Interview: Renee Elise Goldsberry Goes Beyond Broadway at The Hobby Center

Renée Elise Goldsberry is a multi-hyphenate actress and singer who has delivered award-winning performances both on Broadway and on the screen. She is perhaps best known for her role as Angelica Schuyler in the musical phenomenon HAMILTON, which has become a cultural touchstone for the ages. Renée’s performance earned her a Tony Award, a Grammy Award, and a Drama Desk Award. She was also nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the Disney+ film adaptation and accepted the Emmy for Best Variety Special on behalf of her company in 2021. Renée currently stars in Marvel Studios' newest television hit, SHE-HULK, and in Tina Fey’s Emmy-nominated series, GIRLS5EVA, which is moving to Netflix for its third season in 2023.

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Renée is coming to Houston to launch a new series at the HOBBY CENTER called BEYOND BROADWAY.  It will debut on January 20th, and Renée will be a one-night-only affair to kick it all off.  Upcoming performers in the series include Alan Cumming and Patti LuPone.  BROADWAY WORLD writer Brett Cullum got to interview Renée about her concert in Houston, HAMILTON, GIRLS 5EVA, and much more.  

Brett Cullum: What made you want to come to Houston to do a one-woman show at the Hobby Center?

Renée: I always wanna come home. I'm from Houston, Texas. I've played there a couple of times. This will be my first time at the Hobby Center. I cannot wait.

Brett Cullum: What do you love about Houston?

Renée: I love that my family is there. I love that it's such a diversity: there are people from all over the place. I love the arts, the culture, and, most importantly, the food! I love every single restaurant. 

I just love Houston. It's it's a million great memories. And it's where I discovered my love for the theater at Houston International Theatre School or HITS. When I was eight years old, my mom just wanted to get us out of the house in the summer because it was hot, and we didn't want to do anything but watch television. So she put us in a carpool to send us to HITS Theatre, and I fell in love with the theater, and that love was nurtured in Houston. With the Houston Grand Opera, the Houston Symphony, the Ensemble Theatre, and everywhere, every school play. I mean it. It's a wonderful place to fall in love with the arts and grow as an artist.

Brett Cullum: You were made famous for creating the role of Angelica in HAMILTON. When did you guys know? Was there a moment when all of you suddenly realized that this would be huge?

Renée: When I first heard the song “Satisfied," my character, Angelica Schuyler, sings. I heard Lin Manuel Miranda on a demo he made in his room singing and rapping the song, and my mind was blown. I had seen IN THE HEIGHTS, which was his first Broadway musical. So I was a huge fan of his work, so I knew it would be great. I just didn't know that anything could be THAT great, and most importantly, I was shocked that I was welcomed into the cast to play this character. But I got every piece of information I needed to know after hearing that one demo. Everything continued to reaffirm what ended up being true, that it was truly a masterpiece. HAMILTON was a gift to the world, and definitely to all of us, what they call the “OBC” or “The Original Broadway Cast.” It was a huge gift in our journeys and continues to be in the lives of many people I meet.

 Brett Cullum: Outside of Angelica, what has been your favorite role on Broadway?  

Renée: Oh, that's like cheating or choosing a favorite child. It's hard to say favorite! I loved being a part of THE COLOR PURPLE. I loved being a part of THE LION KING. 

Do you know what I love most in terms of the musicals? It is probably the role of Mimi in RENT.  One thing, she's in the whole show. Some characters I play are great supporting roles, but I don't have the weight of the whole performance. But Mimi, from start to finish, goes through a whole journey in that show. RENT changed the lives of so many people. More young people come up to me and say that RENT saved their lives than anything I've ever been a part of. It's so special, it's so important. Still important. It's a timepiece because it's very much about that era in the nineties, but it's still life-affirming and beautiful.

Brett Cullum: I wanted to go way back to where it all began! When I saw you first, you were in David E. Kelly’s ALLY MCBEAL as a backup singer for Vonda Shepard!  

Renée: I know! I was in my mid-twenties. I was at a grad school. I was living in Los Angeles. I was trying to get a record deal. I got an audition for ALLY MCBEAL and was grateful they cast me. I got to sing back up for many amazing people, definitely Vonda Shepard, but like it was a “who's who.” It was a bit of a phenomenon in the nineties, and all these superstars wanted to be guests on the show. I sang with Barry White, Al Green, Gladys Knight, and Rod Stewart. I mean, the list is endless of superstars that came and wanted just to be singing in that club. At the end of the episode, we got to re-record masterpieces. Singing background with some of our heroes. It was a great gift to me to be a part of that show. 

One of the things I learned most from it was the value of keeping true to yourself when you become very famous. I learned a lot watching the cast navigate the pressure and the opportunity.

Brett Cullum: You've done a ton of television, and I don't think that people know that as much because we associate with you many times as this Tony Award-winning Broadway actress. But you've done a lot of television series. Do you have a favorite project that you've done on television? 

Renée: Well, my current favorite project is GIRLS 5EVA! That's my love, that's like my heart. It's the show I'm doing now with Sarah Bareilles, Paula Pell, and Busy Phillips. Meredith Scardino writes it, and Tina Fey is our executive producer. We were on Peacock for two seasons, and now we're back with season three on Netflix! so you'll be able to see all three seasons of GIRLS 5EVA on Netflix. This show is the funniest thing I've ever seen, much less been a part of.   It is so hard even to get the lines out. 

I was doing ADR for it yesterday and couldn't even do my part because I was laughing at us. It's about a one-hit wonder girl group from the '90s. They decide twenty years later that they're back. So yeah, they're trying. They're trying to figure out how to get famous again, and it's a hoot.

Brett Cullum: Renee Elise Goldsberry, what do you prefer? Film, stage, or television?  

Renée: I love them all. They all use similar gifts because I love good storytelling. So they all use similar gifts, but they have slight differences in terms of the number of people they can reach, in terms of the amount of time it takes to do them, and in terms of the amount of money you'll be paid doing them. I would probably say, though, theater. I first fell in love with it; you're right there with an audience. There's just no space between you and the people watching your show, and now that we can film theater, it can live longer. Television and film are filming more theatrical performances. I sing and dance a lot on GIRLS 5EVA. So they're all merging. They're almost not that different anymore. I'm just grateful that I get to do them all.

Brett Cullum: Going back to your show at the Hobby Center launching the BEYOND BROADWAY series, is there a song you're looking forward to doing live? Maybe one we haven't heard you do before. 

Renée: I love them all! Gosh, you're killing me! What? What's my favorite song? I sing songs from every genre in the show because we can and because so many different kinds of music can inspire me. I sing all of the songs from the Broadway shows I've starred in because I do wanna make it out alive from the theater. It's such a gift to be able to share the stories of those experiences. More than just the song, the background, and the journey of my coming to that song. 

And also what's new in what I'm doing in this concert is our encore with original music. I have an album of original music coming out in a couple of months, and I'm playing some of my music now! If you cheer me back on stage! I'm excited about sharing from my own inner voice.

Brett Cullum: Well, I will be cheering definitely.

Renée: Thank you.

 

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