Karen Olivo

The iconic role of Anita in West Side Story conjures up images of Broadway diva-ness: the fiery passion, the brassy attitude…the high kicks! Onstage at the Palace Theatre, where the musical classic is enjoying a sold-out revival, Karen Olivo delivers the goods with such verve that she’s become an award-season darling, nominated for every major prize including a Tony Award and winning a Broadway.com Audience Award for her efforts. Offstage, however, Olivo is far from a diva. Sure, she looks Hollywood glamorous in a sexy ruffled top and slacks as she meets Broadway.com for lunch at Ruby Foo’s Times Square, having just left her umpteenth press event of the season. But Olivo, previously seen on Broadway in Rent, Brooklyn and In the Heights, is refreshingly real and honest while relaying her incredible journey from the Bronx to Broadway.

In the past few days, we’ve seen you at the Drama League event, the Drama Desk Awards, the New Dramatists luncheon…how are you holding up?
It’s tiring, but it’s the opportunity of a lifetime, right? I think if the show wasn’t so hard, this would be like one big party.

You found enough frilly dresses? You’re not repeating outfits, which is good.
Luckily, people have been sending clothes to the theater. I try it on. If it fits, I’ll wear it. I’m not very good at choosing all that stuff.

Your career is really on the up. Did you see this all coming together in the way it has?
Oh gosh, no. I did know that doing this show was going to make me or break me. I thought it would either obliterate my confidence and my name and I’d never work again or else people will take notice and be like, “Oh, she’s good.”

Why is the role of Anita so make-it-or-break-it?
It’s revered in such a way… The women who played it before me have been powerhouses. I mean, they’ve shaken things up by doing the role. I knew if I passed up the shot, I’d be 80 years old thinking I chickened out. I had to do it.

The 500 or so girls you beat out for the part were saying you couldn’t dance it.
Yeah, absolutely. So was I!

Excuse me, but aren’t you an Astaire Award winner for In the Heights?
But I don’t know how that happened! I mean, honestly, if you could have seen [Heights choreographer] Andy [Blankenbuehler] and me rehearsing. Andy would shake his head like, “What am I going to do with you?” I couldn’t put one foot in front of the other. So I would just listen to the music. And I had wonderful people around me. Luis Salgado is one of the best salsa dancers and partners ever and he would walk me through it and road map it for me. But Jerome Robbins’ choreography? It’s like a ballet!

And now you’ve been nominated for your second Astaire Award.
I swear I’m not paying these people!

It’s seems you’re suddenly one of Broadway’s top dancers!
Unbelievable! I’m an actor who acts like I can dance. Lorin Latarro, who’s a ridiculous dancer, told me that regardless of what you’re doing while you’re dancing, if you feel it wholeheartedly and it’s coming from your heart, everything takes care of itself. That’s what I try to do. When I get to those parts of the show where I think it’s too hard for me, I just jump off the cliff. And hopefully the leg goes as high as it needs to and I land on my feet when I spin!

How long was the audition process?
One of the producers called me and said, “You’re one of the only people who hasn’t been in. Will you come in so we can check you out and say we’ve seen you?” They were starting in a week!

I thought you really wanted and fought for the part. [She shakes her head.] You didn’t?
No. I mean, I wanted it when I was 18 years old, you know? But I was pretty happy at In the Heights. We had just won the Tony. I was with my family. We were having a great time. I had opportunities to audition… But some of the girls from In the Heights went in and told me about the dance audition. One of my friends, who I feel is a really good dancer, was like, “I fell during ‘America.’” And I was like, “If you fell, this is not for me!”

You turned down auditions?
Yeah. I’d auditioned for [choreography reproducer] Joey McKneely for a tour of West Side Story years before and I remember him yelling at me during the number: “Feel it! Go for it! Go for it!” If you don’t have the basic moves, you can’t; there’s just no way. So I wasn’t looking forward to going back in for him. This time they said, “We’ll put you in a room with the dance assistant. She’ll teach you a combination and see how much of it you get. If you think you can do it and she thinks you can do it, you can sing for [director] Arthur [Laurents].” I was like, “That, I’ll do. I will definitely try.” So I went in there and I tried.

