On April 16, seats filled up in One Pace Plaza’s Student Center on Thursday evening as actress and singer Liz Gillies joined the P.A.C.E Board – the University’s programming and campus entertainment board – for their “Behind the Scenes” event. The event included exclusive talks about Gillies early career journey and her rise to stardom with students overjoyed to learn from her. 

The “Behind the Scenes” with Liz Gillies event was first announced on April 9 on the P.A.C.E Board’s official Instagram page – @paceboardnyc. The post drew almost 1,000 likes and 631 shares with clear excitement displayed from students to get their free tickets online before they could sell out. 

The talk opened with reflections on her most recent role as Audrey in the off-broadway show “Little Shop of Horrors.” The horror-comedy musical was revived in 2024 at the Westside Theatre with Gillies performing as the lead character Audrey, alongside Disney star Milo Manheim playing as Seymour. Her performances ran from February 2025 until June 2025, making this Gillies return to the New York stage after 16 years. Gillies claimed Audrey as her “most challenging and rewarding” role in her career thus far. 

Throughout the event, Gillies opened up about what live performance means to her. After taking on popular television roles such as Jade West on Nickelodeon’s “Victorious” and Fallon Carrington on CW’s “Dynasty,” she’s stepping away from on-screen acting to focus on her live stage career. For the last few years, Gillies has been singing live jazz, even dueting with “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane. She has a 90s show event lined up for Saturday, May 16 at the Beechman Theatre where she’ll be taking on her own twist on 90s hits like Fiona Apple, Alanis Morissette and more. She even gave the students a small taste of what she’ll be performing then. 

Gillies concluded the night with a mini Q&A from the students, who shared their admiration for her work and asked for advice on breaking into the entertainment industry. She shared kind words with them and encouraged the audience to continue pursuing the arts. “You’re studying acting – that means you’re doing something right,” she expressed to the Sands acting majors.

With many of the attendees belonging to the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences and Sands College of Performing Arts schools, the P.A.C.E Board’s decision in featuring Gillies resonated with several Musical Theatre and art-focused majors. 

Stephanie Yebvich, a junior studying Art, declared Gillies as the perfect pick for this specific event. “I think she was a great pick, she really brings out my inner-childhood,” Yebvich said. She added that nostalgia is important and offered a suggestion of her own for next year’s talk. “If [P.A.C.E Board] invites more childhood stars– like Miranda Cosgrove from iCarly– that’d be good!” 

P.A.C.E Board’s previous “Behind the Scenes” events featured actors like Rachel Sennott – most known for her creation of the HBO series “I Love LA,” Penn Badgley, known for playing Joe Goldberg in Netflix’s “You” and University alum Christopher Briney, who starred in Amazon’s hit series, “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” as Conrad Fisher.