In early 2011, Pearce auditioned for The Glee Project, a singing/acting reality show where the winner would receive a seven-episode arc on the third season of Glee. Throughout the show, her identity became “the theater girl”, mostly because the producers and other participants of the show felt like she was always enacting, instead of trying to show her true feelings, even when asked. She reached the show’s finale, but did not win the competition; however, the producers gave her and the other runner-up, Alex Newell, each a two-episode arc on Glee.

Ten days later, Pearce had been cast as Wendla Bergman, the female lead in the musical Spring Awakening, which was presented in Los Angeles by Over the Moon Productions. The show opened on March 16, 2012, and ended its run on April 22, 2012.

Pearce appeared in an episode of Drop Dead Diva on October 20, 2013, on Lifetime channel. She played the role of a television star who was trying to prevent an illicit topless photo of her from going public.

She then starred in the 2013 Los Angeles revival of the Damon Intrabartolo–Jon Hartmere pop opera Bare. Beginning on September 5, Pearce took on the lead role of Ivy for a limited three week engagement, and subsequently won BroadwayWorld LA’s “Best Leading Actress in a Musical” award.

Since 2013 Pearce has also appeared in various roles in the For the Record series, in both For the Record: Baz Luhrmann and For the Record: Tarantino.

On April 9, 2015, it was announced that Pearce would be playing a role in the immersive glory|struck production of American Idiot. It was later announced that she would play Whatshername. Performances began on May 15 and the show closed on June 7.

Pearce made her Broadway debut on February 25, 2020, in the lead role of Elphaba in Wicked. She took over from Hannah Corneau and has remained there ever since.