Warm, grounded, and self-aware, musical theatre performer Shewit Belay immediately dismantles any assumptions you might have about who she is and how she got to where she is.

On our latest podcast episode, we sat with Shewit to get to know the woman behind the stage lights and trace back her journey that didn’t begin with dance classes or elite drama schools but in a hospital ward, working 14-hour shifts and caring for patients as a junior doctor.

Quite literally a doctor-turned-performer, she tells us the story behind the surprisingly natural leap into her musical career.

From wards to world-class stages

Before she stepped into the Hamilton universe or took her place in MJ the Musical, Shewit was a medical intern in the middle of a rigorous year required to become a fully registered doctor.

Medicine was a path that carried meaning and purpose, appealing to her curiosity, discipline, and desire to contribute to society. But even as she moved through hospital rotations, something else was growing louder: the pull of performing.

“I’d been singing and performing for as long as I can remember,” she says. “Music was always there. Even in medical school.” The desire to take it seriously didn’t come from a dramatic epiphany but a long-buried truth that rose gradually.

Eventually, she realised she needed dedicated time to pursue it properly. So she did something unexpected but intentional: she chose herself, and it opened the door to one of the biggest musicals of the decade.

Manifesting Hamilton (literally)

Hamilton was both her breakout show and her first professional musical ever, a fact that still astonishes her.

She tells the story of a piece of paper she wrote “Audition for Hamilton” on in her third year of medical school, filed away and mostly forgotten. Years later, on the day she travelled to her first rehearsal, that same piece of paper slipped out of her folder and fell into her lap. “I looked at it and thought, oh my God — I’m here.”

In Hamilton, she served as a standby for all three Schuyler sisters — Eliza, Angelica and Peggy — and for a period also covered an ensemble role. The role of standby demands rigorous vocal technique, emotional agility and an extraordinary level of preparation; needing to be performance-ready with almost no notice, often stepping into incredibly complex tracks with precision and confidence. For Shewit, the experience was both exhilarating and humbling.

And yes, she met Lin-Manuel Miranda, “He was exactly how you’d imagine — animated, generous, a bit goofy. But so warm. It was surreal.”

The discipline behind standby life

Standby performers have to live in a heightened state of readiness, where you might not perform for a week, and then suddenly find yourself on stage with two hours’ notice — or less. And this unique rhythm demands an almost meditative discipline.

For Shewit, her background in medicine unexpectedly became an asset. “Hospitals are full of uncertainty,” she says. “You still have to show up sustainably within that.” And she brings that transferrable skill of steadiness and consistency into her theatre work.

Her pre-show rituals are practical: a cup of tea, hydration, makeup done early, vocal warm-ups in her car where she can make odd noises without worrying about strangers on buses. She listens to DJ sets on YouTube to avoid overthinking and keeps her body warmed up regardless of whether she’s on that night. It’s unglamorous, meticulous, and the reason she can deliver when the call comes. The psychological calm is where her medical training and artistic intuition meet.

MJ the Musical and the women who shaped her

Today, as part of MJ the Musical, Shewit covers two contrasting roles: Kate, Michael Jackson’s mother, and Rachel, the journalist who guides audiences through the narrative. The roles require a blend of emotional weight, stage presence and vocal control; a combination she links back to the women who shaped her.

“I was raised by strong women — my mum and my older sister,” she says. Growing up as one of five children in Tasmania, she learned how to navigate big personalities, hold space for others and stand her ground. Those early lessons now influence her character work. She portrays women with nuance, resilience and emotional accuracy because she grew up witnessing those qualities every day, demonstrating performances that are both technical and lived.

Balancing two identities: Performer and Doctor

Despite her musical career taking off, Shewit hasn’t left the world of medicine behind, and women’s health remains a deep passion. She speaks candidly about issues like female genital mutilation (FGM) and how misunderstood, underreported, and under-resourced it is, including in Australia. “It still happens — even here,” she says. “People think it only happens elsewhere, but it can lead to gynaecological emergencies in Australia, too.”

During her master’s degree, she began a research project on education around FGM but paused it when she booked Hamilton. Yet she speaks about the work with the kind of clarity and commitment that suggests this chapter isn’t over. Remaining both an artist and a clinician, both intuitive and analytical, her two identities continue to inform each other.

The quiet side people don’t see

On stage, Shewit is expressive, commanding and emotionally open. Off stage, she’s reflective, private and intentionally quiet. She describes herself as an “introverted extrovert” fully capable of engaging and performing, but deeply reliant on solitude to recharge. “I recharge by being alone, thinking about my day, being in nature,” she says.

She’s also mindful about what she consumes, especially online. “The internet isn’t a real place,” she notes. “You have to be conscious of how it affects your self-esteem and attention.”

This grounded self-awareness is one of the reasons she survives the demanding pace of musical theatre. Eight shows a week, constant rehearsals, inconsistent hours and the emotional load of performing can erode performers quickly but Shewit approaches her work with the discipline of someone who has lived two high-pressure careers. Her self-care is entirely strategic.

Navigating spaces as a Black woman in Australia

Perhaps the most resonant part of Shewit’s story is the honesty with which she speaks about identity, and growing up as a Black woman in Australia inevitably shaped her sense of self. “I grew up often feeling like I had to be small,” she says. “Not always because people made me feel that way — but because that’s the experience.” She learned early how to read rooms, how to adjust, how to maintain safety in spaces that weren’t always designed to include her.

Yet she doesn’t frame this as a limitation. She says it’s a skill that requires awareness, intuition and impact. “It’s not about being less myself. It’s about knowing when it’s safe to be fully myself. And when it is, I show up.” Her success, then, is not just about talent or discipline. It’s about the emotional intelligence required to navigate multiple worlds simultaneously.

What people don’t see about musical theatre

Audiences see the spectacle: the lighting, the harmonies, the costumes, the curtain call. What they don’t see is the relentless stamina required to deliver it night after night. “We rehearse at least twice a week — eight hours total — on top of eight shows,” she explains. “Your weekends don’t exist.” For standbys, the challenge is doubled. They must remain in peak condition without the regularity of nightly performances to keep their voices, bodies and timing active.

Her approach is consistent and methodical: hydration, nutrition, rest, vocal technique and an unwavering respect for her craft.

Not just a Musical Theatre Actress

While calling Shewit Belay a musical actress is technically accurate, it’s also simultaneously insufficient. She’s a doctor with a passion for women’s health, a researcher advocating for vulnerable communities, an artist with emotional intelligence, a daughter raised by strong women, a quiet thinker, a disciplined performer, and a woman navigating identity in spaces where representation is still catching up.

When asked who she hopes she’s becoming, her answer is reflective and centred. “Someone who is compassionate and brave. Someone who makes choices intentionally, not out of fear. Someone who doesn’t shy away from the fullness of who she is.” It’s a vision rooted in integrity and presence rather than image and performance, and it’s clear she is already well on her way.

As someone who builds her career onstage while carrying lived experiences that strengthens work off the stage, Shewit is, in every sense, not just a musical actress but a multidimensional person who brins her full self into every room she enters.

Want to hear more of Shewit’s story in her own words? Watch the full podcast episode on our YouTube channel.