Kayla Moore has been busy since graduating from the School of Communication in 2019. Currently, Moore stars in “The Office! A Musical Parody” as the cat-loving accountant Angela. When she’s not performing in New York City’s Off-Broadway Theater District, she’s performing for her 138,000-plus followers worldwide on social media.
Here, she discusses going viral, getting recognized, and harnessing the power of social media to achieve her goals.
Q: Were you always a performer?
A: I’m a younger sibling, so, of course, I had to do anything my older sister did. When she joined a local theater’s after-school program, obviously, I had to, too.
My entire childhood took place in the wings of a theater, backstage, or a dressing room.
Performing always felt intuitive, like it was in my blood. I grew up in a very musical family—my dad was a musician who played around the house, and my mom would often join in with vocals.
It felt like something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
Q: What do you like about putting on a show?
A: My favorite part of any show is the opening night. I always get this rush of adrenaline, something I can only get now on opening night.
I’ll be waiting in the dark in the wings offstage, alone with my thoughts, silently freaking out.
But then, I step out onto that stage, into the spotlight, and I feel safe. I never feel more at home than when I am performing.
I don’t believe in a perfect show, but you can get really close. If I can do what I was hired to do—blocking, choreography, memorizing the lines and lyrics, and hitting my notes properly—I consider it a successful performance.
But, of course, things always happen that are not according to script. A prop breaks onstage, or the costume malfunctions.
Actors exist in this weird in-between state during live performances, with one foot in the present reality and another in the reality of the performance.
Improvisation gives an actor permission to creatively explore what that character would do at any given moment.
It’s hard, but it’s also very rewarding. Sometimes, your show goes better when things go wrong.
Q: You first went viral for an improvised line. Tell me about that experience.
A: I improvised a line in the Yorktown Stage production of “High School Musical,” and the Internet just found it to be the funniest thing.
In the video, I played Sharpay Evans about to sign up for the school musical. She’s standing in front of the sign-up sheet, digging around for her big red marker in her oversized, sparkling purse.
She writes her name down with a comically large signature and puts a big star at the end of it, then turns to the rest of the students, and says, almost as an afterthought, “Oh, were you going to sign up too?”
The video went viral on TikTok. And it's all because my director was like, “There’s so much dead air here, can you just like do something?”
And now people will stop me on the street and quote this back to me—something I improvised onstage.
Q: What’s it like to be recognized on the street?
A: If someone stops me at the stage door or an audition, I’m more prepared for it because I’m still in the realm of theater.
But since I’ve established more of an online presence, it can be a little more challenging to be recognized for my social media persona. I always want to bring the same level of energy and connection that I give in my videos, but it can be a little challenging to become the person you present on the Internet at all times.
Social media fame was not something I planned. When I started posting, it was an outlet. It was therapeutic. It was a way to share tips and tricks with a larger musical theater community.
Suddenly, a video I posted went super viral and I went from almost no followers to around 65,800 followers on TikTok. Now, I’ll have videos that get anywhere between five and 16 million views.
It can be overwhelming, but it’s easier to focus on the individuals I’m trying to connect with. So, if you’re a fan and you see me on the street, tell me about yourself. Tell me your name, where you’re from, what video of mine you saw, and why it resonated with you.
Q: You’ve built a large following since going viral. Did that happen over time or all at once?
A: I went from almost no followers to tens of thousands of people. When I have a video that goes super viral, I’ll see a big tick in followers, but otherwise, it’s a gradual rise.
With social media, I always say it’s a combination of consistency and luck. There’s always one thing in your control, and that’s what you post and how often. Post every single day. Respond to the algorithm. Respond to trends. Posting is entirely within your control.
The content I share tends to be either educational or personal.
I create videos explaining how to audition, how to get a headshot, what a book is, and what a 16-bar cut is. I want to offer a transparency to this industry.
Otherwise, I make “day at the zoo” style content—videos letting people see me in my natural habitat, talking to the camera in an unscripted, unfiltered way, chatting about my day.
I recently heard the term “day at the zoo” content, and it really resonated with me. It means letting people peer into your life in a natural state as if you’re in a documentary and the viewer is an outside perspective.
The only thing the algorithm really requires you to do is cut out each breath. But yeah, my audience loves a good “plop and yap” where I’m just sitting and chatting about my day.
My videos have also become a free marketing tool and portfolio in theater.
I’ve gotten auditions because people know me from social media, or they value the fact that I would market their show if I’m in the production.
Just this week, I had an audition where one of the directors said, “Wow, you’re really funny.”
Then the casting director said, “Well, of course—haven’t you seen her videos?”
Q: Tell me about your current role as Angela in the Off-Broadway production of “The Office! A Musical Parody.”
A: I submitted myself for Angela and was invited to audition for the role. I performed a song, read through some lines, and then left for the train. By the time I got off at my stop, they called and offered me the role.
I accepted and immediately jumped into the rehearsal schedule—one day with the musical director, a three-hour rehearsal to learn all the music, three hours with the dance captain to learn all of the blocking and choreography, and then a put-in rehearsal, which is a walk-through with the rest of the cast. The same day I did the put-in rehearsal, I opened the show. It was a very fast process.
My main role is Angela, but I also play three other surprise characters in the show.
It’s funny because I’m five feet tall, and I used to think my height would hinder me from getting roles. It’s actually only helped me so far.
In the musical, they make a bunch of jokes about Angela being a child-sized woman, so my height actually helped me to book the role.
Q: What do you do outside of performing?
A: I am also an entrepreneur. I created theatrekidshop.com, which sells funny little merchandise about being a theater kid. Stuff that says things like, “Don't talk to me. It’s tech week.” Things like that.
To see Kayla Moore perform in “The Office! A Musical Parody,” visit https://www.theofficeoffbroadway.com/. To catch up with her on social media, visit her TikTok (@kayla___moore), Instagram (@kayla___moore), and YouTube (@kaylasophiemoore).
