- Is that the beat you're dancing to?

- Yeah, squeak shoes.

Squeak, squeak, squeak.

(upbeat music)

Hey, Harpers Bazaar, I'm Julianne Hough,

and I'm so excited for you to come get ready with me

for my Broadway debut in POTUS.

You ready? Come on in.

All right! I'm so excited.

Today is my Broadway debut and I'm gonna be getting ready.

I can't wait for you to come along with me.

And this is just so exciting.

This is my first time living in New York.

My only New York experience is really,

like, black cars and morning shows,

so the fact that I get to actually be here

and immerse myself, I feel like I'm 18 again.

You know, it's like a new chapter of life for me;

I'm discovering things for the first time.

I'm supposed to be here right now.

And I know that sounds very woo-woo,

but call me woo-woo.

Not just in the city, but also in the theater community

and the Broadway community,

after two years of such a crazy shutdown,

I'm feeling it, like, coming back alive again.

It's pretty exciting.

So I'm really happy that you're here

and you get to see me kind of go from wet hair and no makeup

to what my Broadway look is gonna be for tonight.

So, should we get ready?

- This is cute. - Yeah.

It's not that it's all very nice;

We can definitely keep it tight and sleek.

- And maybe tight here. Just a little lift.

It doesn't have to be--

So it's effortless and chic, but also, like,

oh, we just threw this together,

because that's always how it's supposed to look, right,

like I just did it myself.

That's yeah!

What I'v^e been kind of doing recently,

just kind of vibe-wise, is doing that kind of, like,

orangey-red lip, especially with that color I love.

Other than that, I'm easy.

- Well, I think gorgeous skin.

And it's like a summer vibe and the dress

has all sorts of peekaboos.

- [Julianne] Yeah, exactly.

- So we're going to keep the skin natural

and then we'll do that lip accent.

- Okay. I love it.

And I'm just going to see, actually, where the dress is,

because I don't even have the dress here.

Oh, it is here!

Oh yay! We have a dress.

That's a good thing.

Wait, this is actually kind of funny.

So, my mom flew in yesterday.

I put on a white dress today

and she was putting on a white dress,

so I changed because it was a lot.

Because then I looked,

and she also was wearing a yellow dress tonight.

(laughing) So, like talk about like being connected.

We definitely are wearing the same thing. (laughing)

Yellow kind of just feels like my color. (laughing)

I just love yellow.

It makes me feel joyful,

it makes me feel happy.

Yeah, so I've been going for more of an understated,

elegance, more chic.

I don't know, I've been shifting my style

a little bit recently.

Like, again, the less is more,

a little bit more understated.

I feel like a lot of my career and my life has been a lot

about fake tans and, you know, rhinestones,

and I'm 33, 34 this year.

I just feel like there's something about less is more

and just let the personality come through.

Literally, my personality is gonna come through these holes,

so I hope you're prepared.

So tonight is my Broadway debut and, honestly,

I don't know if it's hit me yet,

because we've been in rehearsal and then tech

and then previews and opening

and it's been so wild,

there's been no real time to breathe.

So, I think this is the first night where

we're actually gonna feel the celebration.

It's just been such a monumental moment, I think,

in my career, because this has been a dream of mine

to do Broadway and be a part of a community.

This next little phase of life for me,

it's about being a student again.

And I think this is the perfect opportunity.

I feel like I'm in theater school,

like I was when I was 10 years old,

and I'm just learning and getting a masterclass

from Susan Stroman and herself every single day,

feeling like I'm growing as an artist and my craft

and being surrounded by the most incredible group

of ladies and women that I've ever been around.

They're the kindest people and I feel so supported.

I feel like I just got all these sisters

and aunties and friends for life.

POTUS is so great because when you think of POTUS,

you definitely think of a male president,

which that's what we've had so far.

But this cast is actually all female.

So seven women on stage from start to finish.

You never see the president.

And it just shows how, you know,

there's lots of really capable women that surround a lot

of really powerful men in the world.

And whether it's in business and different industries,

we chose the White House because that really is

the biggest stage to showcase how there are a lot

of women supporting the man.

It just shows how much we enable certain things to happen

because we don't necessarily feel

like we would ever get the shot to do it.

