Jhailyn Farcon had a feeling she would make it to Broadway one day. She just didn’t expect the opportunity to come so quickly.
This fall, just two months into her sophomore year, Farcon took to the stage of Stephen Sondheim Theatre with the cast of & Juliet.
“It’s so crazy that I get to say I'm on Broadway and also in school,” said Farcon, who is pursuing an Ailey/Fordham BFA in Dance at Fordham College at Lincoln Center.
Farcon plays the role of Imogen in the coming-of-age jukebox musical that asks the question: What would happen if Juliet never killed herself at the end of Romeo & Juliet?
“It is such a fun show to do. It's a jukebox musical, so it's all the songs that I grew up with—a lot of pop and boy band songs. It wasn't even hard to learn the music because I basically knew all the lyrics already.”
Blending Studies with Performing
Farcon has been performing in productions since she was a child, including a role in a touring edition of Billy Elliot: The Musical when she was 8.
But & Juliet is easily the most challenging role she’s taken on. It requires appearing in eight shows a week in a physically taxing role. She never considered pausing her studies, though, in part because the Ailey/Fordham BFA program is structured to accommodate full-time performers. She’s also become adept at carving out time for studies when not rehearsing or performing.
“The other day, I had a two-show day, and right after we finished the first show, I cracked open my laptop and started writing a paper,” she said.
“I'm lucky that my professors are really accommodating about my double duty, if you will. If I need an extension, my teachers are very gracious.”
Farcon was very familiar with this aspect of the BFA program when she enrolled last year. Her brother Jaryd, a fellow LaGuardia High School graduate, earned an Ailey/Fordham BFA in 2020.
Nurturing Body and Intellect
Far from being in tension with each other, she says the classroom and the stage complement each other. On most weekdays, she attends two dance-related classes and one non-dance class during the day, then takes the subway two stops to the theater on 43rd Street.
“I definitely feel more energized after taking dance classes in the morning instead of just rolling out of bed and then going to the theater. That gets my body ready for all the high-energy numbers in the show,” she said.
“And I like my academics because it stimulates my brain so that I'm not just relying on my body. It's nice to have that juxtaposition of the physical and the mental.”
On Jan. 25, Farcon performed in her 100th & Juliet show, a milestone that her family came out in force to the theater to celebrate. She’s contracted to perform with the show through the fall.
“I've always wanted to be on Broadway, but I would've never thought I’d do it while still in school,” she said. “I'm just so grateful that it worked out this way.”