Well, it sounds like he's always tried to sing outside his range like a castrati, even before the troonout. Get out of your head voice, Dyl.
I found this video of him talking about auditioning to an acting school in California, The Arts & Learning Conservatory.
link
He was so desperate to get into
The Book of Mormon that he auditioned when he was underage and not legally allowed to be in the show. He did well, however, except for the tap dancing portion, and was asked to work on those skills more. He got agent offers at his senior showcase, and he contacted
The Book of Mormon crew to ask if they remembered him. They did, so he got to audition again and got the role in the tour when the original actor transferred from the tour to the Broadway production.
Here is the senior showcase. He started auditioning immediately after this and got a part as soon as there was an opening.
local copy:
Better representation of his natural timbre and range, but he's obsessed with going into falsetto for no reason. The fact that he can get up that high does not mean it sounds good.
This is all interesting because he has endured none of the typical hardships that come with trying to make a living in the theater. He was only in college/regional productions while in school and immediately got picked up to join a touring ensemble, which is a prestigious gig even if it's a small part. The minute COVID happened, he wallowed in self-pity, got Too Online, and killed his career and self-esteem by deciding he was a girl. This breakdown after the tiniest obstacle says a lot about Dylan's personality. He likely didn't even have a hard time through school, as he was going in as someone who already had experience auditioning for a major production and had gotten glowing feedback despite not making it. So he had a big head the whole time.
If there's any truth to Dylan having already developed a reputation for being obnoxious and rude during his brief professional career, then that says even more. Maybe it wasn't COVID that shook his perception of himself but a perceived coolness from his fellow castmates, who did not joyously accept him and pegged him immediately as a wannabe bully who was at the bottom of the totem pole instead of an overly confident star student who would have felt superior to his classmates. Not being gassed up constantly by the people around him, and not being able to leverage his usual petty cutdowns, could have sent him into a spiral as much as the pandemic did.
I suppose there's also the theory that he was offered a lot of money to be an influencer and went where the dollar signs pointed.