(Photo: Matt Kallish)
Nearly a decade after first playing Dori Jenson at nine years old, Catherine Ashmore Bradley returns to the character in Spandex the Musical with a deeper understanding of growing up, self-doubt, and courage. Now eighteen, the actress, singer, and dancer reunites with a role that has grown alongside her and introduces a new original solo in which Dori transforms old wounds into a declaration about continuing to dance and giving herself permission to be who she truly is.
In the interview, Catherine recalls her earliest memories of the musical, reflects on the discipline she developed on Broadway, and discusses how projects including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and The Really Loud House shaped her as a performer. She also talks about working alongside Tiffany, founding Ashmore Pictures with her sisters, and entering a creatively expansive chapter that includes musical theatre, film production, an inspirational soccer movie, and her first developing project in the horror genre.
You first played Dori Jenson at nine years old and are now returning to the character at eighteen. How has your understanding of Dori and the emotions she experiences changed?
Very few actors get the chance to revisit a character at different stages of their own lives, and I don’t take that for granted. When I was nine, Dori was pure joy. I loved the costumes, the choreography, the energy of it all, and I played her the way a nine-year-old sees the world: nothing but possibility. Coming back at eighteen, I understand her differently. Dori is a young woman figuring out who she is while everyone around her is fighting battles she’s only beginning to understand. Now I’ve lived a little of that myself — growing up in this industry, you learn what it costs to chase something, and what it means to doubt yourself and keep going anyway. The wonderful thing is that I get to keep the nine-year-old’s joy and layer the eighteen-year-old’s understanding on top of it. Dori and I grew up together, and I think this time we finally meet as equals.
You have described returning to Spandex the Musical as reconnecting with an old friend. Which memories from the original production returned during rehearsals, and what feels completely new this time?
The moment I hear certain songs, I’m nine years old again in Minneapolis. The muscle memory is incredible. Melodies I hadn’t sung in years came back within a bar or two. My favorite memory from that first production is one of those perfect happy accidents: there was a scene where the guys in the gym were bench pressing, but we didn’t have a weight prop. Next thing I knew, I was in the scene — I was the weight. A nine-year-old, being lifted up and down on a bench press. The audience was howling. That moment sums up everything I love about this show: it says yes to the joke, commits completely, and somehow makes it work. What feels completely new is the scale and the stakes — doing this in New York, at Asylum NYC, with this cast, in the show’s biggest production yet. The show has grown up too, and so has Dori: in this version she has a brand-new song of her own, written just for this run by Daniel and Julian. It’s this beautiful two-part number — it starts free and dreamlike, inside Dori’s head as she remembers being a little girl who quit dance class because other kids made fun of her, and then she hits play on the cassette player and it explodes into full synth-pop as she takes it all back. It goes from “I couldn’t keep dancing, I couldn’t be myself” to “I have to keep dancing, I have to be myself” — that turn is the whole show in miniature, and I get to live it every night. I’m also getting to help shape the song as we go — trying riffs, finding what feels natural — which is a gift most actors never get: originating new material inside a character I’ve known since I was nine.
The story follows women trying to rediscover their confidence while preparing for a late-1980s aerobics competition. What draws you most to the musical’s message of perseverance, friendship, and self-belief?
At its heart, this is the ultimate underdog story — women fighting to reclaim the parts of themselves the world convinced them to give up, and discovering parts of themselves they never knew existed. That’s what I love most about it. Linda, Lorraine, and Dori are at three completely different points in life, and they each need something the others have. Watching them lift each other up, and doing it in leg warmers, at full volume, while being absolutely hilarious, is what makes the show special. Comedy is how this story earns its heart. You come for the 80s nostalgia and the spandex, and you leave thinking about the dream you set aside and whether it’s really too late. Spoiler: it never is.
The production combines comedy, original music, and high-energy choreography. How have your experiences as an actress, singer, and dancer contributed to the physical and emotional construction of Dori?
