Interview: Gina Zenyuch Talks BLACKBIRD at The American Theatre of Actors in the Sargent Theater

David Harrower's play, "Blackbird" will have its Off-Broadway premiere from Thursday, June 7 to Sunday, June 24. "Blackbird," deals with sexual abuse. At his workplace, 55-year-old Ray is shocked to be visited by a young woman, 27-year-old Una. Fifteen years earlier, he had sexually abused her. This relationship, which lasted three months and included intercourse, began and ended when Una was 12 and Ray was 40.

Broadwayworld had the pleasure of interviewing Gina Zenyuch who plays Una in the "Blackbird."

Gina Zenyuch is grateful and excited to be making her Off-Broadway debut in Blackbird. Some of her past credits include Maria in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost at the Wachovia and Merriam theaters in Philadelphia and Jennifer in the "B-I-N-G-O Spells Murder" dinner theater in NJ. She would like to thank Nick, Alex and Dickson for being an awesome team and for their hard work in making this project happen. Above all, she'd like to thank her husband, family and friends for their love, patience and support. She applauds all of the guest speakers for sharing their stories and spreading awareness.

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What was your earliest interest in the performing arts?

I first began acting when I was 9 years old. My parents took me to Broadway musicals and something just clicked within me watching them singing and dancing. I knew I wanted to do that too. After seeing shows, I always left feeling better than I did before and I wanted to be able to do that for others as well. The theater has always been a place where I feel most at home whether I'm in the audience, onstage or working backstage.

Is there anyone in particular who inspired your career?

Definitely Judy Garland, Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett. I grew up watching their movies and tv shows. I remember watching one of my favorite movies growing up, "Annie," and being so afraid of Carol Burnett's character, but then laughing hysterically watching her on "The Carol Burnett Show" and "Mama's Family" and thinking "Oh, that's acting!" Hearing the beautiful voices of Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music" and Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz" always captivated me and still does today.

What have been some challenges of your acting career?

I've been so lucky and blessed in my acting career, but I think one of the most challenging things has to be finding the time to work on more projects.

Tell us a little about your role in Blackbird.

My role as Una definitely differs from any other character I've played before. Actually, this show has the heaviest subject matter out of all of the other shows I've been involved in. I've never played a character who has experienced so much hurt and heartbreak and who has been extremely unhappy most of her life for reasons that are revealed in the show. Its also the most amount of lines I've ever had to memorize.

We'd love to know about your co-star and the creative team.

Doing a role like this can be difficult and somewhat scary because of the subject matter and dialogue, but it helps when you have a co-star like Nick Pascarella, who plays Ray. Whenever we aren't scheduled for rehearsal, he and I are getting together to run lines. I'm very comfortable with him and that's important. He also makes me laugh a lot which helps! He's definitely become one of my best friends. It's important and very helpful to be able to trust the person you are onstage with and we definitely have a lot of trust in each other. Nick and I are also joined by a wonderful young actress, Emma Osborne, who plays the role of "Girl." It has been such a pleasure to work with her as well!

This entire process over the past 7 months has been wonderful thanks to our Director/Producer Alex Oleksij, Producer Dickson Lane and Nick. Over the past few months we have all been extremely busy working very hard to be able to bring our show Off-Broadway. On top of memorizing lines, learning blocking and character development, we've all been fundraising, booking guest speakers, marketing, budgeting and so much more.

We have also been very lucky with the immense amount of support that we have received from our friends, family and past audiences who have helped us on our "Blackbird" journey.

What important conversations do you think the production will inspire?

We are looking to continue the conversations that we've been having with audiences on the taboo topic of sexual abuse. Our tag line is "The conversation is not over!" It's important to talk about it so that we can educate each other on not just the how or the why, but what we can do to help those who have experienced this kind of trauma.

For the future?!

I'm not sure what is next for me, but everyone keeps telling me that I need to do a musical or something fun after living with this show since October.

Anything else you want BWW readers to know!

After each performance, there will be inspiring guest speakers ranging from survivors of sexual abuse to people who work with organizations that help victims of sexual abuse. Trigger warning for our audience: the play deals with the topic of sexual abuse of a minor and the language is very graphic. This show is not for children. This play is an intense rollercoaster ride and I know our audiences will be talking about it long after they leave the theater.

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Show dates and times : Thursday June 7th at 8 PM, Fri. June 8th at 8PM, Sat. June 9th at 8 PM, Sun. June 10th at 3 PM, Thurs. June 14th at 8 PM, Fri. June 15th at 8 PM, Saturday June 16th at 8 PM, Sunday June 17th at 3 PM, Thursday June 21st at 8 PM, Friday June 22nd at 8 PM, Saturday June 23rd at 8 PM, and Sunday June 24th at 3 PM at The American Theatre of Actors in the Sargent Theater located at 314 West 54th Street in NYC.

For tickets, go to https://www.smarttix.com/ and type "Blackbird" in the search

Check the production website for additional information, including a list of our guest speakers, by visiting http://blackbirdproductionsolz.org/.

You can follow "Blackbird" on Instagram @BlackbirdNYC2018 And on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/blackbirdNYC2018/.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Gina Zenyuch