I was going to say, it's a pretty inspiring story,

but when you actually watch the play,

we're absolutely insane.

- You are not nice to me! - Oh my God!

Running around slamming doors,

throwing up, blood on our face.

Like, it's insane. (laughing)

So, as inspiring as I might have sounded,

it's actually just a lot of fun.

I'm here about the position.

- What position?

- The position. (audience laughing)

- Why are you winking?

- They told me to be discreet.

There's nothing more timeless than a red lip.

I feel like sometimes when I do less eyes and make it

about the mouth, I feel like I actually look younger.

Let the essence come through. (laughing)

I like to say that I'm like

a closeted hair and makeup artist.

Like, I love it so much

and I've been doing it so long.

Yeah, I learned competition hair and makeup.

So I went from like extreme to, like,

how do I do the most subtle?

What I kind of do, to be honest,

I do my lip and then I, like, blot with my finger

and I put it on my cheeks.

- [Makeup Artist] Oh, great trick.

- And then I put the powder on top.

- [Makeup Artist] Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a great trick.

- So, mom is here and when mom is here

she always takes care of you.

So mom is steaming my dress right now. (laughing)

- Thanks mom!

- You're welcome.

Getting a little hot over here.

- Whoops!

You're having a facial you didn't know you scheduled?

- I love being around my girl.

She's just like a ray of sunshine all the time.

So I feel very, very blessed.

- The plan for today, obviously, was to wake up with my mom

in New York, visiting for my opening.

We walked around the West Village, actually,

and got a bunch of beautiful branches for my house.

Came here to get ready, feeling like the buzz and the energy

of this opening.

I don't know.

It's fun to get dressed up, too,

because we've been in rehearsal wear for so long.

So getting dressed up, going over to the red carpet.

I'm really just taking every moment

to be present and celebrate.

I'm really trying to just soak it in and enjoy it.

And then we're gonna do the show,

and hopefully our audience is gonna be rolling on the floor

laughing and peeing themselves,

because that's the whole purpose.

Just don't drink a lot of water

before you come to the show. (laughing)

All right, we got hair, we got makeup.

We should put on the dress.

Check it out.

And here we go.

- Voila!

- Just kidding!

But we are wearing yellow.

This is what happens when you are a mother-daughter combo.

I love it!

I feel like it's elevated

and understated at the same time,

so effortlessly chic, which I feel like is sort

of what we've been wanting to go for recently.

But, obviously, it's not that subtle.

I'm literally wearing bright yellow. (laughing)

We're ready.

We got the outfit,

we got the hair, we got the makeup.

We got the jewels and the jewels.

(laughing) Weird!

I can't sit still! (laughing)

When I try to be serious,

it just doesn't last long.

All right, mom, you ready? - (Mom) Yeah!

- All right, let's go and have a yellow moment.

Okay. We're in the car.

We are headed to the iconic Schubert Theater on 44th,

which is pretty epic to be having my Broadway debut

at the Schubert Theater.

We're on our way.

We're gonna go do the carpet.

We're gonna go see everybody

and then get ready to go on for the show.

Our opening!

We're opening the show today!

This is crazy!

Ah, so exciting.

(crowd cheering and clapping)

I'm, like, nervous about the idea of being on Broadway,

but when I really think about it, I'm just so grateful

and excited to share it with everyone.

So, I don't know.

I would say nervous excited.

It's sort of like it's the same thing.

I'm excited for everybody to meet Dusty.

She's so sweet and just really, really a kind human

who looks at the world with such positivity and light

and innocence.

Affordable, safe reproductive healthcare

is a basic human right. (clapping and cheering)

I've found my crew, like the cast,

and everybody and everybody surrounding me.

I just feel really supported and also celebrated and safe

and all the things.

So, it's kind of just the best of all of all the worlds.

Like, bringing my personal life and my stage self together.

And I just feel really excited

about this whole new chapter of life.

Look. Opening.

These are all the guests.

The guests? The gifts.

All the gifts down here.

I mean, it's pretty epic and now I'm gonna go

and put my own hair and makeup on for Dusty,

and basically do the show in less than an hour.

So, I'll see you guys out there.

All right. Dusty is half-transformed!

Now we're gonna put the wig on.

All right, here comes Dusty!

You gotta make sure that it's on right,

so you don't have a seven head