INTERVIEW: Linedy Genao is back on Broadway in ‘Gatsby’
Photo: The Great Gatsby features Linedy Genao in the role of Myrtle Wilson. Photo courtesy of Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade / Provided by Vivacity Media Group with permission.
NEW YORK — Linedy Genao, who has appeared on Broadway a number of times, is currently appearing in The Great Gatsby, the hit musical now playing the Broadway Theatre in Midtown Manhattan. In the show, which is based on the classic F. Scott Fitzgerald book, Genao plays the pivotal character of Myrtle Wilson.
“I read it in school as a required reading,” Genao said in a recent phone interview. “I think that was in middle school or high school, I can’t really remember. I hadn’t read the book again until getting this role, so it was almost as if I were reading it for the first time, which was exciting. I remember bits and pieces, but most especially about the character of Myrtle, I didn’t remember much at all. So it was a nice surprise.”
Genao, who has appeared in Bad Cinderella, On Your Feet! and Dear Evan Hansen, loves Myrtle’s fearlessness and her freedom, two driving forces that have inspired the actor in how she portrays this character eight times per week.
“What I love about the character is how she’s a fighter and a survivor,” she said. “She’s doing whatever she needs to do to survive and come out of the circumstance that she’s in and dealing as best as she can with the cards that she was dealt with in life and trying to overcome those. … She wants happiness. She wants success. She wants freedom from her circumstances.”
There are a lot of iconic numbers in the big musical spectacle, and Genao has a few favorites. Her character sings “Second-Hand Suit” in Act I with the character of Tom Buchanan, and the actor said the number is great fun on the big stage of the Broadway Theatre. Another highlight for her is “One-Way Road,” which is a powerful Act-II song that is a solo for Genao.
“‘One-Way Road’ is an emotional roller-coaster, incredible song, storytelling-wise and musically,” the actor said. “But it’s also very challenging because I’m not on stage all of the time, so going back to my dressing room and having 20 minutes off to then remind myself where Myrtle is emotionally in the show, to remind myself when I go back on stage. … So that’s been a challenge, and I’m still finding it.”
There is some isolation for the character of Myrtle on stage, Genao said. The role is separated from the main narrative that takes place at Gatsby’s mansion, which means Genao finds herself in more intimate scenes with the actors playing George Wilson, Tom Buchanan and Nick Carraway. This feeling of isolation not only defines her character, but also there’s a little bit of isolation backstage given the location of the dressing rooms.
“For example, my dressing room, along with the Jordan and Daisy tracks, are on the other side of the theater, whereas everybody else is on the other side, so we’re already isolated,” she said. “And then in the show, I’m only on stage one time with the entire ensemble, and I never interact with the character of Gatsby or Daisy. My character also is very isolated. It’s just usually George Wilson and I, or Tom Buchanan and I, or Nick Carraway and I, so that can be challenging, too, because I want to interact with everybody. Her story is very isolated.”
For those who know The Great Gatsby, Myrtle’s isolation is part of the show’s overarching story. There’s decadence and frivolity occurring at Gatsby’s mansion, while Myrtle has one foot in the “real world,” away from the posh estate on Long Island.
Although Genao has been on Broadway for a number of years, the thrill of each performance is not lost on her. She said that each and every time that curtain rises, there’s a special something that can still be felt in the pit of her stomach.
“It is very special,” Genao said. “This is my first time replacing, so I was very nervous, but also being welcomed with such open arms and all this new and great energy, but also I’m having so much fun because of my songs, my character. She’s fun. She’s passionate, vibrant, and I’m also having fun because I don’t feel a lot of pressure. I’m not Gatsby in The Great Gatsby, like I was Cinderella in Bad Cinderella. I just get to come in, have so much fun, do my show, free myself of all these expectations and the pressure of having to be on all the time. … Coming from the Bad Cinderella experience, where that’s what it was for me, this is different and freeing in a way because I don’t have those pressures.”
The Bad Cinderella experience a few years ago was an important one for the actor, and Genao wouldn’t give it up for a second. She absolutely adored being in the Andrew Lloyd Webber reimagining of that classic tale.
“The most magical time of my life, truly a Cinderella story,” she said. “A literal, literal dream come true. I wouldn’t change anything for the world. Although we were short-lived, more dreams of mine came true in that experience than almost my entire life. Everyone was so kind. We all came together to create this fun, fun, fun show, and obviously working with Andrew Lloyd Webber was a dream come true. I had to collaborate with him. He would ask me, ‘How do you want to sing this? Does this sound right to you?’ I’m like, ‘I can’t believe you’re asking me. You should be telling me what you want me to do.’ So feeling very much respected and a part of that process with him and the entire team was just something that I could have never imagined.”
And now Genao gets to add to those memories with her performance as Myrtle Wilson in The Great Gatsby.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Great Gatsby, featuring Linedy Genao, continues at the Broadway Theatre in Midtown Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
