Jared David Michael Grant

Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alumnus Jared David Michael Grant ’12, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Musical Theatre, is costarring in the first national tour of the Broadway musical Tootsie, which launched in October 2021 in Buffalo, New York. Grant plays Jeff Slater, the roommate of a male actor who disguises himself as a woman for career purposes — the role played by Bill Murray in the original film on which the stage show is based.

The Tootsie tour rolls into New Orleans this week, playing November 9 through 14 at the Saenger Theatre before moving on to engagements in Houston, Kansas City (Missouri), Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and points west through the end of the 2021-2022 season.

Jared David Michael Grant (left) in “Tootsie”

In an interview for the New Orleans “life and culture” publication ViaNolaVie for a November 5 article, Grant was asked, “When do we know that we need to make a change in life?” His response:

“My mother gave me an analogy of a lobster. The lobster grows, and the shell gets too tight around it, so the lobster gets stressed out. So, they break those shells, or break out of them, and they grow. They grow a new shell, and that growth continues in their life. I feel like when you get to that point where you feel stuck then that’s the point of where you need to make a change. We’re supposed to grow as humans, so even though you feel stuck when you’re going through that change, it’s important to remember that it’s a growing moment. It’s like your spirit is growing, and I have to expand with it and not stay stuck in the moment.”

To read the full interview, click here.