters,” she shares. “I learned so much at such a young age through the program. I was learning improv at eight. I ran crew at a play competition at 17 years old.” Miki loves that she can now be in a position to encourage other aspiring actors from Paducah. “Someone reached out to me on Instagram the other week,” Miki said. "They said ‘You don’t know me. I’m from Paducah, and I just love following you on Instagram because you’re doing what I want to do.’” Are things slowing down since the wedding? “It’s been a crazy time,” Miki adds, "especially opening a show during Tony season.” The show is gaining a lot of buzz on Broadway. It was recently announced that Shucked has nine Tony nominations, including Best Book of a Musical, Best Original

Score Written for the Theater, Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography, and Best Orchestrations. So while the wedding is over, Miki’s new LIFE on Broadway is taking her onto a stage she has always dreamed of, and all we can say back here at home is, “Break a leg!”