Ellington

The Daily: Before we delve into what you're doing it would be nice to know who you are.

Alexandra Tavares: Well, I am from California, grew up in San Jose. Went to UC Davis for undergrad...majored in English. Then I fiddled around for a few years and then decided to try it. I had always been interested in acting and hadn't really committed but I thought why not, now is the time. So I auditioned [for the UW's PATP program] and I got in and the rest in history.

D: While you were "fiddling around" what were you doing?

T: I spent a little time in Davis, Ca - the bustling metropolis of Davis. Then I went to Jackson Hole, WY and spent a winter season there. Then I moved here [Seattle] because my brother lived here and I had always been interested in living in Seattle. I had no reason not to, so I moved to Seattle.

I just had fun and tried a lot of different things. I worked at [Seattle Repertory Theatre] in the box office for two years and that is what I did pretty much.

D: How did an actual passion for drama come along?

T: I have always been interested in it. My mom used to take me to the theatre as a kid and she definitely fostered that love of theatre. I was very involved with sports too and sports ended up taking precedent. But, then about college I started to feel that this was something that I should try. It's always something you think about but you think 'Well, you can't survive on it, it's so hard.'

D: When did you start looking at the Professional Actors Training Program.

T: I had heard about it when I was in college, that the program was very good. It had a good reputation and I studied up on it a little bit. I found out that did a lot of Suzuki work, which is hyper-physical training, and I was very interested in that. I am a very physical person, doing sports all my life.

When I moved up here my brother had heard about the program as well and he told me about it as well. I went to see a couple productions and was just very impressed. It seemed really great to me.

D: What did you feel about the 2005 PATP graduating class?

T: Its twelve people and they're great, a lot of strong personalities. A very dramatic class, but it was great. I think everybody is going to do well. Marc Jablon is going to be in a production [at Intiman Theatre in Intimate Apparel, he's got a great role. Shawn Telford [Vincent Van Gogh in ACT Theatre's September production of Vincent in Brixton] has a great role coming up.

Showcase, this thirty minute show we take to LA and New York and we perform it for casting agents and talent agents. Everybody did really well and it's very exciting. There are a lot of colorful people in our class.

D: Seattle is a good theatre town, but the money is going away. Why not go out to New York or L.A.?

T: It's true but I love the town. L.A. is too brawling and everything is about the industry. You're married to your car. And, I love New York but I am building my resume - as of yet it hasn't been all too impressive. I just love Seattle, it's a great town with such a great feel. You can get outside of the city so fast, and yet there's a center where you don't have to drive everywhere.

And yet there is still a lot of theatre happening. Yes, granted [the money is going away here] but that's all over the country that theatre is hurting, including New York. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "Nobody's getting hired." Now on Broadway they're hiring Hollywood people to do the major plays, even New York actors are not getting jobs. And compared to how much it costs to live and how much you get isn't equal - it's just very hard right now.

Jon Jory is always telling us this - that going to regional theatres is the way to go right now as far as actually working. It's bleak out there. This role (Inira) I definitely would not have landed in New York.

D: Where you expecting to land this role?

T: Oh no, I was definitely not expecting to land this. How it works is that the casting director from here and all over comes and interviews the [PATP students] to see what kind of talent pool we have over there. Then she'll call you in if she thinks there's a match or the possibility that you might get something here. I got called and auditioned for [casting director] and Bart[lett Sher, the director] was not there, so they video taped me and decided to cast me based off of the video tape. It was pure luck.

D: Do you think the entire theatre business is pure luck?

T: I think it's luck to get in the door to be seen, but after that to a certain extent abilities and talent come into play. Getting the opportunity is luck, a lot of it is luck, and then it's up to you to take advantage of that.

D: Speaking of luck, how do you think you got into the PATP program?

T: Luck! I joke because when I auditioned with Steve Pearson, the head of the program, and I was so nervous. We had our interview afterwards and I mentioned that I went to undergrad at UC Davis and he said "Oh my son went to UC Davis." And I still think that's the only reason that I got into the program.

Steve is very interested in who you are, opposed to how well you can act because that is what you're there to learn. He was interested in people who had something to say. It's so hard to know what they're looking for. I've met some people who were on the waiting list who I thought were the best people in the program. So, I think so much of it is, so much of it is luck. Are you what they're looking for at that time? Who do you remind them of? This one person in L.A., this casting director, told me the only reason that they called me in was because I reminded them of Joan Baez. It's so random, you have no control over that. All you can do is do your best.

