Anthony LaGuardia

Eau Claire’s theater and dance scene helped launch Anthony LaGuardia’s professional career as a dancer, singer, and actor. Now he’s come home to return the favor. LaGuardia, a 2009 Memorial High School graduate who has performed in Broadway-level international and national touring companies, will teach a Musical Theatre Master Class for young performers in early February at the Eau Claire Children’s Theatre.

LaGuardia, now 24, moved to New York City at age 18 to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, a college-level conservatory where he earned an associate’s degree. “All my teachers were working professionals in the business,” he explains. “I got to learn from people who are actually working in the business, who know the ins and outs.”

Connections forged through the academy helped him gain roles in regional, touring, and cruise ship productions of shows such as Hairspray, 42nd Street, Dreamgirls, and now the Broadway Tour of Chicago. (He spent December performing with the latter show in Japan.) While he’s been hired primarily as a dancer, LaGuardia considers himself an actor/singer/dancer and a singer/dancer/actor as well as a dancer/actor/singer … you get the idea. For him, these three essential elements of musical theater are intertwined.

“My job as a performer is to inspire somebody in the audience. To bring joy and move someone in a bigger way. That’s why I do what I do.”– Anthony LaGuardia, on his professional theatrical career

“My job as a performer is to inspire somebody in the audience,” he says. “To bring joy and move someone in a bigger way. That’s why I do what I do.” He says teaching gives him an opportunity to offer the same kind of inspiration, albeit on a more intimate level.

“Coming back for this (class) is soul-serving,” he says, adding that he hopes to motivate theater-loving Chippewa Valley youngsters to follow his path. After proposing the idea to Eau Claire Children’s Theatre director Wayne Marek, LaGuardia taught a similar master class a year and a half ago. The master class entails three two-hour sessions, followed by a showcase performance the final night. Students learn to apply simple acting techniques to musical theater songs. LaGuardia says he wants young performers to realize that songs are more than notes on a page, that they can be broken down like monologues and imbued with emotional intensity. By the end of the process, he says, the students have really grown. “The response from these kids is a little overwhelming,” he says.

LaGuardia spent his youth singing, dancing, and acting in school as well as with the Eau Claire Children’s Theatre in shows ranging from Les Misérables to Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. He also studied at En Avant School of Dance in Eau Claire. (He teaches classes there whenever he’s back in Eau Claire between professional commitments.) 

Once the master class is over, LaGuardia will return to the touring company of Chicago, which will perform in cities including Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, and even Appleton. While being part of Chicago fulfills one of his dreams, LaGuardia would love to make his way back to Wicked: As a 14-year-old, he won a one-performance-only walk-on role in the Broadway production of the show through a charity auction, an experience he says was a major motivation for his career path.

Another item on LaGuardia’s bucket list is closer to home: He’d love to return to Eau Claire to perform. If that happens, this budding star’s career will have come full circle.

Musical Theatre Master Class with Anthony LaGuardia • classes Feb. 1-3, 6-8pm; showcase Feb. 4, 7pm • Eau Claire Children’s Theatre, 1814 N. Oxford Ave., Eau Claire • $67 per person • class is limited to 10 students ages 10-18 • (715) 839-8877 • follow LaGuardia on social media @anthonyjaylag