Photo Source: T. Charles Erickson
Back Stage: How were you cast as Arkadina?
De Guzman: I've been doing quite a bit of work here at the Alley and Gregory Boyd asked me to do Arkadina. He knows my work really well and I said, "Sure." What a role to play, right? He's an excellent director and I know the company is very good, so I thought, "Why not?" It's an amazing opportunity. I did Chekhov a long time ago. I played Varya in "The Cherry Orchard" at Capital Rep. I love Chekhov so here I am.
Back Stage: Are there differences between doing musicals and what we call "the classics," aside from the obvious requirements of singing and dancing?
De Guzman: In this case, the text really is the music. In musicals, we have to condense everything, because the book is not as fleshed out as in a play. You have to fit in the musical numbers and so forth. In a play, you have to use the text instead of the music to make the character deeper. I do think some musicals are just as deep and complex as a straight play, not as deep as Chekhov though. Chekhov has these layers and layers and I feel we're just starting to get to the top. We started performing a week ago and need to keep digging. It's a very complicated role. Arkadina is an actor and she wants to entertain, but then she has these issues with her son and her lover and her family and the farm. Everyone in the play is a real human being and their emotions are right there on the surface. They say what they feel and they do what they say. So is it different, yes.
Back Stage: Are there differences between performing on Broadway and in regional theater?
De Guzman: I find the audiences in Houston love the Alley and they are very smart. We're doing Chekhov in the small theater here. That's fun because the audience is right up close so they're kind of with us on stage. I love that. On Broadway, the energy has to hit the back wall. If it's a 1200-seat theater, the energy must be much bigger.
Back Stage: Did you make a conscious choice to concentrate on regional theater rather than Broadway and New York or is that the way it just happened as your career progressed?
De Guzman: What happened for me is that I never wanted to be just a musical theatre actor. I remember saying that right after "West Side Story." I remember Liviu Ciulei giving me an opportunity to come to the Guthrie to do "Peer Gynt" and Gerald Freedman gave me some chances at Great Lakes. I did "Tartuffe" there. I always wanted to do straight plays. On Broadway, it's very hard for a musical theater actor to go over to the straight plays, especially now that they use stars. Plus, I'm a soprano and musicals have changed. It's a lot more rock and roll and a different kind of singing than what I do. I've been lucky in that I've been able to do some wonderful roles I would never get considered for on Broadway. The Alley is a great regional theater. I wouldn't be going to just any regional theater. I would like to do good work in a good place. It's always been hard for me to sit around and wait for something. If a role comes along that I want to do, I'll go do it. I don't care if it's Broadway or not, as long as it's a good theater.
Back Stage: Do you have any advice for actors just getting out of school and taking their first steps to a professional career?
De Guzman: I think working is important. I remember talking to Jose Ferrer a long time ago. I was feeling guilty because I wasn't taking a lot of acting lessons. He said to me, "Josie, I never took an acting lesson in my life. I learned by doing, by working. And you're working and that's where you learn." So I worked and get exposure and start doing, because acting is about doing it. So that's my advice, is to go out there and work.
"The Seagull" is playing Neuhas Stage at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas, through March 4. (713) 220-5700.
