Interview: Alizé Cruz of SIX: THE MUSICAL at Orpheum

I would love to hear how you came to find your love of performing.

Well, I did my first musical when I was 12, and it was Thoroughly Modern Millie. I was mostly a choir girl, though. I was pretty nervous to sing solos. Actually… not pretty—I was very nervous to sing solo all the way up until my senior year of high school. I’m from Las Vegas, and the county was doing The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and my choir teacher was like, “Why don’t you audition?” And I said okay and thought I would go for the choir. She told me I should go for the lead, and I thought, okay, maybe. So I did. I ended up getting it. And so I thought maybe I could make this a thing. Maybe this could be a thing in my life. And it literally just ran from there.

When I graduated high school, I was lucky enough to meet this great mentor, and she just told me that I needed to audition for absolutely everything. So I did. I was working a full-time job and going to school full-time and still making time to audition. It was probably the busiest years of my life. I was consistently auditioning, and I think that’s probably how I grew the love for it. You meet a lot of people, and you learn a lot of things about yourself and about the art, and I think through all of those experiences is where I really learned how much I loved it.

You’ve been in a musical version of Moana as well as in Bat Out of Hell in Las Vegas. Is there a role that you have done throughout the years that has really made a big impact on you? Or is there a role that is still a dream role for you?

Oh yes! Growing up very musical theater and then getting cast in Bat Out of Hell, that was so different. It was such a contrast because you’re going from classic musical theater to rock music. The soundtrack is Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman. That was a huge challenge for me. The character of Raven I would describe as pretty eccentric. That was also very hard, going from a Disney princess to this eccentric rock ’n’ roll girl. It was really fun to get to learn that part of my voice and to attach that same thing with K. Howard. Thank goodness I did Raven beforehand because I think it prepared me for the track that I sing in Six. It’s not rock, and it’s not musical theater—it’s very pop, which again was a challenge to change my voice and learn it in a different way. And it’s still challenging—even after being on it for two years now, it’s still hard. I love the challenge of it all.

For a dream role, I have always wanted to play Éponine in Les Misérables. I love going there in songs, and I love how Éponine sings sad songs. I love emotional characters, and that is a dream role of mine.

Absolutely! I’m sure there is a cathartic aspect to it in many regards.

Yes!

Transitioning over to Six, what was your audition experience like for Six?

Oh Mylanta! I auditioned for Six for three years. I went in three times, and every audition was different. I had the initial audition where everyone goes in solo, but at the callback, it was so different because they had all the girls who were called back for a specific character go into the same room, and you each had to take turns and sing the audition cut in front of each other. It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve never seen that. So when I showed up and that was the case, being already scared to sing in front of people is one thing, and then being scared to sing in front of the people you are auditioning with—who are also going for the same role—is also terrifying. I think they did it for support purposes, but it was terrifying, of course.

The second time I auditioned in Los Angeles, I went in for the initial call and didn’t even get a callback. I think that’s the only audition I ever cried after because I really, really wanted to play this part. My third time around was in Los Angeles again, and I actually got an invited call from my agent. She let me know that they wanted to see me for three different roles, including K. Howard. I went in and sang for Boleyn and Parr, and they gave me a couple of notes. Then I sang for Howard, and I did the monologue, and they gave me no notes. They just said, “Thank you. That was amazing.” And I wasn’t sure how to interpret not getting notes for the role that I wanted. It made me a little nervous. But I also felt good because I saw our music director kind of look over at the associate choreographer in this sort of pleased way, and I thought maybe I was thinking too hard about this. You do the whole overthinking thing.

So I left and was waiting for two months. Then I finally got an availability check for Katherine Howard for the tour. I literally cried so hard. It was a crazy full-circle moment after three years of wanting to play this character so badly. I felt seen and appreciated for it.

What was your preparation like for this role?

I know her whole—what we call in the show—“herstory.” I studied her a lot, and I still do. There are still things that I look up just to learn about her. But I also try to learn about all the other Tudors. I’m actually really interested in all of them. All of their lives are so different and so interesting. It’s so crazy to think that people lived this way so many years ago. So I actually still watch documentaries on the Tudors. I just find it so fascinating.

In preparing for her, she does talk about something that’s relevant to today still, and I think it’s really important to be able to let the audience know how important that is to talk about if you need to. In the show, Katherine Howard is young. She was very young when she got married, and she was very young when she was taken advantage of. I think playing this role has allowed me to be there for a lot of people in the audience who may have gone through the same thing and let them know that it’s okay to talk about.

From another preparation standpoint, stamina was huge. It’s an eight-minute song. Trying to figure out how to perform the song without losing all my breath—because you’re running across the stage and dancing at the same time and singing the entire time—it was hard to get used to. I think I finally got it, though.

What has life been like on the road for you with the fans and touring with the show?

Oh man! It’s so heartwarming! I love people! Last night in Tempe, the security guard had to speed me up because I kept talking for too long to people at the stage door. But my favorite part is meeting people. I love meeting people from different walks of life. And when you get to tour the country, they come from everywhere. It’s different cultures and different food and different landscapes. I come from Las Vegas, where it’s a lot of dirt, so it’s really cool to see mountains and trees and snow. It’s really beautiful. And the theaters are all beautiful and have their own characters as well, just like the city and the people. And I’m a huge foodie. But truly, I just love meeting the people and seeing what each city has to offer.

What is it about Six that you think really resonates with audiences and keeps fans coming back for multiple viewings—and viewings all over the world?

I think every single person can take something away from the show. There are six of us, and we have very different personalities and very different stories. But we all come together for this very triumphant and empowering ending to the show. I think that everyone leaves feeling some sort of connection to someone or something. Maybe they feel seen in one story.

But it also attracts people of all ages. We have children who love the show, and all the adult humor goes over their heads, which is great—but they love to dress up, and they love to come see us as pop stars or queens. And we’ve got teenagers and adults, and even people in their 80s who just love the show and dress up as well. I think it just unlocks some kind of empowerment in them. Also, the soundtrack is very catchy. It’s really cool when people actually see the show and can put the soundtrack that they love so much into context.

Final thoughts for anyone who might still be on the fence about purchasing a ticket in Omaha?