Interview: Ruby Gibbs of WATER FOR ELEPHANTS at Broadway At The Hobby Center

Ruby Gibbs is here in Houston as part of the WATER FOR ELEPHANTS Tour that hit the Hobby Center recently and runs through February 1st. It is part of the Hobby Center’s Broadway series, and features a full circus come to life onstage. Ruby is an experienced actress who has appeared in shows such as SIX (as Jane Seymour), GREASE, and RAGTIME, among others. BROADWAY WORLD writer Brett Cullum got a chance to sit down with Ruby and discuss the show, the tour, and how she got into show business. 

Brett Cullum: Tell me about WATER FOR ELEPHANTS. What is it about, and who do you play?

Ruby Gibbs: It is a show about a young man in America during the late 1920s and early 1930s. He has lost everything in a sudden accident, and all aspects of his identity are in shambles. And in a moment of desperation, he decides to jump on the next train that passes by. He has no idea where it's headed; he has no idea what is on the train, and he quickly realizes that he has jumped on probably the best train that you could possibly jump on, which is the one for the Benzini Brothers Circus. 

We're a crazy cast of acrobats, and of course, animals, and circus performers, and me, I play a woman named Barbara, who is the head of the “Cooch Tent,” the more promiscuous ladies of the circus. My character is the mother hen of the circus, the caretaker, and the protector. Along the way, this young man named Jacob, he finds his new identity within the circus, and falls in love with someone that he maybe shouldn't fall in love with, and there is a torrid affair, and in the end, it's about him figuring out how far he's willing to go in order to protect and chase that new family that he's found, and about finding family along the way. Hopefully, everybody's able to do it over the course of their life!

Brett Cullum: Chosen family is so important, so basically, you're like “Mama Morton” of the circus? 

Ruby Gibbs: 100%, you better believe it.

Brett Cullum: What do you think it is about this particular show that makes it so special?

Ruby Gibbs: We use a lot of theatrical elements that aren't used in many shows. First of all, the music is very bluegrass-heavy, so it's a different sound than most audiences are used to in musical theater, which is very cool. Then you've also got… the acrobatics are just stunning. These fabulous athletes are doing death-defying tricks, and truly, one wrong move from any of us could lead to a massive issue. So people are actually flying through the air. We've got these acrobats that stand on each other's shoulders, three people high, and a lot of musicals aren't able to use acrobatics to the full extent that we are. We've got people hanging by their heads and wrists, and there's absolutely no net or anything to catch them. These folks are so talented, strong, and amazing. And then lastly, another element that we get to use in our show is puppets. Gorgeous, gorgeous puppets that make up all of the animals in the circus, and so we've gotten to learn so much, and it's been a new trick in my arsenal to learn puppetry the way that I have. To figure out how to make these animals come alive, and allow the animals to have their own thoughts and their own life, while you, as an actor, are still trying to have your own performance. I work very heavily with a dog. Just to remember that the dog is thinking and watching things on the ground while I, as a performer, am talking with the other characters. So just the dual brain that we've been able to create with learning how to make these animals come alive is really special. Hopefully, audiences can pick up on all those little nuances, too. It makes the show really special.

Brett Cullum: Yeah, no, it sounds like LION KING with an actual chance of death. It may happen! Well, you've been on this tour for a while, right? How long does this tour last?

Ruby Gibbs: We started rehearsals in August of last year, and we are contracted through November. Okay. So we have been on this tour for over a year, and even after that, there is still a lot of talk of extensions and this tour continuing past November. So, yeah, it's got a long life, which I'm very excited about.

Brett Cullum: Yeah. Tell me a little about yourself. How did you get into acting?

Ruby Gibbs: I've got two older sisters who were also performers, and we went to wonderful public school systems that had musicals that you could be a part of, starting from the third grade. I auditioned for the musical as an elective in third grade, and I also started dancing at a young age. I started tap dancing when I was three, and I've been doing it ever since. When I auditioned for the show in third grade, I got cast as a singer-dancer because I've always had this really strong voice, but I didn't have any lines, and I was disappointed by that, so I re-auditioned in fourth grade. The same thing happened, I got this big singing solo, but I didn't get any lines, and I went to my teacher, and I said, “I really want to learn how to act. I want a line. Can you tell me what I need to do?” And she was like, “Yes, you're a very strong singer, you're a very strong dancer, but we need you to work on your monologue. And so I practiced this monologue all year, to the point where I still have it memorized to this day. And I auditioned for my fifth-grade musical, and I got the lead, because I had worked so hard on figuring out that monologue. The rest is history. I never stopped, and, with the exception of toying with the idea of becoming a neurosurgeon, because my mother was a registered nurse in a neurointensive care unit. I really never imagined myself doing anything else. 

Brett Cullum: You've played a lot of roles since third grade. Have you had a favorite?

Ruby Gibbs: I feel so lucky. I truly, I truly believe I am the luckiest girl in the world. I came out of college, and within the year after graduating, I booked a woman named Sylvia Llewellyn Davies in FINDING NEVERLAND. She's the romantic lead, and her storyline is the most gorgeous. FINDING NEVERLAND is all about maintaining your inner child and your sense of magic, and your sense of wonder. It was magical that whole year. After the Pandemic, I booked SIX, which was performing all in the Mediterranean for four months. And so now, because of SIX the Musical, I got to play one of the fiercest characters in the world, and got to now go to twenty-three different countries! And now, I get to join this fabulous circus where I play a showgirl, and that's a role that I never really knew that I could play. You hear so often that musical theater is not a valid career plan, that it is not a stable job, which I understand where people are coming from when they say that, but musical theater has also given me the life I never could have dreamed of. Musical theater has allowed me to have an absolute dream of a life, and I couldn't be more grateful, and it absolutely is valid. It's more than valid. It is life-sustaining.

Brett Cullum: Well, circling back to WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, what do you think the show says to audiences, or what do you hope that they walk away with?

Ruby Gibbs: I hope that audiences see their own journeys reflected back at them, and how we do lose parts of ourselves along the way, and then we find new parts, ultimately. I hope they are encouraged to think about their chosen families and their wins and losses, and that they see themselves in that. I hope they feel validated in the lives they've carved out for themselves, just as our characters have to carve out their own lives and paths. I also just hope that with everything going on in the world right now, all of the fear, and all of the strength that is rising out of this time, that they are just able to have, you know, a two and a half hour reprieve. Maybe get in touch with a sense of awe and wonder, and just really fully invest in the fact that people are doing death-defying things on stage and can just say, “Wow!” I hope that it's a big wow for people, just to get their minds off of what might be going on back at home.