D: What's your best trait?

T: I guess, it's just pulling out who I am. Ultimately you can see 12,000 girls with long brown hair and brown eyes. But what is it about me that makes me distinctive. I suppose trying to let them know who I am in that limited amount of time - if I fit into where you see this character in that limited amount of time than that's great.

D: I meet very few people who know who they are; do you think you know who you are?

T: More so than when I was in my early 20's. To a certain extinct, yeah. I don't know what I want to do. I love the theatre; it's definitely my first love. I would love to have a successful theatrical career and be able to survive on that, and have a life style with that and not have to have a day job.

D: Did your parents support a theatre life?

T: They worry and they worried. I was thinking of having an undergraduate degree in drama but my parents said "Na-ha, you've go to have something more substantial." Like an English degree was going to give me something more substantial. But they always were and still are incredibly supportive and they never said "You shouldn't do that." But they worried. I think they always sort of knew that I was going to go on that path, I was always interested. It made me happy to go the theatre.

D: What are you doing with WET?

T: I am an associate artist of WET. I am so excited about them. They are so great and I think are really going to become a staple in the community. Their first season was this last year, so my internship quarter I did a play with them. 4 of their creators are from the PATP, as well as PATP designers as well as a couple undergrads.

They're so on top of their game. They're really ambitious and really want to do risky work, and it's a perfect environment for it. They have so much support within the community, within the program and they have so many contacts, I just think they are going to do so well and I really want to be a part of it.

D: What kind of theatre do you enjoy doing most?

T: I can't say that there's one particular type of theatre that interests me. Now that I have done this I am more interested in doing something comedic or lighter. The one thing that threads it all together for me is variety. I am not interested in doing one particular thing. And no one particular theatre dominates my passion.

D: What theatres around town do you like?

T: Well, WET of course, And Intiman. But, it so varies on production to production. I've seen the most amazing theatre in Fringe Theatre and the worst theatre in fringe theatre. I compliment the fact that we, since I am involved in fringe theatre, give it a go and try new things and aren't afraid to fail.

D: How are you handing two shows a day?

T: I love it. We did it a little at the UW. With Haroun and the Sea of Stories we were having three shows a day. I love it, it always feels like that last show you're just so warmed up and loose. You've been living in that world for four hours and I always find new things in that last show.

D: What do you usually do with downtime?

T: I go for a run, usually. I have to go running, I have to do something like that or otherwise I'll go insane.

D: Are you learning stuff from the people you are with now?

T: Oh my God, yes. I am learning so much, they are amazing.

D: Were you intimidated at first?

T: So much. I missed the first day because we were at Showcase in New York. I came in late, the second day of rehearsal, I hadn't even met [the director] yet. I remember walking in and just, my heart was just up in my throat I was so nervous and I was nervous for the first two weeks. It took me a while to settle in; I did my work, but it was terrifying.

Everyone in the cast was so easy going, no egos, no dramatics. Everyone was just calm and I don't know if that's usual, but I felt so lucky to experience that. Eventually we all developed relationships and I got to know them as people. It was interested to see their processes - they were all very professional. What struck me most was how rehearsal was rehearsal. It was a place where you could try out ideas and fail and keep questioning. I was struck by that, that's what we're learning at the UW but it was wonderful to see that in practice here. How unafraid and unattached to ego that is. It wasn't about how good you were, it was just about trying to figure it out.

D: How do you keep yourself learning?

T: I'll read. I read Actors Chekhov. I don't see how you can stop learning. As soon as you feel like 'Aw I've got it,' then it's just dead. There have been times where I thought I had something and then I'll go back to it and it's completely dead, there's nothing alive in it. So you have to go onto something else, you have to constantly be learning.

D: What helped you most in developing as an actor?

T: I guess it would be learning that there isn't necessarily such a thing as good and bad, right and wrong; to having a judgment about something right away. To have the freedom to explore, to learn and yes maybe you'll suck, maybe you won't but try not to focus your attention on that. Focus on who is this character, what are their eccentricities, focus on what are they trying to get out of the other people in the play. Focusing on the right way of doing this character. It sounds so simple, but it isn't. It is so hard not to judge yourself, not to judge how good of a job you're doing.

