Wake up to summer with eight-time Tony Award winner Spring Awakening! Gabrielle Garza, a Naperville, Ill., native, stars as Anna. She talked about her hometown and touring around the country.
Windy City Times: So you are from Naperville?
Gabrielle Garza: Yes, I grew up there. I went to college in Boston after that.
WCT: Well, you don't have the Boston accent.
GG: No, I escaped that. [ Laughs ]
WCT: What was your audition like for Spring Awakening?
GG: It was pretty standard. Afterwards I didn't think I did very well. When they called me and I had gotten the part I was surprised. I guess I am not a very good judge of how I do sometimes.
WCT: The show was originally banned from the stage because its depiction of teenagers, correct?
GG: Yes, it was. They did not change the script very much from the original version. It is still very relevant today.
WCT: And there's a gay aspect also?
GG: Yes. The two gay characters are not added. They were written into the show back in 1891. It's an important issue that we are still struggling with teens coming out today.
WCT: What do you want to tell people about the show?
GG: I think it's very groundbreaking in the way that they use the classical play plus the rock music. The piece uses young people to tell the story. Parents and kids can start an open dialogue with each other after watching it.
WCT: I have seen shows like Xanadu or The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, where the audience sits on the stage similar to Spring Awakening. How does that affect the show?
GG: There's a row of risers on either side of the stage; we as actors have to sit there when we are not in a scene. It can be entertaining. People try to talk to you, and you are not allowed to talk to them. They totally influence how the show is going to go because if they are into it or loud and rowdy that can affect the show. It can give us more stuff to play with during the show.
WCT: Tell me about the character you play.
GG: She's the oldest girl so she serves as the big sister; [ she's a ] motherly type. She thinks she knows the most so she mothers the rest of the girls and takes care of them.
WCT: How has the tour been?
GG: It has been so much fun, we have been doing it a little over a year by the time I arrive in Chicago. It's a great job. I have gone to all these places that I normally would have never gone to and I get paid to do it.
WCT: What is your favorite musical?
GG: I am partial to West Side Story.
WCT: Did you see the recent revival in New York City?
GG: I did. We had a vacation and I went to New York to see it. It was so great.
WCT: Well, we are all looking forward to seeing you in this Broadway show!
Spring Awakening makes its Chicago premiere Aug. 4-16 at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, Oriental Theatre, 24 W. Randolph. Tickets are $25-$95; visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com or any Ticketmaster location.