Tried and succeeded! Congrats on your first Tony nomination. That must feel good.
When you’re in this business for a while, you realize it’s not about talent. There are so many other factors that go into getting this sort of recognition and, ultimately, it’s more important to get work and be good at it and pay the bills. What feels good is that I got here by doing whatever people asked of me and always trying to stay true to myself while I did it. So to actually get honored makes me feel like, “OK, maybe I’m on the right track.”

Were you that little kid who was practicing Tony speeches in the mirror?
Mm hmm. I was six and living in the South Bronx when I first saw the movie of West Side Story, and I was glued. My dad explained, “There’s a place where you can actually see shows like this live, and that’s what people’s jobs are. If you’re really, really good at the job, there’s a thing called a Tony.” And then I was like, “Well then, I want one of those!”
Your father was a children’s theater director. Did he push you on stage at all?
I think it was just easier to put me on stage than to get someone to babysit me. And I took to it when I was pretty young. My other sister didn’t like it as much, but I just got it.

You grew up in the Bronx but moved to Florida as a kid. Why?
It was my two sisters and I living in the South Bronx during the 70s and it just wasn’t very safe. My parents were big in the church at the time and worried that we’d grow up too fast and get involved in stuff we didn’t need to be involved in, so we went down to Florida, where my grandparents lived.

Let’s talk about your ethnicity. You’re what I call a swirl, a blend.
I usually just say mutt, but I’ll take swirl, that sounds nicer! My father is Puerto Rican and has Native American on his father’s side. And my mother is half-Dominican and half-Chinese.

Which of those cultures did you grow up around the most?
None. My parents both came here without speaking the language so they were very strict about us being American kids. They did speak Spanish in the household and I think that’s why my ear is so good—I know how it’s supposed to sound, but they were never really big on us speaking Spanish.

What kind of theater roles were you doing as a kid?
My dad never really cast me in anything big, so I was in the background a lot. And he wasn’t big on giving me praise about my work in front of anyone, or even in private. So I was always working hard to get him to notice me, but to notice me for the right reasons—for being good in a scene, not for acting out. It taught me a lot about listening on stage.

Do you think he did it on purpose to build you up?
I don’t know. Maybe. My relationship is not that great with my dad now, but I think he did what he could, you know? My dad was always a better director than he was a father. But I learned so much about the craft from him. I don’t really even think of him as my dad, but he was a great teacher. Other kids were playing outside and he’d be like, “Why don’t you work on your monologue?”

Were you active in theater in high school? Any substantial roles?
Hello, Dolly!

Were you Dolly?
Of course! I have a DVD of it, and if you’re really nice to me, I won’t let you see it.

Didn’t nail it?
It’s so bad. It was before I understood what a [vocal] mix was. So I was twittering like a bird or belting my tits off. That moment right between, it was like someone just shifting gears. It was horrible.

So you were one of the star students?
I was.

And then you went to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music…
When I was in high school, I was a star student.

Not so much at CCM?
I was a mess. I didn’t understand the other kids. I come from a very hard background. I didn’t have a lot of money, we were on welfare… There was a definite line between me and the kids who had been taken to New York to see Broadway shows every year for their summer vacation and who came to college with a brand new wardrobe. I was literally in hand-me-downs. I had a chip on my shoulder. I felt like I wanted to do real art and didn’t want to just shake my ass.

Did you go on a scholarship?
No I didn’t. I was actually hit by a truck when I was in second grade in Florida. That’s why I have really great turnout on my left leg! [Laughs.]

This was a bad accident?
I was pulled underneath the truck and spit out the back. I can remember it. I was flying backwards and my sister was running, but it looked like eight of my sister, running at me, screaming my name. My head was shaking uncontrollably.

How badly were you injured?
It was a compound fracture in my left leg. I still have a dent in my leg. My second toe was crushed and never grew because of it. My feet look very strange. And I also have a gash in the back of my head. When I finally landed, I landed on my head first. When they put the cast on me, I couldn’t walk. The weight of the cast literally turned my hip all the way out so instead of walking straight, I would drag my leg behind me. So I immediately got amazing turnout on my left side. If I wanted to be a ballerina, I would have been in heaven! I always worked on the right to make it match the left.

