Breyannah Tillman shakes her head. “I was on my phone,” she says, a little embarrassed. That’s when she heard her former Ridgeway High School drama teacher Julie Reinbold, who was on stage at the Orpheum. Tillman, who tops six feet, and stands out in a crowd with her short crop of blonde hair, was feeling on top of the world. She had just finished an audience-thrilling performance of “And I Am Telling You,” from the musical Dreamgirls and was sharing that excitement with her friends, when what she heard Reinbold saying started sounding oddly familiar, and a little personal.
“Is she talking about me?” Tillman wondered, in complete surprise. “Are they giving me the Rising Star Award?” she asked, as the crowd roared, her phone started blowing up with congratulatory texts and hot tears started pouring down her face.
The Larry Riley Rising Star Award is presented each year at the Ostranders to a promising young talent in the Memphis theater community. It’s named for Memphis actor Larry Riley, best known for his performance as C.J. Memphis in A Soldier’s Play, and its film adaptation, A Soldier’s Story. It is most often, though not always, reserved for artists with professional aspirations. Tillman fits the bill. And unlike most recipients of this honor, the 25-year-old performer has already sung on Broadway.
Tillman became stagestruck when she was still very young after seeing a Christmas show at Playhouse on the Square. She had always been a singer, and would perform in church, or anywhere else she could, but she didn’t start acting in shows until she got to Ridgeway. Recognizing a blossoming talent, Reinbold cast her in the title role of Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida. That led to a best female performance citation at Memphis’ High School Musical Awards, which led to a trip to New York, where she was a finalist in the national competition and performed a selection from the musical Caroline or Change at Broadway’s Minskoff Theatre.
“This has been a great year — weird and wild,” Tillman says. In addition to the Rising Star Award she was nominated for two other Ostranders this season. She won best female lead for her work as Effie in Dreamgirls.
“Effie has always been a dream role,” she says, considering shows she’d most like to do in the future. “I love The Color Purple,” she says. And I would love to play Aida again someday.” More than anything else, however, Tillman wants an opportunity to sing the part of Christine in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera.
“All the other parts are goals,” she says. “But Christine — that’s an actual dream role.”
Tillman’s not working on new shows at the moment but is currently auditioning, singing for private events, and planning future projects.
“It’s been eight weeks since Dreamgirls closed and people are still recognizing me. They see me and say, ‘Effie!” Tillman says in disbelief. A rising star might want to get used to that attention.