In Dialogue: Naomi Diana of 'Great Comet'

Naomi Diana’s (‘22) rise has been fast, focused, and well-earned. She snagged Natasha in Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, scored national TV exposure on I Can See Your Voice, and even found herself singing for Spielberg. Fueled by faith and a powerhouse voice, she’s a performer on the rise.

The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell me about landing the role of Natasha in “Great Comet” so early in your career.

I found the audition on BroadwayWorld. They really wanted to see me in person, but for the callback, we had to settle on Zoom. I remember being one of the last people of the day. Afterward, the music director just said to me, “That was great.” I found out later I was cast from that.

The production took place in Asia; on a tour or in one city?

There have been talks of a tour, but we were in Shanghai. Two months of rehearsal and then, boom, eight shows a week. It was hard work; physically and vocally the hardest show I’ve ever worked on. There were moments backstage where I had to sprint before belting out the next number. The set was huge and on a raked stage. If you’re wearing heels, it was like doing a marathon.

And your character carries a lot of the show.

For sure, but the cast was wonderful. Everybody was in it together; everybody understood how much work had to go into it. I wouldn’t have been able to do it with so much vigor and joy without that cast.

You performed on I Can See Your Voice. 

The producer who gave me the opportunity to be on that show had been trying to get me on The Voice, America's Got Talent, and American Idol. For years she was trying to do that, but it didn’t work out.

They were putting together season two, and she got me the audition. They cast me and it felt like the break I needed. Being on that gave me some momentum and confidence, and I got my manager because of it.

Tell me about your time at the program.

I loved my time there. I came to The Academy in 2018. Before school started, I had auditioned for West Side Story; the movie version done by Spielberg. They hadn’t reached out so I put it out of my mind. Then when I was at The Academy, they called; “Hey, are you in New York?” and I said, “Yeah.” [Laughs.]

There were some things I moved around for it, and even though I didn’t get the part, I got to audition for Steven Spielberg. It was a master class with the best in the business.

After my first year, I had a music opportunity. Long story short, I dropped out of school to move to LA. I got some things going, but just as that happened, Covid put a stop to everything in its tracks. I went back home to Florida and was on a hiatus. 

I was so grateful when I could go back to school and finish my second year. I was so ready to complete that and move forward. I learned a plethora of things I still use to this day.

Was music always something you were interested in?

I was into sports growing up. I loved sports, but I sang all the time. I found out later that it’s a way to self-soothe. My mom got me to sing in front of my church when I was seven. I didn’t know what was happening, singing in front of a large group, but I really enjoyed it.

I integrated sports and music up until middle school when I did my first musical. I was cast in a vocal powerhouse role but had to drop it to stay in sports; I couldn’t do both. That wrecked me. As time went on, my heart pulled me towards musical theatre. My high school had a good performing arts program; I was very fortunate to go there. I took classes in piano, guitar, music, and acting. They all started coming together in high school. That’s when I knew I wanted to do this for a career.

Your faith, I understand, has also been quite important in your life. If you’re willing to share that with us, I think our readers would find it very interesting.

For a while, I tried to ease into it before I became quite frank about it. I find that I like to stay frank.

Tends to make for a better interview.

[Laughs.] I’ve always been someone who likes to integrate things. I was presented with choices growing up…all these things that challenged my faith and beliefs. I realized I don’t have to choose between two things, when I can create my own path. 

My faith is the foundation of everything I do. I believe everything we do flows from spirituality. If you have that building block, then you have somewhere to go. I stay rooted by staying in the Word.

Closing thoughts? The floor is yours.

I used to think that if things didn’t go the way I had planned, that was the end of everything. If I could give advice, I would say that when something comes along to derail your plan, let it. Let it break you down. There is nothing that God can’t rebuild, no ruins that cannot be rebuilt with new material. I integrate faith into every aspect of my life.

You can keep up with Naomi’s acting and singing escapades here.