Every high note, every dance step, Marlana Dunn is confident in her next move.

It’s that confidence that has propelled Dunn, a Connoquenessing Township native who got a relatively late start in the realm of trained dance, to one of the biggest musicals on Broadway.

“You have to go through life confident in who you are,” said Dunn, 32. “The people who are meant to be in your life will be in your life through that, and if they’re not, they will go their own way.”

Long before she cultivated her steadfast confidence, Dunn was a tomboy growing up on farmland. She tagged along with her three brothers to be included in their games.

“I grew up with brothers, so if I wanted to play I had to play sports,” she said.

Dunn grew up as a gymnast and played softball, but she also had an early interest in the arts. She began playing the clarinet at 8 years old and sang along with her mother, who she credits as a good singer, at Christmas parties.

“Her friends would get her and make her sing, and she didn’t want to do it by herself,” Dunn said. “So she would make me do it with her. My mom was a big influence on me (singing).”

Another influence came in the form of Terry Leyland, who taught at Gordon Cavalero’s Summer Dramatics Project in Butler.

Dunn joined the project as a teenager, and Leyland recognized Dunn’s singing and acting talent right away.

“She just was always a natural,” Leyland said. “She picked up and was always very focused and very serious. She was just a joy to work with.”

At the insistence of her friend, KayLeigh Vodenichar, Dunn auditioned for the musical “Annie” and earned a role as one of the speaking orphans.

Dunn enjoyed the experience, but Leyland had more in mind for her pupil.

“I told her, ‘If you want to do this, you’ve got to get to dancing school. You’ve got to be a triple threat,’” Leyland said.

When Dunn was 16 she got her driver’s license, and was able to drive herself to dance practice.

She got a job as a cashier at Walmart, where Sam’s Club currently is in Butler Township, to pay for her dance classes at Lee’s School of Dance in Butler, run by Lee Garrard.

She took tap, ballet, jazz and acrobatics. She was behind the curve, as many of the girls at the dance studio had been training since they were 3 years old.

To make up for that, Dunn was placed in a class with other girls who had started dance later in life. This took the pressure off her and allowed her to learn and excel at her own pace.

“(Miss Lee Garrard) was good, too, about moving you around if you did need a bigger challenge,” Dunn said.

Dunn also performed in several musicals while at Butler High School, including the lead in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

By the time she graduated in 2003, she was prepared to elevate her craft. She enrolled in Point Park University in Pittsburgh, majoring in musical theater and minoring in jazz dance.

Point Park is one of the top universities in the nation for dance, and Dunn faced adversity in her dance training.

“I was very insecure at times because I did start late, but I was lucky enough to have people, specifically teachers as well, come up to me and say, ‘Everyone else is just as worried about what you’re thinking about them, so worry about yourself, better yourself, just focus on yourself and work hard,’” she said. “And I think that statement is so true, you know, and something kind of flipped, and I said, ‘I’m doing the best I can, I love what I do, and everything that is meant to be will happen.’”

That was during her sophomore year. Spurred on by one of her teachers, Kiesha Lalama, a confident Marlana Dunn emerged.

She was cast in a play every semester for the duration of her collegiate career.

She even received interest from Holland America Line, a cruise ship company, which wanted her to join as a singer and dancer. However, Dunn elected to remain in school.

Upon graduating in 2007, she acted in a musical for Pittsburgh CLO, a musical theater company.

“They are one of the top theaters in the nation,” she said. “I feel so lucky to work with them as I’ve had. They are so very loyal in so many ways.”

Indeed, Dunn returned to work with Pittsburgh CLO three more times between 2007 and 2012.

She alternated that with being the lead singer and dancer for Holland America Line. Sometimes, she was part of choreographed dances set to Top 40 songs. Dunn also created and executed her own one-woman Patsy Cline musical.

The experience took Dunn all over the globe, and expanded her worldview.

“It gave me experiences that the average American didn’t,” she said. “I’ve been on every continent except Antarctica and Australia, and experiencing those cultures and the people that live there is very eye-opening and makes you grow and mature in a certain way. I have a lot of experiences I can pull from.”

Those experiences would come in handy when she took on the role of a lifetime in February 2013 in the Broadway hit “Jersey Boys.”

She played Mary Delgado, the fiery first wife of singer Frankie Valli. It was a role with which she could deeply identify.

“She’s very tenacious, very strong-willed,” Dunn said.

Dunn performed the show for 2½ years, wrapping up in the summer of 2015.

“That was and will always be one of the highlights of my career,” she said. “To be a part of a show that has so much attached to it, from celebrities to just people simply loving it — the fan base is huge.”

Dunn gained fans of her own; critics raved about her performance.

“It’s always good to have that careerwise, because people can see it, especially in some of the big cities,” she said. “I think that (the critical praise) did make me smile in a very big way, because I very much love what I do and I could relate a lot in my life to that role. It was a very real moment for me. I think it was a testament to my hard work. I’m thankful to be acknowledged for that.”

Following “Jersey Boys,” Dunn was on the TV show “Grandfathered” starring John Stamos, and then went to Las Vegas to be in a parody of “Fifty Shades of Grey.”“Fifty Shades! The Musical Parody” good-naturedly pokes fun at the movie, which in turn is based on the erotica book that has become a phenomenon in the past few years. Dunn plays the role of “The Inner Goddess” and remains available to play every female role if needed.

Despite the content that is being parodied, Dunn said the musical is done without nudity and has been well-received by audiences.

“I had a 95-year-old woman come up to me and say, ‘I heard words I’ve never heard in my life but, oh boy, that was good,’” Dunn said.

Dunn hopes to move to Los Angeles and work on sitcoms in the future. It’s a task she’ll certainly take on with the same confidence that’s helped her to her current success.

“When you go into (an audition room) and you’re one of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of girls, you being confident and presenting to them, that is how you stand out,” Dunn said. “And you hope they remember you.”

According to her many fans, it doesn’t look like Marlana Dunn will have any trouble being remembered.