I do think television has really fantasized it to the point where now everyone wants a gay best friend.
I knew if I were ever to leave 'Godspell,' which I loved so much, it would have to be for something really spectacular.
I'm a Mexican girl from California, and I never grew up thinking I could be in a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. I didn't really see myself in that. Not that I didn't grow up loving Rodgers and Hammerstein, but I don't know - I just never put myself there.
There was so much emotional response to 'Dogfight.' You just heard the audience: They were so horrified. They were sobbing. They were joyful at times.
With 'Wicked,' I was stepping into a role that I didn't make so that felt like I had more boundaries then I did with 'Carousel.'
I feel like I do my best work under fear of being fired.
I learned by watching Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand.
People learn from their mistakes and move forward.
At 'Wicked,' they are really great about letting you make your own choices with the roles.
'Dogfight' was everything wonderful and terrifying about a show, and I feel it 1,000% gave me the knowledge and the confidence that I could do this. I can step up and be present enough to command scenes with amazing actors.
I think, going into a room for an audition, the best thing you can do is represent who you are specifically as an individual and what you can bring to a creative process in a room - as opposed to being worried about 'where you fit' - because that's really their job to decide where you fit. Your job is to just present the best 'you' you can.
Getting an agent is hard, and I also think people rush to get an agent too soon.
I think people feel completely stunted without an agent, but there's a lot of auditions to be had without one and a lot to be learned before you take an agent on.
I remember getting notified that I won an award, and I gloated up a storm to my mother, and I was so obnoxious about it, but I said to her, 'Momma, I'm going to enjoy every moment of this because tomorrow, something bad is going to happen.'
I have a group of fans who pitched in and named a star after me... So. Cool.
I was born in Southern California in a city called Norwalk. I grew up there until I moved up to New York when I was 18.
I did 'The Sound of Music.' That was my first musical.
I loved Judy Garland growing up, and I also loved Ella Fitzgerald.
I have a major love for musical theatre, including a lot of stuff I don't get to do very often.
I've always been afraid to do a solo show. When I go to see the great solo shows of Liz Callaway or Christine Ebersole, they have so many incredible stories to talk about, and their material and lives are so rich. I've always worried that my life was not rich enough.
