Damon J. Gillespie stars as Robbie Thorne on the new NBC series "Rise."Gillespie grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he performed at Chattanooga Theatre Center and attended the Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts.After high school, he was accepted on scholarship to Roosevelt University in Chicago to study musical theater. During his sophomore year, he joined the Broadway cast of "Newsies" and made the full-time move to New York.Gillespie also appeared in the Broadway production of "Aladdin" and played Chino in Carnegie Hall's production of "West Side Story" as part of their 125th anniversary celebration.Gillespie also appeared in Amy Schumer's critically acclaimed sketch "Girl, You Don't Need Makeup."