Show People with Paul Wontorek: Eva Noblezada of HADESTOWN

Get Tickets to HADESTOWN: https://www.broadway.com/shows/hadest...

MISS SAIGON Tony nominee Eva Noblezada is back on the boards in HADESTOWN.

Here are some of the must-read highlights:

ON PERFORMING IN HADESTOWN
“Anaïs Mitchell started writing this ages ago. She is an actual goddess. I think they started out putting everybody in a van or a truck and did a tour in Vermont. It has been a long process. They did it off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop, and then they did it at Edmonton in Canada. I joined the journey at the National Theatre in London. I’m grateful that they even asked me to audition. I feel like a contest winner. The word that I use to describe this show, especially when it comes to the energy with the other actors, is cosmic. [Director] Rachel Chavkin is so amazing at creating this cosmic energy in a room: I feel like I’m walking amongst the stars when I do this show.”

ON HER CO-STAR REEVE CARNEY
“He’s the best guy. He is incredible. I hope he never watches this because I promised him I would never compliment him. His voice could conjure the second coming of Christ. I am very, very lucky to work with him but more so just to have met him and have him in my life because he’s stuck with me now.”

ON TEACHING HERSELF TO CRY
“If I did it in my room with no music, my mom would have been like ‘What’s wrong with her?’ The hot water is good for your pores. You pretend the wall is your lover in the rain. Thank goodness for it because I have to cry in everything I do.”

ON PUTTING HER SPIN ON EURYDICE
“In any story that I’ve seen Eurydice in, she doesn’t say anything. She literally says nothing. I’m very, very grateful that Anaïs and Rachel and everybody involved in HADESTOWN has been very supportive in adding a punk quality and almost half of me to the character because she is a survivor. She’s a tough girl. I wanted to make sure that she was relatable and not a mute, not a victim—especially now.”

ON HER OBSESSION WITH SUTTON FOSTER
“If Sutton Foster walked in right now, I would shit myself. Literally before we were going onstage at the Tony Awards to perform, I walked up to Sutton Foster in her beautiful gown. I started crying. Like, ‘Why can’t I speak English?’ And she was like ‘Awww, you’re so sweet.’ We took a picture. I cried. I don’t even remember what I said; I think I just made sounds at her. I’m so sorry, Sutton. I love you.”

ON CHOOSING PROJECTS THAT MAKE HER PROVE HERSELF
“I wanted to prove myself being in a show as big and as legendary and as epic as MISS SAIGON. Hadestown is now a completely different epic in my life. Without SAIGON, I would be nothing. But to walk into this--I find the story heartbreaking and inspiring but also being able to sing Anaïs’ music, think the way Rachel sees and just be this beautiful character that is timeless—that is special to me. Developing a character like this has been hugely challenging, but also the hardest thing I’ve done in my career so far for sure.”

ON HER FORTHCOMING ALBUM
“I am working on my album. It will not be musical theater. [The songs] will all be originals. If Jessie Ware and Amy Winehouse had a baby, that’d be me.”

ON NOT MAKING A FIVE-YEAR PLAN
“I don’t like making five-year plans because things change. Sometimes I wake up and go, ‘God, I wish I was in fashion.’ And then sometimes I wake up and go, ‘God, I want cake for breakfast.’ It just changes.”