King
Syesha Mercado may not have been America’s “Idol,” but at least she gets to be America’s “Dreamgirl.”
The second runner-up from “American Idol” Season 7 earned rave reviews for her performance as Deena Jones in the musical “Dreamgirls,” which played in Chicago last month. But Mercado recently told TheMash that she had some doubts about taking on the role.
“I didn’t know at first, I was unsure about the character,” she said. “My thoughts changed when I read the script.”
Mercado’s “Dreamgirls” character, Deena, has been played by impressive women such as Sheryl Lee Ralph and Beyonce, but Mercado is doing her best to make the role her own.
“It was intimidating at first, but that didn’t last long,” she said. “... I definitely pay my homage to Beyonce and Sheryl.”
Mercado even had some “Dreamgirls” practice before joining the show. She sang “Listen” from the film’s soundtrack while on the “Idol” finalists tour. In a twist of fate, she said she heard about the “Dreamgirls” audition shortly after that tour, which turned into a rigorous six-month tryout.
She got the part, and Mercado said she really relates to Deena’s character, who skyrocketed from zero to hero in a short time.
“It really makes me go there, so it’s hard sometimes to cut it off,” she said. “It makes me vulnerable. I know what it’s like to have overnight success, and I can also relate to having a dream and going after it.”
Mercado added that she was honored to perform “Dreamgirls” at the Apollo Theater in New York, where the show began, because “the audience felt like church, they were so involved.”
“So many legends have been made there, Michael Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald and many more; they paved the way for artists like myself,” she said.
As for future roles on Broadway, Mercado wants to be a part of something new, or “maybe a more modern version of ‘Dreamgirlsor something like ‘In the Heights,’ which was my first Broadway show, but with an all-African-American cast,” she said.
Besides starring in “Dreamgirls,” Mercado is working on an album that has yet to be named. She advised aspiring musicians to work on their craft as much as possible.
“It’s never too early or too late,” she said. “No one can do better for you than you.”
