Lady Gaga impersonator studying medicine at OCOM

The Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine held a fall festival on campus and students were able to trunk-or-treat and wear costumes. 

Athena Reich, a second-year student at OCOM, wore a Lady Gaga costume and did face painting for $2 to raise funds for the school. 

But that Lady Gaga costume was more than a costume. 

For Reich, it’s also a career. 

During the day, Reich is a studious medical student pursuing a career in reproductive endocrinology. On some nights, she takes that costume and becomes Lady Gaga, performing as an impersonator. 

‘Born This Way’

For as long as she can remember, Reich has had an affinity for the performing arts. 

Throughout her childhood in Canada, she learned how to play piano, sing, act and play guitar. She performed original songs in coffee shops. She had some small roles in commercials and TV and went on to attend an arts high school. 

“Basically, my whole life was the arts, which I love and have a natural knack for; it really suits me well,” she said.

She studied music in college, and soon after receiving her degree, she moved to New York to start auditioning for plays, musicals, shows and more. 

With continuous dedication to her crafts, Reich released five albums and toured all over North America. Her growing stardom resulted in her having a manager and publicist. 

One day in 2009, her publicist instructed her to create at least one YouTube video per week, singing a new hit to build a larger audience online. 

When Lady Gaga released “Bad Romance,” Reich took the opportunity to create a video of her covering the song. 

It changed her life forever. 

“What happened was (the video) blew up, and it (went) viral, pretty much,” she said. “And so then basically people just started contacting me, emailing me.” 

Her natural resemblance to the musical artist and her voice made Reich stand out from others. 

At times, people would confuse her with Lady Gaga. 

Her first gig was a New Year’s Eve event, where she was asked to perform as Lady Gaga. 

Reich said the thought of being an impersonator sounded “cheesy,” and she wasn’t a Gaga fan. 

After much thought, she decided to do it by negotiating a rate of $2,000. At that time, it was about the money. 

“I had to learn all of her stuff and bought costumes,” she said. “So I did it and I learned what I had to do, but it was crazy. More and more gigs came to me and I enjoyed getting paid well and I enjoyed the feeling of getting up on stage, when the music starts and everyone starts screaming.” 

She would study Lady Gaga’s performances and mannerisms and practice them. 

Reich said the key to her success is taking Lady Gaga’s performances one step further to make it “hysterical.” 

One of Reich’s most popular performances is her own “LADY GAGA: #ARTBIRTH” show, a comedic performance in which she acts as a pregnant Lady Gaga. 

She would throw glitter and unicorns on stage, had her water break and even gave birth. 

The idea came once Reich became pregnant. 

She thought of ways to incorporate the pregnancy into her performances as being an impersonator was her main source of income. 

The routine became so popular even the pop star herself tweeted the hashtag. 

“That was super exciting,” she said. “We were endorsed by Gaga herself.” 

‘Do What U Want’ 

After years performing as Lady Gaga, Reich eventually decided to move back home to Toronto, Canada, and raise her children there with her mother, who was battling cancer. 

Because of her mom’s caregivers and nurses and their compassion, she realized she wanted to work in a hospital and become part of a team and care for people, which is something she had once dreamed of when she was a teen. 

But her mother talked her out of it.

Reich’s mother held doctoral degrees in psychology and said she felt quite limited in her career. 

She didn’t want Reich to feel that way and suggested she continue with her musical and acting career. 

“So I listened to her,” she said. 

But after years in the performing arts, she came to the realization her dream was to become a doctor after all. 

“I think being a doctor is more based on hard work than talent,” she said. “I was like, ‘I’m smart, and I feel like I’m not using my brain enough.’ When COVID hit, I just wished to go volunteer. I wanted to be in the ER and I thought everyone felt that way, and then I realized people were like, ‘I don’t want to be there.’” 

That’s when she fully realized that medical school was her calling.

“I totally wanted to be there in the front lines with all the gear and be the hero on the floor with the people,” she said. 

Ironically, her mother then asked why she didn’t become something more “traditional” like a doctor. 

“I was like, ‘What? You talked me out of it,’” she said. “And she goes, ‘I did? Well, why’d you listen to me? It’s not like you listened to me with anything else in your life.’” 

Reich laughed at the memory. 

After that conversation, Reich began taking science-related online courses while also taking care of her mom and children. 

“Each one was like hell until the next hell,” she said. “It was so hard. And I kept getting 80s, 90s — doing really well but basically killing myself doing it. But I just kept going one step at a time.” 

Her hard work and dedication motivated her to apply to medical school. 

Because the acceptance rate for medical schools in Canada is 1%, Reich said she applied to OCOM and was accepted. 

‘The Cure’

Now, Reich lives in Winter Garden and is a full-time second-year student at OCOM in Horizon West, hoping to study reproductive endocrinology to help people going through infertility like her. 

Photo by Leticia Silva

Reich always dreamed of having two children, but at age 36, after breaking up with her girlfriend at the time, she decided she had to take the leap and do it rather than just wishing. 

After visiting the doctor, she was told she had early perimenopause and poor-quality eggs. 

“It was like the end of the world,” Reich said. “It was so crushing.” 

She then started attending conferences and seminars and learned the best way for her to have children as a single woman was to go through in vitro fertilization. 

After a miscarriage, she was able to become pregnant with her first child, but the journey wasn’t easy. 

As she focuses on medical school and raising her two children as a single mother, she has not booked many Lady Gaga gigs. 

“I’m excited to start clinical rotations because I get to be with people,” Reich said. “So to meet patients and  hear what illnesses they’re tackling, that’s going to be the real fun for me. If I was going to give inspiration to anybody, I would say just to do whatever you want in life and know you’re capable of more than you think.”