Hamilton native Caissie Levy co-stars in the Broadway revival production of HAIR, which opened in March.

NEW YORK - Caissie Levy is a busy little lady.

Performing in one of the most demanding shows on Broadway, she sings and dances, hugs audience members and messes up their hair, jumps, slams to the floor, and runs around as Sheila in the popular musical revival HAIR.

You can’t help but wonder: How can she do it eight times a week?

“When you do two shows a day, of course it’s harder,” Levy said over the phone, just before leaving for the Al

Hirschfeld theatre. There, she will warm up her voice, do some sit-ups and push-ups, get into costume and put on her makeup before heading out on the stage.

“Some mornings I’m less thrilled, but in the end the energy of the public lifts you up.”

This is her life six days a week, and she wouldn’t trade it for the world.

The show is a huge success and has been pretty much sold out since it opened March 31. The show is fast-paced, energetic and everything but boring.

People who can’t stand cheesy musicals could easily be won over by HAIR. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson loved it.

For Levy, the accolades have started to come in, with great reviews appearing in the New York Post and the New York Times, which described her as a “great addition to the cast.”

But even good reviews won’t make Levy read what the critics are saying.

“I have to stay focused on my work,” she said.

Ending up on stage in New York has been quite the process for the 28-year-old from Hamilton, Ont.

Levy studied at West Dale high school and said she has always been a performer.

“I always wanted to dance, ever since I was little,” said Levy, who is the only artist in her immediate family. By the way, her only relation to Eugene Levy is being from Hamilton!

Levy said she was drawn to New York like a magnet, and after discovering the American Musical and Dramatic Academy online, decided to head to Manhattan for an intense two-year program.

Her big city adventure began after her parents dropped her off at her New York dorm.

“It was crazy arriving here,” she said. “At first, everything was very intense. The life of a student in New York is tough. You don’t spend your time shopping and going to restaurants.”

Before becoming a member of the actor’s union, Levy was a frequent reader of Backstage Weekly magazine (the bible of every aspiring New York actor) and was constantly on the lookout for open casting calls.

“I did thousands of auditions,” she said. “It looks easier than it is; for one job that you get, there are about 200 auditions you didn’t get.”

To land parts, Levy explained that the process generally involved lining up at 6 a.m. and waiting for five hours before getting the chance to “sing half a song in front of a casting director.”

That waiting paid off.

A week after graduation, she landed a part in the popular rock opera Rent, and headed out on the road for eight months. She then got the part of Penny in Hairspray in Toronto before landing her big break as Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway in 2006. That role took her as far away as Los Angeles.

Her current role as Sheila is her highest profile yet. Hundreds of girls auditioned for the part and Levy had to go on three auditions in January. Three months later, she was on stage.

HAIR is a comedic rock musical about the 1960s hippy culture and many of the songs turned into antiestablishment anthems during the Vietnam War. The musical also came under fire in 1967 because of explicit sexual content and drug use. At one point in the show, the entire cast strips naked and faces the audience in protest of the war.

“For sure, the first time we did that it was a little weird, but I didn’t have a problem with it,” she said, adding that as actors they are constantly putting themselves out there in one way or another.

For the show, the nudity is important, she said.

Times are tough on Broadway these days and Levy is well aware of that. “I’m lucky to be in a successful show, but I never know what my next contract will be,” she said.

That’s why it’s important to save money, she added.

Talk about a well-grounded star!