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SALT LAKE CITY — For Thayne Jasperson, his passion for performing all started with a panda.
"My first performance ever, I was in third grade and my teacher wrote a short called 'The Circus,' said Jasperson. "I was a dancing panda and I was like clogging around. It was the best thing ever."
However, he put his passion for performing on hold, he said, to fit in.
"I wrote in my journal, 'I'm going to be an actor when I grow up,' and then I didn't because I got made fun of by all the boys and quit," he said. "It was the dumbest thing ever."
During Jasperson's mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Argentina, the flame for performing reignited. "You know, you sing all the hymns and I loved harmonizing," he said.
He realized he wanted to perform for a living. When Jasperson returned to Utah, he started training anywhere he could. "I would sometimes clean at some of the studios to pay for it because I couldn't afford it."
Finally, he decided to make the giant leap from Utah to New York City. "I went out there six years ago," he said. "I packed my bags and got a one-way ticket. I was going to get a job and I didn't care what it was."
It's was a big risk that paid off. Jasperson landed a role in the national tour of "West Side Story."
"I was running into every audition possible," he said. Then he got a part in the original casts of both "Matilda" and 'Newsies." "I knew I was supposed to be a 'newsie,'" he said.
However, it's his current gig that's grabbing the most attention.
"It's been kind of a crazy ride," Jasperson said.
The Springville High grad is dancing, singing and acting in one of the biggest musicals of all time. It all started with a workshop audition in front of "Alexander Hamilton" himself: Lin-Manuel Miranda.
"He told me, 'When you came in, I thought, well, I'm sure this white boy can sing, but can he rap?' That was (Miranda's) question," Jasperson said. "I sang, and it was what he expected and he thought it was good, but then he told me the rap is where I actually got him."
Jasperson got the role playing British loyalist Samuel Seabury. He also understudies three other roles, including King George III.
Who would have thought a hip-hop musical about our nation's first treasury secretary would take off? "It's just crazy because I got to see it all from the beginning," he said. "Suddenly, we were royalty. It was amazing."
Then came something Jasperson said he will never forget — performing at the 2016 Tony Awards.
"It was the greatest moment of my life," he said. "I was just like a puppy, and there's proof of that somewhere. There are pictures which are awesome."
Other original 'Hamilton' cast members have moved on, but Jasperson is still enjoying the ride.
"Sometimes you have to ride the wind," he said. "You have to put faith in it and say, 'Where are you going to take me?'" he said. "Let's see where this goes and when I've done that — life has been amazing."
Jasperson has come a long way since his days as a dancing panda. "You never know how long your time is here, and so you might as well make the most of it," he said.
Jasperson said to follow your dreams. He said, "It's beautiful when you realize you can be anything and the possibilities are endless."
"Hamilton" the tour is coming to the Eccles Theater next year, but if you want to see Jasperson, you'll have to go to New York City.
