Singing with the NYC Ballet

Make it Sparkle Video with Leah Horowitz
Professional Actress and Singer

4:03 (runtime)

Director’s Notes

Dive into the enchanting world of singing with the NYC Ballet as actress Leah Horowitz shares her experiences in performances like West Side Story Suite and Thou Swell. In this video, she talks about the unique challenges and joys of harmonizing with ballet performances.

• Leah expresses how excited she is to singing regularly with the NYC Ballet. She shares a story of how disappointed she was when a scheduled performance of West Side Story Suite was canceled.

• Leah describes her involvement in various ballets, from being a voice in the orchestra pit to performing on stage alongside the dancers. She also talks about the experience performing as a ‘singing narrator’ in a tribute to Jerome Robbins.

• Expecting a more serious atmosphere, Leah discovers the ballet world is surprisingly lively and fun—finding dancers to be as goofy and enjoyable as fellow performers in Broadway shows.

• She emphasizes the challenge of balancing her performance with the dancers' focus. She learned to navigate the stage without hindering their movements and understand that, as a singer, there are ways to complement their artistry.

• Leah marvels at the well-organized and impressive operation behind the scenes at the ballet, where stage managers run and rehearse multiple productions simultaneously. She describes her role as a rewarding experience within an intricate machine.

More About Leah

Leah Horowitz was born and raised on Staten Island, home of the Staten Island Ferry, Ralph’s Ices, and the best pizza in New York City. Raised by a speech pathologist mother from West Virginia and a banjo player father from Brooklyn, Leah grew up with no discernable New York accent in a house filled with music and cats. She and her mother were heavily involved in community theater (as actor and costumer, respectively), and spent most of their nights and weekends with show people. When it came time to go to college, Leah thought she’d major in some sort of science – acting seemed too impractical and unstable a profession. An acceptance to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts changed her mind. Cut to the present, and Leah still sometimes thinks maybe she should’ve been an engineer. Don’t ask her which kind – she just likes the sound of it.

However, seven Broadway shows and many regional credits later, Leah has to admit she has done reasonably well. She last appeared on Broadway in the acclaimed revival of Follies as Young Heidi, and, more recently, has been a principal singer several times for New York City Ballet. She has been seen on TV as a sassy nun in NBC’s The Sound of Music Live, and at Madison Square Garden performing with Phish in their New Years Eve concert (twice!). She has been heard in numerous commercial jingles, including singing “Mm Mm Good!” for Campbell’s Soup. The pandemic prompted her to build a home recording studio, and she has now narrated over 20 audiobooks. All in all, not a boring life.

Leah lives in New Jersey with her husband Matty D Stuart, actor and DJ extraordinaire, her daughter, Penelope, and her dog Ruby. In addition to work, she enjoys reading the latest great novels and then making her friends read them, watching too many TV shows, knitting, eating sushi, and visiting HomeGoods regularly.