Interview with Gwen Hollander from Little Women-The Broadway Musical.

Q. When did you start the tour of Little Women-The Broadway Musical?

A. We started rehearsing this past August and opened the tour in San Diego at the beginning of September.

Q. How has the response been to the show here in Chicago?

A. It has been great!! We have had a lot of fun families and cute kids, which are always our favorites.

Q. That is an amazing thing about this show, in that you really get a cross section of fans, much like going to a Rolling Stones concert, where you see children from 4 years old to grandmothers of 80.

A. Absolutely. You really do see that. The show appeals to everyone, and each person takes something of their own out of the experience.

Q. Your performance is remarkable and off all the characters in the show, your character of Amy March, the youngest sister, transforms the most.

A. Yes. My character (Amy) has the farthest to go and that is something I realized very early on. I also have the most costumes in the show because I go from a child to a woman and halfway there, I'm a troll, so I do have a lot going on.

Q. You have a very interesting background. I understand that you were a rave as Belle in the recent production of Beauty and the Beast in Coral Gables, Florida and that you are up for a Carbonelle award as Best Actress in a Musical for that role.

A. Well, thank you. Yes, the Carbonelle Awards are South Florida's equivalent of your Jeff Awards in Chicago. It's very exciting. Beauty and The Beast was at the theater that I grew up working at so it is one of those things were I take every opportunity I have to do a show there. My family is also there and the theater there is my second family. That is where I learned everything and is the foundation of my knowledge of musical theater.

Q. How did you end up in New York?

A. I came to NYC at the age of 18. I first went to the Boston Conservatory of Music after being in a very prestigious performing arts high school in Miami. In Boston, I became exhausted of conservatory life, and I knew I had tons left to learn, but I felt like I was running in place taking the same classes that I had already taken for four years prior. I was right next to New York. My parents were very supportive, so I just ended up there.

Q. What was your first show in New York?

A. That would actually be Footloose, at Harrah's in Atlantic City. I was still underage so I wasn't allowed in any of the casinos. I had to be escorted through the casino floor to get to the theater.

Q. You where also in a sketch comedy group in New York called the Riot Act.

A. Yes, I friend of mine started the group and called me up because they needed more girls. It was a bunch of people to who wanted to do improve and sketch. We wanted to do something that was out of the norm, because most of us came from a theatrical background, which isn't usually the case with sketch comedy. So a bunch of actors got together, we work shopped it and did a show! It was a lot of fun and very well received.

Q. In New York, you study voice with the preeminent theatrical voice coach, Liz Caplan. What are her classes like?

A. She is amazing. Her classes are like vocal yoga. It's truly incredible. I have learned so much no only about my voice but how my body works as a performer. I consider my lessons with Liz as a check-in with my body more than just a voice lesson because living in New York, just for one day, can tighten everything up. Sometimes I go into a lesson as a panicee mess and leave there as a Zen Buddha child.

Q. Tell me about Cam Jansen, the musical you recently starred in based on the children's books produced by Theatreworks/USA.

A. They are a series of children's books, which I never read, but knew about them because of people's kids I used to baby sit for. Larry O'Keefe, who I love all his work and who did Bat Boy, did the music for it and we did a mini tour of the show. That is what I love about Theatreworks/USA is that they turn these children's stories into such sharp musicals that they are so entertaining to children and adults alike. It was truly one of the funniest shows I have ever done.

Q. How did you hear about Little Women-The Broadway Musical?

A. I baby sat for one of the producer's children. When I heard about it, I asked to audition. I was going to go into the Broadway production as a replacement, but it closed a week before that was to happen.

Q. How is the tour of Little Women different than the Broadway production?

A. I feel as though the tone of the show has changed a lot. This show feels really joyful to me and very much like an ensemble piece and I don't remember having that feeling watching the Broadway production, for whatever reason. Other than some minor technical changes, the show remains in tact.

Q. How do you like Chicago?

A. I LOVE Chicago. Well, I'm a Miami girl so I was terrified to face two weeks of blistering cold. But it has been so unseasonably warm since I have been here. I've been shopping everyday and have no more room in any of my suitcases.

Little Women-The Broadway Musical plays until February 5, 2006 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. For more information on Little Woman-The Broadway Musical, please check www.littlewomenonbroadway.com or www.broadwayinchicago.com. The complete interview can be heard on our podcast, "Stage Door Chicago, Live at Petterino's" at www.StageDoorChicago.com and at www.BroadwayWorld.com

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