They panic, draw lines, judge each other, judge themselves.
But as more time goes on, a change takes place.
), and how mainliningThe Real Housewiveshelped shape the work.
Delia Cunningham, Alison Cimmet, Gamze Ceylan, Damian Young, Ana Cruz Kayne, and Shakur Tolliver inSomeone Spectacular, directed by Tatiana Pandiani.
The conversation has been edited and condensed for length.
How did you celebrate it?
Domenica Feraud
Domenica Feraud:It was a bit overwhelming, in the best way.
Doménica Feraud
So we got a really cool moment of getting a picture of each actor with their inspiration.
Tell me a bit about those characterizations.
How close were they to the real people?
Photo: Julieta Cervantes
Lily is a version of myself.
I was really resistant to life.
Thats been very healing for me to see.
Photo: Julieta Cervantes
I know that in many ways this was not a play that you planned to write.
How did its particular conceit come to you?
Having six people in a space, not really going anywherejust theatrically, I found that really interesting.
Photo: Julieta Cervantes
It was turned into a series, and there was a grief counseling element in the show.
I am a big proponent of therapy.
My mother was a big proponent of therapy.
And I just thought, What if you have therapy without a therapist?
We just didnt hear from this person, whose name also begins with a B.
We didnt know what was going on.
So, I felt a little guilty.
I was like, oh, my God, I hope I didnt write that into existence.
And then what do you do?
You have a history now of wrestling with big, painful, rather intimate subjects in your writing.
What did it feel like, on the other side of this one?
I mean, rehearsals were really hard for me.
When they were staging Lilys panic attack, I had a panic attack.
I was like, why am I having all of these terrifying, self-sabotage-y, scary thoughts?
That clearly triggered something.
But once I got on the other sidereally, once the play was lockedmy anxiety went way down.
We changed the ending at the last possible moment, and then I was like, okay.
Now, I love watching the play.
I love watching these actors, and I love watching what our director has done with this play.
So thats really meaningful to me.
And now Im going on this weekend as Lily.
Yes, I have questions about that!
You have, of course, performed your own work before, but this is a particular case.
Whenor maybe howdid you decide to be an understudy in this show?
Well, I wanted to play Lily.
And I really feel like Im the person who can do both.
It was helpful to my process.
Its in really good shape.
And I was like, Oh, I agree.
Cue to me having a panic attack and changing my mind a million times.
It really had to be my decision, and I sat on it.
So then I had another conversation with Paige.
I was like, Is it going to affect you wanting to produce this play if Im in it?
And she said, No, no, not at all.
Im very happy to be involved.
But this is your family and this is about losing your mother.
And I think the actors need you to be able to support them.
And that really resonated with me.
Everyone in the cast has experienced loss in some way.
This is beautiful and hard for everyone.
But Paige came up with a really fun idea.
That could be a fun compromise.
Its like the best of all worlds, really.
How did your earliest conversations with Tatiana go, in regards to this show?
What were some of her most meaningfulor maybe unexpectedinterventions?
The whole idea of them playing a game comes from her.
Its just a lot of emotions and feelings.
How can we really make use of the group dynamics?
What if theyre playing a game?
That immediately brings everyone in.
So from the get-go, Tatiana was just offering really smart, dynamic ideas about where to place things.
And shes very direct.
And that perspective is really very helpful for me.
Can you tell me about the process of casting Evelyn?
The love that they have for these characters is very important.
But it was really wild.
We started readings, and we immediately had somebody we loved [for Evelyn]:Marjan Neshat.
She was actually at the opening, and that was so special.
She was so lovely and had such love in her heart for the piece.
But she was transparent with us when we were [planning to stage it] in the summer.
Especially since shes about to go into a Broadway show.
It was very bittersweet, but I really, really appreciated the way she went about it.
She really set the bar for us in terms of what we were looking for.
But what kept happening with Evelyn was that people would get close and then back off and back down.
What my dad thinks is that people got scared.
So he really admires that Gamze [Ceylan] was willing to take that on.
Actually, theres a line in the play: Lily says, I still cant talk to my mom.
But I did stop in the street after seeing a show at the Public.
I looked up and I said, Mom, who do you want to play you?
And the answer came in very clearly, and it was Gamze.
We had our callbacks and Gamze was really amazing.
Theres a toughness there.
For people who didnt know my mom well, they found her kind of intimidating.
Here was this woman who was so beautiful and so put together, people found her hard to read.
She was guarded because of her childhood.
Gamze holds all of that.
And the other thing I really love about her is that she speaks English with an accent.
[Ceyland is from Turkey.]
My mother was Ecuadorian, and that was really important.
So its been a real dream.
Gamze wrote me a card yesterday, which I read while I was getting ready for bed.
She said, Theres more Evelyn in you than there is Lily.
It just melted me completely.
Id love to hear about how people have responded to this show.
In those moments, I feel really lucky to get to know about these people.
I became a Bravo junkie after my mom died.
A lot of the Bravo reunions helped shape this play, I will say, just a little bit.
Six people sitting in chairs actually can be very interesting.
You came with me to get my husbands ashes.
You and I have something thats just different.
Its so heartwarming to me, and I really relate to it.
Because my mom is all over me.
When I met you at the theater, that was her jumpsuit I was wearing.
And so these people, we cant see them, but they are here.
We have a little corkboard outside the theater.
So I feel really privileged and lucky to get to hear about those things, about those experiences.
Its why the play is here: so that people can relate.
I also have a really good support system.
I think therapy is very important.
I think human connection is how you get through loss.
So to have them then come together and be able to help each other is really beautiful.
someone spectacularis on at The Pershing Square Signature Center through August 31.