Dori is the role where I get to use everything at once. I started as a dancer at four years old, and dance is still how I find a character physically. Dori moves before she speaks, and her confidence lives in her body even when her words haven’t caught up yet. The singing carries her emotional life; her big moments happen in the music. And the acting work I’ve done — from the stillness and precision of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to the comic timing I learned playing Luan Loud, who is literally the family comedian, on The Really Loud House — taught me that comedy only lands when it’s completely truthful. Dori’s new solo is where all three come together — half of it is a private, unguarded moment you have to act with total honesty, and the other half is singing full-out over an aerobics routine. Aerobics choreography is its own beast, though. It is a genuine workout. I’ve never been in better shape in my life.
Since first playing Dori, you have worked on Broadway, television, film, and voice acting. Which of those experiences most transformed the performer who is now returning to the role?
Each one changed me differently. Voice acting on Bubble Guppies taught me how much you can do with sound alone, film taught me stillness and letting the camera come to you, and playing Luan Loud on The Really Loud House rewired how I think about comic timing. But the answer is Broadway and the Broadway national tour. Eight shows a week teaches you a discipline nothing else can. You have to hit the same emotional truth every single night, whether you’re tired, sick, or scared. And I learned it young: I was nine years old, walking out live in front of thousands of people on the national tour of A Christmas Story, with no second takes and nowhere to hide. Finding that courage at nine changes you permanently. It’s the same age I first played Dori (which I did first), which feels right. Those two experiences built the performer who gets to bring her back now.
You share the stage with Tiffany, who is making her New York theatre debut in this production. What has it been like building that partnership and learning from artists with different creative backgrounds?
Getting to sing alongside Tiffany is an incredible experience and such an honor. She topped the Billboard charts at sixteen — an age I just lived — so watching how she carries a lifetime of performing into a brand-new medium is amazing. What strikes me most is her fearlessness. This is her New York theater debut, and she approaches it with total openness and zero ego. And that’s the beautiful thing about this cast. Everyone comes from a different world. Sims brings her gymnastics history and this incredible emotional depth, Tiffany brings pop-icon stage presence, and we all meet in the middle of this hilarious, big-hearted show. The show is about women lifting each other up, and that’s exactly what’s happening in the room.
Beyond performing, you co-founded Ashmore Pictures to develop female-driven projects, and part of the proceeds from Spandex the Musical will benefit Children’s Miracle Network. How do you hope to bring together artistic creation, representation, and social impact throughout your career?
For me they’re not separate things. They’re the same thing. My sisters Alex and Aubin and I founded Ashmore Pictures because we kept noticing whose stories weren’t being told, and we decided we’d rather build the table than wait for a seat at it. We develop female-driven film and television, and not just for young audiences. We want to tell the stories that don’t always get told: stories of courage and strength that are also incredible to watch, because a story only changes people if they can’t look away. Giving back is a family thing too — all three of us are part of Rebel Girls and Room to Read, and that work means as much to us as anything we make. It’s also why being part of a production that gives back to Children’s Miracle Network means so much. If people leave our show, or anything we ever make, feeling braver about their own story, that’s the career I want.
After Spandex the Musical, what upcoming projects can fans look forward to?
It’s a busy and exciting year! I’m in Chicago right now filming Chicago Nobodies, an inspirational family soccer film produced in collaboration with Major League Soccer and the Chicago Fire, coming to theaters in Spring 2027. I play Jenna O’Brien, the team’s social media manager — she’s the digital engine behind this underdog squad of overlooked kids who take on the city’s elite academy team. It’s an ensemble cast that is just incredible — Banks Pierce, David Miranda, Luke Busey, Kevin Quinn — and it’s especially meaningful because Ashmore Pictures is an Associate Producer on the film, so I get to be part of it on both sides of the camera. It’s exactly the kind of story we started the company to help tell: kids who don’t just find their place in the world, they make their place in the world.
And for something completely different — I’m also in development on a horror film, which I can’t say much about yet. After growing up in family television and musical theater, getting to explore something darker is thrilling. Between an 80s aerobics musical, a soccer movie, and a horror film, I guess the theme of my year is range!
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