While Caroline Moulios was performing in the ensemble cast of Meadow Brook Theatre’s production of “Footloose” earlier this year, she was invited to audition for its upcoming show, “Vanities: The Musical.”

Shortly after the audition, Moulios, a Tustin, California, resident, received a call from her agent that she would be playing Joanne, one of the three actresses in the cast of “Vanities: The Musical.”

“She’s a quirky character — a little stuck in her ways. She dreams of being a wife and mother. She has a perfect picture of how her life is going to go,” Moulios said.

“Vanities: The Musical,” which is making its Michigan premiere at Meadow Brook, runs from March 19 to April 13 at the Rochester Hills theater.

The plot revolves around three best friends who support each other through 30 years (starting in the 1960s) of lives, loves, disappointments and dreams. Mary (Em Hadick), Joanne and Kathy (Katherine Alexis Thomas) start as cheerleaders in Texas. They grow and become sorority sisters, housewives, and eventually, liberated women.

“Joanne becomes a housewife, gets her perfect picture life that she’s always dreamed of, and she realizes her two best friends are seeing the world from different points of view,” Moulios said.

“Mary has always had big, grand ideas. She wants to leave the country and be a liberated woman; eventually, she does that,” she added. “Kathy has to plan her life to a tee. She has the realization after a hard breakup that there’s more to life and goes through a journey of finding herself.”

“It’s a very challenging musical,” Moulios said. “We’re doing time jumps while singing and changing costumes and wigs on stage. We always go back to look at ourselves in a mirror and ask who we will be, where we will go from here.

“The music is such a hoot. It targets the 1960s, 1970s, 1990s. Each period’s music is fun and catchy.”

Moulios started acting in musical theater when she was 6 years old and attended a performing arts high school. After graduating, she attended Pace University in New York City and earned a bachelor’s degree in commercial dance in 2023. The degree prepared her for careers in musical theater, Las Vegas shows, cruise ships and theme parks, she said. “The emphasis was on jazz, musical theater, tap, hip hop and not on classical or contemporary dance.”

While living in California, she did professional theater shows and received her Actors Equity card.

Moulios landed a position in an inaugural cast of a new show ‘&Company’ on the Holland America cruise line. RWS Entertainment of New York hired dancers and singers to be part of the show, she said. She was there for six months.

“I was introduced to MBT by Tyrick Wiltez Jones (who directed ‘Footloose’). He has been a mentor of mine since I was 12 years old going to a professional summer intensive in New York City called Broadway Artists Alliance,” she said. “When I got off my ship contract, I got in contact with Tyrick, and he mentioned that he was directing ‘Footloose’ in Michigan. I ended up sending in a self-tape and about two weeks later, I found out that I would be heading to Michigan to be part of the ensemble as a featured dancer.”

“Vanities: The Musical” ultimately is about friendship, she said. “Throughout the show, you see three girls mature and grow up.”

It’s directed by Travis W. Walter. David Caldwell is the music director and Debbie Williams is the choreographer. Scenic design is by Mia Irwin, with costume design by Karen Kangas-Preston, lighting design by Neil Koivu and sound design by Brendan Eaton. Brittanie Nichole Sicker is the stage manager and Stacy White is the assistant stage manager.