Biography.

Bethany McDonald is a Northern England-born actor, singer and dancer. Bethany trained in England and Spain for four years in various well-respected musical theatre programmes, graduating in 2018 from the world-renowned London School of Musical Theatre with a Diploma and a Distinction in Professional Musical Theatre.

Soon after graduating, Bethany started her professional career as principal role Annette in the Broadway musical Saturday Night Fever on board Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas. Soon after returning from performing and travelling around the Caribbean for a year, she was selected to perform as a Guest Singer at Off-West End venue Southwark Playhouse in London as the Supporting Artist alongside Christina Modestou (original Anne Boleyn in SIX on West End) in the original concert, A Night at the Musicals. The artist lineup also included Renée Lamb (original Catherine of Aragon in SIX on West End), Jenna Russell (Tony Award-Nominated, Oliver Award-Winner for Best Actress in Sunday in the Park with George) and Oliver Tompsett (Wicked, Kinky Boots & We Will Rock You on West End).

And then, 2020 hit, and so did the pandemic. Everything in our industry came to a screeching halt, and self tape auditions became the only way we could inch forwards towards possible work. Bethany auditioned over self-tape for the brand new Off-Broadway musical, Mike & Mindy’s Wild Weekend Jam, that was set to play in November 2021. She was thrilled to be cast as leading lady Mindy, and spent 15 gruelling months working towards an O1 performance visa to be able to move to New York and make her Off-Broadway debut. Just 48 hours before she was due to fly to the States to start rehearsals, her visa was granted! So she packed her life up and flew to NYC to follow her dreams. The show was under the producing mentorship of two-time Tony Award Winning Broadway Producer, Ken Davenport, and boasted a brand new musical soundtrack created by members of the legendary Righteous Brothers (famously known for the worldwide hit ‘Unchained Melody’). The show made its Off-Broadway Debut in November 2021 at The Players Theatre, in New York City. Originating a role has always been a dream for Bethany, and she is forever grateful to the MMWWJ team for the opportunity to make it a reality.

Since moving to New York, Bethany has fell completely in love with the city and it’s people. In April 2022, she went on to originate her second Off-Broadway musical as leading lady Frances Farmer in Brilliance at The Players Theatre, with a brand new score written by Lance & Kristan Lewman. Her voice can be heard as the leading lady on both original cast albums for Mike & Mindy’s Wild Weekend Jam and Brilliance, recorded at FatBack studios in Nashville, Tennesse and Lounge Studios in Manhattan.

That summer, Bethany was chosen to join the Queendom and was cast as a Queen Alternate in the worldwide phenomenon SIX: The Musical onboard NCL’s Norwegian Bliss, covering Seymour, Cleves and Parr and acting as Dance Captain, until May 2023. A dream come true for Bethany. She returned and quickly hit the road on the US National touring cast of Pretty Woman The Musical, as Susan/understudy Vivian Ward, touring the US and Canada for nine months, playing 206 shows, 51 cities and 34 states, closing in May 2024.

Most recently, Bethany flew to North Carolina to play Cathy Hiatt in one her favourite musicals of all time, The Last Five Years at the Tryon Fine Arts Center, a personal highlight of her career so far.

When Bethany is not performing, she loves playing drums, practicing yoga and teaching young performers. She also loves facetiming her nephews and finding new coffee spots around the city. Bethany believes that life is an exciting adventure and you will end up right where you are meant to be if you believe in yourself and take that leap of faith.

“What is meant to be, will always find a way.”