Are you saying you paid for school with a settlement from this accident?
I got enough money to keep me in school for a year and a half. Once I was in, I talked to Aubrey Berg, the head of the musical theater department. I said, “Look, I want to stay but I have to get a job and work, so please don’t cast me in anything.” He said, “That’s totally fine. You have to audition for everything but we won’t cast you in anything.” So that’s what I ended up doing.

Where’d you work?
I worked at Bagel Brothers, a bagel shop. They were really nice and they gave me all the hours they could and I took out loan after loan. I’m still paying one of those loans off! I didn’t even make through the whole program because during my junior year, my friend and I went to an open call for the Rent tour and I got cast as a swing.

So the girl who kept her nose to the ground and worked at the bagel shop was suddenly cast in Rent? Genius.
Yeah. I went to my professor and he said, “You have my blessing. Get out of here!” And that was it.

OK, so it’s time to talk about your husband, Matt Caplan.
He’s kinda great. Let’s just start with that.

You met because of Rent. Did you meet him while on the road or once you came to Broadway as an understudy?
He was in a different tour, but I met him at some point when someone had a gig and a bunch of Rent people went and he sat at my table. I thought he was a nice guy.

Immediate crush?
No, at the time I was actually married. This is my second marriage. I got married extremely young, when I was still in college. But years later, I saw him play Mark in Rent on Broadway.

And he was…
Amazing. I was just astounded. I couldn’t believe it was the same guy that I’d met, the really nice, quiet guy. And that was it. We’re working on three years of marriage.

He’s a singer/songwriter. Got a thing for musicians?
That’s kind of why I married him. I’m embarrassed to say it, but I’m his biggest fan.

Has he written songs for you? [She smiles and nods.] Are they good?
They’re amazing. He’s told me, “Don’t break my heart or I will write a song about you that will kill you.” And I was like, “Oh my God, you really will because you can!” When I heard his music, I thought, not only does he get music in a way that is much deeper than most people, but he respects it. He will work on a song for months and the first draft will sound perfect to me, but he won’t stop until every single lyric is where it’s supposed to be. I was drawn to his respect for the art.

What about the other man in your life? You and [In the Heights creator] Lin-Manuel Miranda are really close, aren’t you?
Yeah, he's my buddy.

What connected you two?
We’re like two little boys in the sandbox. I’m such a tomboy. I’ve always had a hard time connecting with most women because I’d rather punch you in the shoulder than sit and do your nails. And I like to play more than I like to be serious, and he’s exactly that kid. I know that right now, although he’s working on 500 projects for DreamWorks and working on the movie of In the Heights, he will put it all down to play Xbox for four hours. It’s his attitude of, if we’re not having fun, there’s no point in doing this. That’s how we connected.

He went through all this award seasons madness last year. Has he offered any advice?
He calls me sometimes to make fun of me. There was one point where I was overwhelmed and I couldn’t do another interview if someone paid me, and I said, “I can’t do it anymore! No more press!” And he’d call me up and say, “No more press!” Just making fun of me, you know? And he’ll call me and say, “Hang in there. Just do your show and everything else will fall into place.” And I appreciate that.

You played Sheila in the first incarnation of Diane Paulus’ Tony-nominated Hair in Central Park two years ago. What was that like?
I have a friend, Luther Creek, who has done Hair a million times and he told me the moment I got cast that it was going to change my life. I laughed in his face. And then it did. It did change my life.

How so?
It made me an activist and a champion for humanity in a way I hadn’t been before. I try to do more charity work and be more conscious of human beings and giving of love… Before Hair, I was just a cautious New Yorker. But there’s something about that show—it makes you realize that love is the only thing that matters, and with it, you can accomplish so much more than without it.

Now West Side Story and Hair are in a battle for the Best Revival Tony Award. You’re a split woman.
I feel like the luckiest person in the world because I’m part of two really beautiful shows. I hope that we both get to run forever because I feel like both stories need to be told as long as they can possibly be told.

What are you wearing to the Tonys?
A frock? I don’t know! I’m telling you, I’m like the worst girl. I’m going to go somewhere and someone’s going to show me a dress. I’m going to put it on and wear it.

Are you excited?
I’m so excited. Lin says the Tonys are like prom but with career repercussions. I think that’s the truest depiction of what it is. That night is going to be prom for me and Matt. I can’t wait!

See Karen Olivo in West Side Story at the Palace Theatre.