Roberta Colindrez makes her Broadway debut in the pivotal role of Joan (Alison’s college girlfriend) in the acclaimed, do-not-miss-it new Broadway musical, Fun Home. (The big song "Changing My Major to Joan" is a whole other level of gorgeous on B'way—get ready.) Fans of HBO’s hit series Girls will immediately recognize Colidnrez as Adam’s friend, Tako with a K.
Below, Roberta Colindrez gets candid about the emotional power of Fun Home, the taqueria she would take a bullet for and the magic of a summer night in Coney Island.
1. What drew me to Fun Home was:
Getting cast? No, really I have no idea how they found me but I'm, like, LUCKY friggin' ME! I fell in love w. the book and the story of Alison and her father and her family, and I'm blindly drawn to work that directly confronts and studies and accepts the truth about real relationships. Also, the fact that I can be a part of something that's never been done before (i.e.: a musical w. a lesbian protagonist, especially one that is about more than just her sexuality) is not something I'm gonna miss out on.
2. Moment in Fun Home that still gets me emotional:
Judy singing “Days.” The theme of this song is universal—a person watching all the days of their life pass, one at a time, with an acute sense of fatalism is something that makes me so emotional and upset. And lately “Telephone Wire” is driving me crazy bc this, oppositely, is about the single exact moment when something could've been 100% different if something had been done. It's just... oof...
3. Most fun or wacky thing about the cast of Fun Home:
Zell Steele Morrow.
4. Autobiography or memoir that completely rocked my world when I read it:
Um, obviously Just Kids (Patti Smith), On Photography (Susan Sontag) (what a babe), and My Heart is an Idiot (Davy Rothbart).
5. Number one tip for meeting the parents:
In the words of the Genie in Aladdin when he's pumpin' him up to go pick up Jasmine for a perfect magic carpet ride, "Beeeee yourself". But also, remember your manners. Don't be a slob.
6. Last TV show I binged-watched:
Transparent. Like, all at once.
7. Best taco I’ve had in NYC:
There's this place in Bushwick that makes its own tortillas that's incredible; it's called Tortilla Factory. But also there's a hole in the wall that I would take a bullet for on Broadway close to Myrtle off the J called Placita Puebla.
8. My desert island Broadway cast recording:
Ok. Whatever. I love A Chorus Line. I do.
9. My New York City happy place is:
Coney Island. There is nothing on earth that compares to being on Coney Island when the fireworks are happening on Fridays in the summer. Nothing.
10. I would describe my personal style as:
Le Freak c'est Chic.
Honestly I don't know how to answer that question. That's the first thing that came to mind. I wear whatever I wanna wear at any point on any day, and that depends on nothing at all.
Do yourself a great big favor and check out ‘Fun Home’ at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre, and soon you’ll be changing your major to Roberta Colindrez.
