Behind The Curtain

Here is the ENTIRE Becky Gulsvig interview (since we couldn’t run it in the program due to space limitations) - Enjoy!

Never Underestimate Elle Woods or Becky Gulsvig for that matter…

As you sit in your seat, perhaps dressed in pink, and as the cast of Legally Blonde prepares to take the stage, one cast member, Becky Gulsvig is ready to show you just what it takes to be a strong woman, just like the role she plays as Elle Woods. Broadway San Jose had the opportunity to speak to Becky about life on the road, her history in theatre and about the similarities between her own life and that of Elle’s.

Broadway San Jose: First off we are really excited to have you and Legally Blonde come to San Jose! A lot of people are really excited about it!

Becky Gulsvig: Well good, good I’m glad; we’ll be excited to be there.

BSJ: How did you get first get started in the industry?

BG:  I moved to New York straight out of high school and I got my first job quite quickly. My first job was actually the national tour of Peter Pan, and I did that for about six months and then I went back to New York and just sort of did the whole waiting tables, babysitting, auditioning like crazy. Trying to figure out the city because when I first got there, I got a job so quickly that I didn’t really have to do all of that. Then it all sort of snowballed from there. I feel like the more shows you do the more people you know the easier things sort of get. But it’s still really hard – I was pretty lucky.

BSJ: Where did you grow up?

BG: I grew up in Minnesota.

BSJ: Little different from New York!

BG: Little Different, yeah, yeah, little different, haha

BSJ: So, What’s your favorite song from the show?

BG: It varies from night to night – I really like “WHAT YOU WANT”, which is basically a huge montage that takes you from Elle’s dorm – or Elle’s sorority house to, asking her parents’ permission to go, and basically taking the whole marching band with her to Harvard. That’s a pretty fun number. I really like the end of the show – a song called “FIND MY WAY,” where she basically just says, if all this crazy stuff hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t be here now and wouldn’t have learned so much and grown so much. I figure it’s a great way to wrap up the show and I can relate to it so much because my life as an actor sort of parallels Elle’s story - as far as survival and you know, to really stay true to yourself and go for your dreams.

BSJ: What drew you to the role of Elle?

BG: Well, first off I hear all the time that I look like Reese Witherspoon, so, that didn’t hurt, and she’s a really loveable character. She’s fun, she’s spunky, she ends up having a lot more brains than you think she does and she ends up proving a lot of people wrong which is always fun to do. I guess I can just relate to her on a lot of levels, both with my journey with the show and my journey as a woman and as an actor. She’s a monster to play but she’s wonderful!

BSJ: And have you noticed that the dogs have stolen any of the scenes?

BG: Oh they totally do and I so don’t care, they’re adorable, I love them, haha! They’re all rescue dogs so they, you know, had not such a great start to life and now, they get treats and a big family of fifty and love every night and applause every night. It’s pretty interesting, when we were in San Francisco before we went on Broadway, the dog was actually in more scenes, but they found that he was pulling a lot of focus. Haha - Because as an audience member you are always looking for the dog. And so then we had to strategically place the dog a little bit more throughout the show. You know, you can carry him in a bag instead of having him walk and, the different ways to, sort of, make sure the audience is still following Elle.

BSJ: Have you heard about San Jose, is there anything in San Jose that you’re interested in looking at or experiencing?

BG: Isn’t that where the Winchester house is?

BSJ: It’s exactly where the Winchester house is!

BG: Yeah, we want to see that! Because we kill out time on the road with podcasts and we listened to a podcast about it – so we want to see that! And we’ve got some friends nearby, so that’s always fun to go to towns where your friends are.

BSJ: And any other future projects on and off stage you can let us in on?

BG: I don’t have anything lined up, um were not done until August, and I’m planning on staying until then, so it’s pretty much too early to look for anything. I’ll probably take some time off, haha, because I’ll be tired. But I’d love to keep doing theatre and doing Broadway. It’s a dream to be in a movie musical but they get all the big stars for that now so who knows.

BSJ: Now, we have a couple of questions that come directly from our fan page on Facebook. These are from people who are your fans as well. And the first question comes from Mary Burns, and she asks, “How do you hold the long note at the end of ‘So Much Better?’”

BG: With everything in me! I refuse to breathe! Sometimes it’s just singing, sometimes it’s my stomach muscles, neck muscles, arm muscles - everything. It depends on where I am that night but I am determined to always hold out that note.

BSJ: That’s awesome. Tiffany Dang asks, “Bend and snap – does that really work?”

BG: Why not! I think it’s a bold choice for daily life. But I think it’s a fun one.

BSJ: And finally what’s the one thing you hope people take away from the theatre after seeing you and Legally Blonde The Musical?

BG: The one thing I really hope they leave smiling - and we haven’t failed at that yet! But also to take a bit of the heart of the story with you, take a bit of the message with you – to follow your dreams and stay true to yourself and to not let other people underestimate you and to not underestimate yourself. Those are all things that we all can relate to, old, young, man, woman. Those are all great things to keep reminding yourself of and this story definitely includes all of these things so it’s a good package. It’s a good way to spend a couple of hours.

BSJ: I want to thank you so much! We can’t wait to have you in San Jose

BG: It will be great we’ll see you soon!