Carla Stickler is an American actress, best known for her work on the musical Wicked.
Early life and education
As a kid, Stickler was frequently exposed to music, as her mother was in a chamber ensemble, her grandmother was an opera performer, her cousin was a drummer, and her father was a former member of the band "Stuck in the Fifties." She took oboe lessons for a few years, and took vocal lessons at the Fine Arts Building in Chicago. In grade school, Stickler began performing with CAST. She there appeared as John Darling in Peter Pan, and Oliver Twist in Oliver. Finally, in middle school, she began receiving girl roles; Little Red Ridinghood in Into the Woods, and Maria in West Side Story. She soon began performing in the Oak Park River Forest Children's Choir. In high school, she spent four summers at Interlochen Arts Camp, where she majored in Musical Theatre, Choir, and Fine Arts. She then transferred schools for her senior year to attend Interlochen Arts Academy, where she majored in vocal music and ceramics. For college, Stickler went to the University of Cincinnati's College Conservatory of Music to major as a vocal performer. However, she missed theatre, so after a year Stickler transferred to NYU's Tisch School of the Arts to become a theatre major. She also attended CAP21's Musical Theatre Summer Intensive Program to meet the school's rigorous graduation requirements. Stickler attended grad school at Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, where she was a Kappa Delta Pi member. She attended the department of music and performing arts professions. She graduated in 2016.
Career
Right after graduation, Stickler landed the role of Liesl in the Asian tour of The Sound of Music. The next tour she participated in was the second national tour of Mamma Mia!, in which she played the understudy for Sophie. Stickler eventually auditioned for a role in the first national tour of the beloved musical Wicked, landing the standby Elphaba in 2010. Stickler was soon moved to Broadway, where she played the Elphaba understudy. She has been praised for her performance. When not doing Elphaba, Stickler also appeared in the ensemble of the show. She held her first solo concert, Option Up, in The Metropolitan Room on June 1, 2015 with guest appearances from Brian Lowdermilk, Drew Overcash, and Zoe Sarnak. She left Wicked on June 19, 2015, after five years. Stickler also teaches private voice lessons in her spare time. Stickler returns to Wicked frequently. Filling in during vacations as understudy Elphaba and Nessarose while also performing in the ensemble.
She was born in Los Angeles, but Stickler lives in New York City with her vizsla puppy, Harper. She has a geometric "compass" tattoo on her forearm, and has two brothers; one older, one younger. She makes pottery in her free time, and celebrates Christmas. In December 2015, she dyed her hair blonde.