D: Do you do the same as an audience member?

T: I try to, but it's so hard not to be a critic. It's tough because I see plays so differently now than when I started the program. As an audience member I have opinions on how something is, but it's very different. When you're acting you need to give yourself permission to not judge yourself, not evaluate in order to be part of the creative process. But as an audience member I try to go in there with an open mind. If it's done in a committed way I always respect their courage to get up in front of people and do this; it's a very scary thing to do. I do come in with an opinion and it's hard to let go of that. But I definitely respect people who do this, even if they do it in a way that I don't agree with.

D: Are you still nervous before each production?

T: I feel differently before each and every performance. I am nervous usually the first week, which is pretty much the entire production time at UW. They're good nerves, you just need to learn how to control them so you can use them in a complimentary manner.

D: How does it feel doing a long production versus the shorter ones at UW?

T: I love it. I still think if the UW could extend their productions for longer periods of time, I just think there's so much to learn from that. You never quite settle into it at the UW, you never get the chance. By the time you finally feel like you are able to breath and explore on stage it's the end of the run - I really feel like it's a shame. Just now [with Three Sisters] do I really feel like I am able to breath and explore. I think that just comes with time and being about to run with it. I am beginning to discover that I love long runs.

D: Do you step right out of the character once the show's done?

T: Yes and no. It's hard sometimes. I think consciously yes, but subconsciously it seeps in. I think everybody does that. People that say they just snap out of it subconsciously still have it seeping in to the way they see things. How can you when you're in those circumstances and it's so intense not have it affect you?

That's why it is so good to have my husband who's not related to the scene at all. He snaps me out of it.

D: Do you still have all the roles you've ever played still in you?

T: I don't know about that. I think that all the roles I have played come from me; they're my take on something. I can't tell whether it's me already and it's just highlighting certain aspects of myself, but inevitably the character is highlighted through my perception. When you're exploring a character you're exploring given circumstances that you don't have, so inevitably you educate yourself on what that would be like and explore another person's perspective even though that perspective is filtered through my own.

D: Do you stay in touch with the 2005 PATP graduating class?

T: Yeah - I will always stay in touch with them. It might be years in between times that we talk but at least we'll know where people are and what they're doing. It was such an intense three years; over 12 hours a day with eleven other people, you become intimately involved with them. I think I'll always keep tabs on everybody.

D: What do you think about the transition from graduate work acting to professional acting?

T: Our class and the one before us, there are less people heading off to L.A. and New York. In the past it has been such a thing to think the only way to survive as an actor in to go to L.A. or New York. But now even L.A. is hard, with reality TV, and less actors getting hired. There are four of us from my class staying in Seattle and out of the last class there were four people who stayed here. That's very rare thus far, but I think there's something to that. I think regional theatre is so important and you can learn and have great opportunities doing that.

The transition is hard because you are starting on ground zero. You just got out of the program and it takes a couple years. The casting directors don't want to hire you because they don't know you, so you audition for them a couple time. You go to big cattle call auditions which are horrible. If they're interested in you they'll call you in many times before they start thinking about you for a role. It just takes three years, four years, five years, it takes a while to transition, that first year out especially, it's just really hard.

With [Three Sisters] I am lucky. And who know after this I might be unemployed for a year. That's why theatres like WET are so important because it is important to self promote. It's important to keep yourself busy while you're doing the things that you love. You might have to wait tables for a while, you might have to work at a coffee shop, or do temp work, but as long as you just keep yourself busy.

PATP makes you do these solo shows twice during the program. You have the choice you can write it or you can do a previous text and you create it. You put it together, you direct yourself and you're alone in a rehearsal room, you put lights up and you create the sound, just everything yourself. It's the most terrifying thing ever. I hated it, and it was great at the same time. It is so important to know how to do that in this business. It's so important to not be reliant on getting hired.

D: How do you go from being Alexandra to being your current character?

T: I'll get there an hour early and do warm-ups. I'll do a physical warm-up; yoga and stretching. And I'll do a vocal warm-up so that I can project and not hurt myself. A lot of it happens when I put my costume on, you inevitably feel different, you don't feel like Alexandra Tavares anymore.

It's so different how people find their ways into characters. Some people look into art and they put a copy of it in their room. I like to find music that gets me into it.