Valley native turned Broadway star returns home for 2-night concert at ASU

Nick Cartell, an ASU graduate, is playing the lead role in the Broadway show Les Misérables.

Cartell is from Scottsdale, Arizona and is about to release his new album, “A Thousand Spotlights.” In celebration, he is returning home for a two-night concert at ASU Kerr Cultural Center.

“It is a full show tomorrow night, so you’re getting a backstory, kind of as a love letter to theatre, it is a love letter of my journey from starting here in the Valley to where I am now,” Cartell said.

Cartell went to Chaparral High School in Scottsdale and grew up doing theatre at Valley Youth Theatre, Greasepaint Theater, Stagebrush Theater and Phoenix Theatre.

“My roots really are here in this community,” Cartell said.

Cartell knew that theatre was his calling when he saw a production of Cinderella in 7th grade. He grew up singing in church choirs and with the Phoenix Boys Choir, but this was the first time he saw actors, dancers and singers put together a show people enjoyed. That was when Cartell knew that this is what he wanted to do.

“The following fall, I auditioned for my first show at Valley Youth Theatre and history, ever since,” Cartell said.

The new album features songs from Broadway and Disney and includes some jazz, too.

“These are all songs that speak to me, these are songs that I love to sing, these are songs that the first time I heard them, it sent goosebumps up and down my spine,” Cartell said. “It is one of those things where they’re all songs that I’ve either sung before or I’ve wanted to sing before, but also songs that represent parts of my life, where I am now in my career and where I hope to go in the future.”

The concert is set for 8 p.m. on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27, 2024. Tickets for Cartell’s show can be purchased here.