From ‘Hipster Ariel’ to Sparkle Pony, Meet Molly Gallagher from Burning Man: The Musical
 |
| Molly Gallagher performing as Sparkle Pony |
You can watch her and others perform the opening to Burning Man: The Musical live at the 10-minute musical theater festival Sound Bites on January 18, 2015 in New York City. -Burning Man: The Musical team
How did you first get involved with Burning Man: The Musical?
Matt Werner (the writer) saw me in other videos on YouTube and thought I would be good for this project so he asked me to play Sparkle Pony! I got extremely lucky.
How did you prepare to sing all of the female vocals on the opening track? What was that experience like?
I was first sent a recording of the composer singing the song and a lyrics sheet. I listened to it a million times before I went to record. When I got there I was really nervous because I am a crazy person, and I always get nervous but Gene and Matt were both super supportive. I pretty much just followed their direction the whole time and it came out sounding amazing.
What is it that you like most about the character of Sparkle Pony? What have you done to make the character your own?
Sparkle Pony pretty much embodies the spirit of Burning Man. She's all about love, sharing, community and just having a really great time. She's extremely passionate about Burning Man and about life in general, which is a quality that I admire and hope that I posses as well. It's always really fun to get to be the first to bring a character to life because the character forever becomes a reflection of you (the actor).
 |
| Molly Gallagher as Sparkle Pony |
It was absolutely amazing! Originally I had no idea what to expect in regards to costumes but Suzie Ford, the costume designer, did an amazing job! The costume I wore was a collection of actual Burners’ clothing and the hood was handmade! And getting my makeup done by an actual makeup artist, Dori Jay made me feel so amazing and beautiful.
 |
| Molly Gallagher with co-star Travis Kent between shoots |
I think my favorite part on set was getting to ride on the amazing art car made by Allan Haigh. I always love getting to work with Travis Kent, we did videos together on the AVbyte channel and have become really amazing friends.... Plus he's amazingly talented and funny. I also loved getting to meet so many new amazing people. The whole cast and crew made me feel so special and loved.
Could you talk more about your theater training and education at NYU? Which past roles have you played that prepared you for this role?
I am a vocal performance major concentrating in musical theater. It is a bachelor of music degree inside of a liberal arts college, so I have classes that range from music theory to “Visible and Invisible Cities.” I’m in my senior year, and I've had the privilege of working with two really amazing voice teachers during my time here: Tyley Ross (freshman and sophomore year) and Kristen Ruiz (my current teacher).
The program is classically based so my teachers pretty much took everything I thought I knew about singing and changed it completely. It was a HUGE adjustment in the beginning, but I am learning a much more efficient way of singing.
I've had the privilege of playing a lot of strong female characters that are willing to stand up and fight for what they believe in, and that is something that helped me a lot when preparing to play Sparkle Pony. I like to think of Sparkle Pony as Éponine from Les Mis meets Mimi from Rent, meets every Disney princess, meets a badass ninja warrior.
 |
| Molly Gallagher with Danny Bellini playing "Burning Man cop" between shoots |
Everyone seems to love it and they can't wait to see the full musical! My friend’s dad actually heard me mentioned on the WB Chicago news radio one morning a while back, which I think is really awesome.
What’s next for Sparkle Pony? What can we expect from her in future scenes?
You’ll have to wait and see.
