Actress and BYU graduate Sadie Veach recently began her Broadway career in "The Hills of California," where she's understudying the roles of Young Joan and Young Gloria.
Although her professional life now centers on New York City’s theater scene, Veach’s acting roots are in Utah.
“I started doing dance at this little studio on Lehi Main Street,” Veach recalled. “I did tap and ballet and just caught the performing bug."
When she was 14, Veach was in a production of "The Wizard of Oz." “I really fell in love with the way that performing in a musical made me feel,” she said. “And more specifically, the way that connecting with people as part of the process made me feel.”
While her dance background initially led her towards musical theater, Veach recognized she enjoyed the acting aspect of theater more. This realization motivated her to focus strictly on acting when she came to BYU.
While at BYU, Veach worked as an administrative and teaching assistant for Stephanie Breinholt, professor of voice and acting and former head of BYU’s acting program.
“Something great about Sadie is that she goes the extra mile with all that she does,” Breinholt said. “She would put in the effort to create really dimensional characters onstage and in class work.”
Reflecting on the first play she did at BYU, Veach fondly recounted a moment backstage with the rest of the cast and professor Adam Houghton, who directed the BYU production of "A Wilder Night," three one-act plays created by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Thornton Wilder.
“One of the beautiful things about Thornton Wilder is all of his characters are just normal everyday people,” Veach said. “So, to better understand them, we really dove into what their whole life would be like.”
Veach said one of the one-act plays focused a lot on motherhood, so Houghton, who was directing the play, facilitated a discussion on the beauty and sanctity of motherhood.
“We all started crying,” Veach said. “It was so beautiful. … Theater is really unique because you get to spend so much time with the same people every single day doing something that's vulnerable.”
Freja Jorgensen, a close friend of Veach’s and a peer from her time at BYU, said Sadie is amazing at connecting with people both on and offstage.
“She’s the person who makes other people feel seen,” Jorgensen said. “She gives one hundred percent to whatever she’s doing and that includes interactions with people.”
For Veach, acting isn’t just about performing, it’s about connection.
“I feel like theater is such an empathy vehicle,” Veach said. “By telling people’s stories, you provide a way for individuals to connect with people that they might not ever get the chance to connect with.”
Immediately after graduating with her Bachelor of Arts in acting, Veach moved to New York City, where she said she’s known she belonged since a trip she took to the city at age 16.
“I just love the energy of it,” Veach said. “The opportunity to love people in New York is so huge because there’s just so many people to get to know because of the vast array of belief systems and ethnicities and cultures.”
Thanks to the managers she found by participating in BYU’s New York Showcase, Veach found several opportunities in TV and film shortly after moving to the city.
She starred as a recurring character on Amazon Studios original "Harlan Coben’s Shelter," in a major role in "Fish in a Tree" with New York City Children’s Theater, and as a guest star in the popular TV drama "Law and Order."
Then, in 2023, when the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists went on strike, Veach started working full-time as a nanny to support herself, since she wasn’t acting.
“It was during that strike,” Veach said, “that I really was like, 'Oh, I miss performing on stage a lot. A lot, a lot.'”
Because she was working 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, Veach didn’t have the energy she wanted to work on auditions or her original work.
“I felt like I should quit that job and just live off my savings for as long as I could,” Veach remembered, with the intent to get another day job when she ran out of money. Until then, her plan was to audition as much as possible and work on her original work.
Veach had just barely started a new day job for an antique and rare bookstore when she found out she booked "The Hills of California."
“Unfortunately, I have not been back to that job since,” Veach laughed. “Being able to say that I’m on Broadway is mind-boggling. It still doesn’t feel real.”
Performing in "The Hills of California" as an understudy for the roles of Young Joan and Young Gloria marks a pivotal moment in Veach’s career. She said the process has been beautiful so far, especially working with writer Jez Butterworth and director Sam Mendes.
“It’s been just a masterclass in creativity,” Veach said. “Sam is such a specific and detailed director and really understands the inner lives of his characters.”
The play is about four women, and she said it’s beautiful to see a male director giving the women the space they need to just be women without playing into any archetypes.
“And then the playwright is just an absolute genius,” Veach said. “He’s so kind and so good at seeing humans and writing humans. It’s one of the most brilliant scripts, if not the most brilliant script I’ve ever worked with.”
Although performing on Broadway is any actress’s dream, Veach remains grounded in her broader mission as an artist.
“Success to me is feeling fulfilled in the art that I’m creating,” she said, “and that doesn’t have to be on Broadway. The goal is just to perform in any capacity that will cause people to contemplate their lives and how they can better love and connect with other people.”
Veach’s BYU peers and teachers alike aren’t surprised that Veach is on Broadway.
“She dedicated herself and worked hard,” Houghton said. “One of the biggest life lessons in any career path is how to work hard. She’s a remarkable person and so I look forward to seeing where her career goes.”
Juniper Taylor, another of Veach’s acting peers, shared about her experience working with Veach. “The reason why there are some actors that we consider to be just amazing is because they have that ability to bring something honest and genuine to every character," she said. "And that is a piece of magic that Sadie has.”
"The Hills of California" opened on Sept. 29 and has been extended to run through Dec. 22.