With roles in Tony Award-nominated “John Proctor Is the Villain” and the Tony Award-winning musical “The Outsiders,” Broadway star Noah Pacht has made his mark on Broadway in just a few years.
Originally from Houston, Texas, Pacht grew up in a family with no background in the performing arts industry. Yet, with inspiration from his brother and the support from his parents, he found his first passion in hip-hop dance.
“I discovered hip hop dance, and was in love with it,” Pacht said. “I found my passion in dancing and performing and took it really seriously. I danced every day, three hours a day, for five years, I did competitive hip hop. I would travel the country, and was on all these dance teams, but long story short, I got really burned out, and ended up quitting overnight.”
After a year-long break from dancing, Pacht found his way to musical theatre.
“My best friend Jason growing up in school told me I should try [theatre] and that I would love it. He convinced me, and I met my mentor, who was the head of the theatre program at my school, and she saw something in me and really tried to foster this passion for theatre and for acting. I did my first play my freshman year of high school, and then I just haven’t stopped since.”
After earning his BFA in Drama at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, he made his Broadway debut in the new Broadway play “John Proctor Is the Villain” in April 2025.
“I moved to New York. I was doing some plays, I was auditioning, and then I got this understudy part in this new play, ‘John Proctor is the Villain,’” Pacht said. “It was a six month run, and no one called out of the show for the first five months. Then in the last month, almost everyone made their Broadway debut. I ended up having 30 performances just in the last five or six weeks of the seven month experience.”
During his run on “John Proctor Is the Villain,” Pacht auditioned for “The Outsiders” while the production was preparing for its national tour. Almost a year later, he received a callback for the Broadway production of “The Outsiders.”
“After an eight hour day of auditioning and chemistry reads with other actors, a week later I heard the news that I got the part [of Ponyboy].”
Pacht joined the “The Outsiders” company in March 2026 and currently plays the role of Ponyboy on Broadway. During his second month with the show, he took a two-week leave from performing because of tendonitis in his shoulder and elbow.
“There’s a lot of climbing ladders, fake air punches in the rumble, and things that you would think you wouldn’t get injured doing, but there’s just one punch in the rumble that I kept doing in a weird way, and it really messed up my shoulder,” Pacht said.
To handle the physical aspects of performing every week, Pacht prioritizes sleep, hydration and physical activity to help him stay healthy before performing.
“I’ve learned that when your body’s warmed up, your voice is warmed up as well,” Pacht said. “Some of the stuff you’d think would be incredibly challenging or or demanding is a little bit simpler, and some of the really simple things I found to be kind of challenging.”
Portraying younger characters is common as an actor, but connecting with them can be challenging. By reconnecting with the hobbies he enjoys, Pacht finds it easier to portray his character.
“I work out a lot. I love hot yoga and video games, and I used to be more into running,” Pacht said. “I’ve been recently getting more in touch with these things I loved as a little kid, because it’s reminding me of who I am. It makes me feel connected to Ponyboy a little bit.”
Pacht’s journey to Broadway has been a lesson of living out the moment.
“I’m learning how I find peace with being a dreamer and being a person with these big goals,” Pacht said. “I found it’s a lot easier to enjoy something, instead of trying to run away from it, or only thinking about what comes next. When you’re just thinking about the future, you’re going to get sick of the present.”
