Spotlight on Ali Ewoldt
I discovered musical theater at the age of 8 one night while flipping through channels and landing on West Side Story. Legend has it that when the movie ended, I threw myself into my mother's lap while singing a tearful version of “Tonight”, and remained inconsolable for hours because Tony and Maria would never be together again. Needless to say, I caught the musical theater bug that night, and spent the rest of my young life training for the day when I could head to NYC and find the magical land known as “BROADWAY”. There were no females in my community on this career path, so it was a hard and lonely road that eventually led me to Broadway, and I often wonder what it would have been like if I had been exposed to female role models successfully living the life of my dreams.
I am grateful that my adult life now includes meeting and working with trailblazing women who live as mirrors for the future generations of little girls like me, and as luck would have it, one of the most impressive and inspiring women I have ever met also happens to be a BAE Broadway Ambassador - the incomparable Ali Ewoldt.
In addition to graduating cum laude from Yale University, (and playing Maria in the National Tour of my beloved West Side Story), Ali has graced the Broadway stage performing leading roles in 3 shows, paving the way as the first Asian-American to perform the role of Christine in Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera. Not only is Ali a role model for aspiring young girls within her community and beyond... she also happens to be a beautiful human who has spent the last two years empowering and amplifying the voices of our incredible NYC BAE Youth.
While currently starring in She Loves Me at the Signature Theater in Washington, DC, Ali took a few moments to do a short interview with me. Here’s what she had to say:
KATY - What has it been like stepping back into doing a show after not being on stage for a while due to the pandemic?
ALI - I've been rather fortunate to have already done a number of shows for a live audience during this pandemic, but each one has come with its own gifts and challenges. It's so wonderful to get to perform with other humans in person, in real-time, and to feel the energy each audience contributes. There's also an incredible amount of added stress that comes with trying to keep ourselves, our company members, and our audiences safe, and navigating that on top of the "normal" stress of making theater has been an interesting adventure.
KATY - What is one Live in the Orange moment you've experienced in this rehearsal/performance process?
ALI - At this point, being around other humans outside of my apartment not entirely in sweatpants feels out of my comfort zone! I think our entire company of She Loves Me has been very focused on making sure that we are telling a story that incorporates all of the lessons we have been learning during these last few years about inclusion and consideration and empathy, and there has been some wonderful growth that comes with that. I certainly am learning how to better advocate for myself and my boundaries which has been a worthwhile challenge.
KATY - What would you like the BAE community to know most about you as the person/performer you are today?
ALI - I am a work in progress! And very grateful for this opportunity to continue to learn and grow as a performer and a human.
CURRENT SHOW LINKS:
https://www.sigtheatre.org/events/202122/she-loves-me/
https://playbill.com/article/ali-ewoldt-to-lead-signature-theatres-she-loves-me
