San Antonio native Noah Blessing’s love of the arts began as a child when he discovered the music of Tejano star Selena Quintanilla. Blessing watched stock footage of her performances online and practiced dancing in her bedroom. He saw the 1997 biopic Selena a few dozen times and jokes that he has one hell of a “washing machine” dance move in his own repertoire.
“I think that’s very common for a lot of South Texas kids,” Blessing, 24, told MySA in a recent interview. “I remember seeing her and knowing that I wanted to dance and sing on stage. It was probably the first time I realized that I wanted to be a performer.
This week, Blessing will make his professional debut in his hometown when he performs in the touring musical, mean girlsWho takes place at the Majestic Theater August 9-14. mean girls is a stage production based on the 2004 film of the same name starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams. The mean girls musical opened on Broadway in 2018.
As part of the show’s touring ensemble, Blessing, a 2016 graduate of Churchill High School, plays one of the students at North Shore High School, where much of the story takes place. He also serves as a stand-in for the actor playing the role of Kevin Gnapoor, captain of the Mathletes and amateur rapper (“The G is silent when I sneak to your door…”).
Blessing was in elementary school when the film first hit theaters, so he didn’t see it until years later. When he learned it was going to be adapted into a musical, he thought the comedy and the characters would lend themselves well to directing.
“All the characters are really strong,” Blessing said. “I think [the movie] naturally lends itself to the structure of a musical. You have your serious moments and your fun songs. It’s very campy and has a lot of energy. I think that translates wonderfully on stage.
After graduating from Churchill, Blessing attended Sam Houston State University where he majored in theater and really began training to become a complete performer, although dancing continued to be his first love. Some of the college plays he participated in include Oklahoma, Free from all ties, Pippin apple, Smokey Joe’s Cafe and Heathers. Once Blessing graduated in 2020, he moved to New York with a friend in hopes of launching his career. The pandemic, however, had different plans.
“Nothing was really happening in the theater,” he said. “I think every artist has had that moment of, ‘What’s going on?’ Everything always happens for a reason, so maybe I needed this time to grow and learn more about myself as a person outside of who I am as a performer.
Over the next year, Blessing took on a few odd jobs until things slowly started to reopen. He then landed a gig on the main stage of a Disney cruise ship and traveled to Virginia to perform in an ensemble and serve as dance captain for a regional theater performance of In the heights. He toured with mean girls for the past six weeks after replacing someone in the set who left the show.
“I had to learn the show while we were on the road,” Blessing said. “It’s a challenge because many of us are on stage dancing and running in different formations. You are really forced to use your imagination. It was a really good exercise and definitely sharpened my skills.
Blessing is thrilled to return to San Antonio and perform in front of family and friends. He hopes he can inspire other Latino theater kids to see that it’s possible to go as far as he has in the industry. For the future of his career, he can only imagine great things.
“I would love to work with someone like Lin-Manuel Miranda,” Blessing said. “Let’s put that out there in the universe. I would like to be on Broadway one day. I would like to work in television and cinema. I want to win a Tony and a Grammy. And why not? You only live once, and I want to do what makes me happy.
Mean Girls runs August 9-14 at the Majestic Theater. Tickets are available here.
